Customer Reviews
Though it’s about loss and disintegration, the writing carries a lyrical, almost metaphysical quality as the men drift between reality and delusion at sea. Set in the late 1800s as whaling is coming to an end, this beautifully written book is rich with vivid imagery that makes you feel you are aboard ship witnessing the end of an era. Although centered on harsh realities, the language lifts this story into something almost lyrical, the long empty days at sea blur into delusion and metaphysical haze as the men wait for whales and confront the perils of the ocean and the dangers aboard ship. It is a haunting poetic work that lingers well beyond its final page.
This captivating novel will lure you into its pages with the same hypnotic quality of being at sea and not let go, staying with you long afterwards. The writing is flawless and beautiful and surprising, and the story is simultaneously tender-hearted and brutally raw. A sea voyage, an allegory, a survival story, an expansive larger than life journey and an examination of the undercurrents of life, both figurative and literal. I’ve never read anything like it. Brilliant!
An invitation to visit strange waters in a dream voyage.
Horribly unclear storyline making no sense.
