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3.8 AVERAGE
3.8 AVERAGE
He leans in harder, presses, seeking out the vital organs. The lance slides in another foot. A moment later, with a final roar, the whale shoots out a plume of pure heart's blood high into the air and then tilts over lifeless onto its side with its great fin raised like a flag of surrender. The men, empurpled, reeking, drenched in the fish's steaming, expectorated gore, start up their flimsy boats and cheer their triumph. Brownlee on the quarterdeck wafts his billy-cock hat in circles above his head. The men on the deck roar and caper.
Jesus Christ this book was b l e a k
Granted, I wouldn't expect a wilderness survival story set on a ship in the 1850's at the tail-end (pardon the pun) of the whaling industry would be all roses and sunshine, but there were some rough passages in here that would make even Jack London blush. We're talking about a group of shipwrecked survivors forced to mix their own blood with flour just so they'd have something to eat. We're talking not one but two grizzly (again, pardon the pun) scenes involving polar bears. There's an extended and brutal flashback of the British siege of Delhi from the perspective of a surgeon on amputation duty. Multiple instances of seals being killed. Surgery without anesthetics, etc.
And what really gets me is that a lot of it didn't seem necessary? When you get down to it, the very bones of this story, stripped away of all the smaller scenes where the gruesome shit happens... is actually pretty good! There's conspiracy, there's secret allegiances, there's one of the best betrayals I've ever read, and then a murder mystery crops up halfway through the book on top of all of that. I didn't need all these gory bits sewn in between to hold my interest; I was already enraptured and if anything these side scenes were driving my interest away.
In retrospect, I shouldn't have been so surprised because in the first chapter we see a major character murder a complete stranger with a brick merely because he wanted to, and then later that same night go on to rape a black teenage boy (the N-word gets dropped a lot in this book, so heads up for that). If a reader manages to get through that in just the opening scenes, I guess there's a sort of tacit acceptance of whatever comes after. I can't deny that that first chapter didn't set the tone for the rest of the book.
I enjoyed the superstructure/the skeleton of this story, and the protagonist goes through a satisfying character development and is very much a different person by the end of the book; it's all the stuff in between that first left me squeamish and then just numb. If you've got a strong stomach and wanna read about a bunch of dudes having a really awful time in the Arctic dealing with the elements in addition to one of the most fucked-up antagonists I've encountered, give this one a go.
Jesus Christ this book was b l e a k
Granted, I wouldn't expect a wilderness survival story set on a ship in the 1850's at the tail-end (pardon the pun) of the whaling industry would be all roses and sunshine, but there were some rough passages in here that would make even Jack London blush. We're talking about a group of shipwrecked survivors forced to mix their own blood with flour just so they'd have something to eat. We're talking not one but two grizzly (again, pardon the pun) scenes involving polar bears. There's an extended and brutal flashback of the British siege of Delhi from the perspective of a surgeon on amputation duty. Multiple instances of seals being killed. Surgery without anesthetics, etc.
And what really gets me is that a lot of it didn't seem necessary? When you get down to it, the very bones of this story, stripped away of all the smaller scenes where the gruesome shit happens... is actually pretty good! There's conspiracy, there's secret allegiances, there's one of the best betrayals I've ever read, and then a murder mystery crops up halfway through the book on top of all of that. I didn't need all these gory bits sewn in between to hold my interest; I was already enraptured and if anything these side scenes were driving my interest away.
In retrospect, I shouldn't have been so surprised because in the first chapter we see a major character murder a complete stranger with a brick merely because he wanted to, and then later that same night go on to rape a black teenage boy (the N-word gets dropped a lot in this book, so heads up for that). If a reader manages to get through that in just the opening scenes, I guess there's a sort of tacit acceptance of whatever comes after. I can't deny that that first chapter didn't set the tone for the rest of the book.
I enjoyed the superstructure/the skeleton of this story, and the protagonist goes through a satisfying character development and is very much a different person by the end of the book; it's all the stuff in between that first left me squeamish and then just numb. If you've got a strong stomach and wanna read about a bunch of dudes having a really awful time in the Arctic dealing with the elements in addition to one of the most fucked-up antagonists I've encountered, give this one a go.
adventurous
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
To much violence and racist vile language. I know the character is supposed to be really evil but I don’t need to read it described in such detail. All these content warnings are just from chapter one.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Gore, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Murder, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation
I wish I were smart enough to understand the symbolism of the bear.
