I recently read Daniel Kraus’ Whalefall and found it to be just terrific. The premise could sound absurd: a seventeen-year-old boy, diving in hopes of finding his father’s remains, comes across a giant squid fighting a whale, and is swept down the whale’s throat.
What made it work, for me, was the remarkable physical detail, which made me feel like I was there, and the complex relationship between father and son. It was both entertaining—gripping, even—and moving.
Have you read it? If so, what’d you think?
by onyesvarda
4 Comments
I picked up this book because of the comparison to The Martian and my own interest in books involving whales and the ocean (I blame Moby Dick). I knew going in that it was also about a seventeen year old dealing with family trauma which isn’t normally my thing but I didn’t think it would be the main focus of the story. Dealing with the family trauma ended up being the main focus and I loved it. The main character was written so well and I related to him in a lot of small ways when I was that age and it made the character feel very real to me. Also, a fantastic book about marine biology where I also learned a lot of info about diving and theoretically being swallowed by a sperm whale. I gave it 5/5 stars.
Yo mama so fat, when she trips you can hear a:
I was very excited to read it and was disappointed in it myself. The short chapters killed me, and the hallucinations of his dad talking to him made me cringe. Daddy trauma in a whale. But glad some people are enjoying it, just didn’t hit for me.
I liked it! I heard about it on goodreads before it came out and was looking forward to it, and it helped me through a sort of reading slump. I wasn’t sure how much of an actual moving plot could be carried out while he was in the whale, but I was surprised by how thorough the story felt. I got a little mixed up in the hallucinations/dad stuff around the ending, but I still enjoyed the book overall.