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A review by amyvl93
Pod by Laline Paull
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I found Paull's previous work The Bees to be one that was really interesting, I learnt a lot about bees and found it an interesting format to talk about societal structure - even if the anthromorphic nature didn't quite work for me. I have very similar thoughts about Pod, which I also think is a bit messier than The Bees.
Initially focusing on Ea, a member of a specific group of dolphins, Pod becomes a much more sprawling look at what the human impact is on our environment through a number of other characters - notably, the head wife of another dolphin tribe; a bereaved and alone whale; and a dolphin that has escaped working for the US military.
This is a book that is fairly unremitting in its look at the very unromantic side of sea mammals - with an emphasis on violence, rape and sex. As someone who grew up thinking dolphins were the absolute cutest, I'm not sure I still hold that view any more. There are some smart points being made amongst this about patriarchal, abusive societies but it was also tiring to keep being bashed with page after page.
I did feel that there were perhaps a few too many characters within these pages, and I'll confess to skipping over some of the pages where we were getting one too many descriptive passages of the same patches of ocean. The character I found most affecting was Google - shining a light on something I had no idea about (I thought Paull had added this for effect, and was fairly surprised to see that this is far from a fiction!)
I can understand why this made the Women's Prize shortlist, as it is certainly an innovative look at this subject - but I'm not sure it's one that will be enjoyed by everyone.
Initially focusing on Ea, a member of a specific group of dolphins, Pod becomes a much more sprawling look at what the human impact is on our environment through a number of other characters - notably, the head wife of another dolphin tribe; a bereaved and alone whale; and a dolphin that has escaped working for the US military.
This is a book that is fairly unremitting in its look at the very unromantic side of sea mammals - with an emphasis on violence, rape and sex. As someone who grew up thinking dolphins were the absolute cutest, I'm not sure I still hold that view any more. There are some smart points being made amongst this about patriarchal, abusive societies but it was also tiring to keep being bashed with page after page.
I did feel that there were perhaps a few too many characters within these pages, and I'll confess to skipping over some of the pages where we were getting one too many descriptive passages of the same patches of ocean. The character I found most affecting was Google - shining a light on something I had no idea about (I thought Paull had added this for effect, and was fairly surprised to see that this is far from a fiction!)
I can understand why this made the Women's Prize shortlist, as it is certainly an innovative look at this subject - but I'm not sure it's one that will be enjoyed by everyone.