adventurous
challenging
dark
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
fast-paced
dark
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
One of those books you want to recommend and don't know who you'd recommend it to. Excellent, very dark, and with a lot of Catholicism where you don't expect it
آبهای شمال توی آخرین سالهای تجارت روغن نهنگ یعنی 1859 جریان داره و داستان کشتی والنتیر و سرنشینانش رو میگه
با اینکه خیلی شبیه کتابی بر اساس واقعیته ولی خودِ داستان زادهی تخیل نویسندهس. با این حال در زمینهی توصیف شرایط زندگی و این شغل در اون زمان فوقالعادهس و به آدم یادآوری میکنه این دورهای که الان هستیم، با وجود تمام مشکلاتش هنوز هم بهترین دورهی زندگی برای آدمهاست
چیزی که بیشتر از همه تخیلی بودنش رو به چشم میاره، شخصیت منفی داستانه. کشتی والنتیر از همون لحظهی اول که هنری درکس پاش رو داخلش میذاره نفرین شده به نظر میاد. روانیای که بیشباهت به طبیعت وحشی موجود در محیطی که اطرافش هست نداره. موجودی که به گفتهی خودش کارها و جنایتهاش رو بدون فکر و بدون ذرهای مکدر شدن خاطرش انجام میده. در واقع اصلا چیزی به اسم وجدان براش معنی نداره و قتل و غارت و آزار و تجاوز براش یه چیز عادیه. بیشباهت به شخصیتهای منفی کارهای مککارتی نیست
صد صفحهی اول پیریزی داره و کمی کنده و قشنگ مشخص نیست اصل داستان قراره چی باشه ولی از اون به بعد جون میگیره و دیگه زمین گذاشتنش سخت میشه و تا آخر همیشه رازی برای رو شدن هست و جذابیت داستان تا آخرین لحظه حفظ میشه
یه مینیسریال پنج قسمتی هم داره که تقریباً وفادارانه ساخته شده. شاید تنها عیبش اینه که نتونستن اونطور که باید و شاید شخصیت درکس رو به تصویر بکشن. به نظرم با اینکه کالین فارل بازیگر خیلی خوبیه ولی به نقش نمیاد و روانی بودن شخصیت منتقل نشده، گرچه مطمئنم یکی از سختترین نقشهای ممکن بوده براش
کتاب پر از خشونت نسبت به انسان و حیوانه و به هیچ وجه به روحیات لطیف توصیه نمیشه
با اینکه خیلی شبیه کتابی بر اساس واقعیته ولی خودِ داستان زادهی تخیل نویسندهس. با این حال در زمینهی توصیف شرایط زندگی و این شغل در اون زمان فوقالعادهس و به آدم یادآوری میکنه این دورهای که الان هستیم، با وجود تمام مشکلاتش هنوز هم بهترین دورهی زندگی برای آدمهاست
چیزی که بیشتر از همه تخیلی بودنش رو به چشم میاره، شخصیت منفی داستانه. کشتی والنتیر از همون لحظهی اول که هنری درکس پاش رو داخلش میذاره نفرین شده به نظر میاد. روانیای که بیشباهت به طبیعت وحشی موجود در محیطی که اطرافش هست نداره. موجودی که به گفتهی خودش کارها و جنایتهاش رو بدون فکر و بدون ذرهای مکدر شدن خاطرش انجام میده. در واقع اصلا چیزی به اسم وجدان براش معنی نداره و قتل و غارت و آزار و تجاوز براش یه چیز عادیه. بیشباهت به شخصیتهای منفی کارهای مککارتی نیست
صد صفحهی اول پیریزی داره و کمی کنده و قشنگ مشخص نیست اصل داستان قراره چی باشه ولی از اون به بعد جون میگیره و دیگه زمین گذاشتنش سخت میشه و تا آخر همیشه رازی برای رو شدن هست و جذابیت داستان تا آخرین لحظه حفظ میشه
یه مینیسریال پنج قسمتی هم داره که تقریباً وفادارانه ساخته شده. شاید تنها عیبش اینه که نتونستن اونطور که باید و شاید شخصیت درکس رو به تصویر بکشن. به نظرم با اینکه کالین فارل بازیگر خیلی خوبیه ولی به نقش نمیاد و روانی بودن شخصیت منتقل نشده، گرچه مطمئنم یکی از سختترین نقشهای ممکن بوده براش
کتاب پر از خشونت نسبت به انسان و حیوانه و به هیچ وجه به روحیات لطیف توصیه نمیشه
I'm not suggesting this book was racist in any way but I was particularly annoyed with the dialogue. The characters frequently threw around the n-word in, I assume, an attempt to keep the language authentic. But the dialogue is so obviously NOT authentic that it just seemed like just an excuse to use the offensive word to make the book seem edgier.