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A review by puzzledbooks
Whalefall by Daniel Kraus
5.0
“The whale is a fellow mammal; its gaze has a simian weight. By acknowledging Jay, it shares that it has a soul.”
“Man versus ocean. It’s not a fair fight. It never was.”
Summary: Jay Gardiner has put on his scuba gear and returned to the ocean with one goal: to find his father’s remains…the father who taught him all he knows about scuba, the ocean, and its inhabitants. His training is still good, and his determination is sound, until a sperm whale in the midst of a feeding enters his path.
Oh man. As soon as I saw this, I just had to have the ARC, and I am so appreciative that @netgalley approved me. As someone with a relatively intense fear/discomfort about the ocean and small spaces, I immediately fell into it.
The story is told as Jay slowly loses PSI as he attempts what seems like an impossible escape: a way out of the belly of a whale. The atmosphere is claustrophobic and as Jay’s PSI slowly drops, chapter by chapter, I got more and more tense. Then the present is peppered with scenes from his past, his upbringing, and the training his father gave him.
Kraus did a phenomenal job detailing the panic, the close quarters, the entire atmosphere. What could sound at the surface as ridiculous or comical (“man swallowed by whale, very Pinocchio”) is anything but; Kraus clearly did his research to keep even this tale as scientifically plausible as possible, and that work shows.
A definite contender for my favorite of 2023 even though it’s only May. I already feel the urge to dive (heh) into a re-read.
5/5
“Man versus ocean. It’s not a fair fight. It never was.”
Summary: Jay Gardiner has put on his scuba gear and returned to the ocean with one goal: to find his father’s remains…the father who taught him all he knows about scuba, the ocean, and its inhabitants. His training is still good, and his determination is sound, until a sperm whale in the midst of a feeding enters his path.
Oh man. As soon as I saw this, I just had to have the ARC, and I am so appreciative that @netgalley approved me. As someone with a relatively intense fear/discomfort about the ocean and small spaces, I immediately fell into it.
The story is told as Jay slowly loses PSI as he attempts what seems like an impossible escape: a way out of the belly of a whale. The atmosphere is claustrophobic and as Jay’s PSI slowly drops, chapter by chapter, I got more and more tense. Then the present is peppered with scenes from his past, his upbringing, and the training his father gave him.
Kraus did a phenomenal job detailing the panic, the close quarters, the entire atmosphere. What could sound at the surface as ridiculous or comical (“man swallowed by whale, very Pinocchio”) is anything but; Kraus clearly did his research to keep even this tale as scientifically plausible as possible, and that work shows.
A definite contender for my favorite of 2023 even though it’s only May. I already feel the urge to dive (heh) into a re-read.
5/5