Whalefall by Daniel Kraus 
Two stars but I am mad about it
Screenshot 2023-11-09 204811.png
HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
okay so,
I did not enjoy this book!
But I feel like it's not for the reasons most people with middling reviews didn't enjoy this book. Lemme break it down into sections--
1) the whale stuff
I was fine with this content, actually! The book touts itself as "scientifically accurate" and to me, a complete layman in regards to whale biology, it passed. Most readers were upset more of the book wasn't about surviving in and/or escaping the whale, but I didn't really expect the entire book to be about that because, like, at that point it's turned into a wild Magic School Bus Adventure. The narrative was careful not to paint the whale as a villain, and just as a circumstance. The descriptions of how the stomach/s moved and the conditions within, as well as how he maintained his diving equipment and the whole air/pressure situation, felt tense and good.
2) the daddy issues stuff
OHKAY SO GASDih;osdfgh dfsbf
The core story is that Jay, who is like eighteen, is going on a dangerous dive in order to try and find his father's remains in the ocean. His father committed suicide by jumping off a boat because he had incredibly terminal cancer; before that, he and Jay had not spoken or seen each other for something like two years, because his father was an abusive alcoholic. The catalyst event was a fight between himself and his father where his father behaved aggressively and Jay, scared, fled from him and his entire household. (He has two sisters and a mother and I! hate them!!!!!)
That's all fine, and complex, and at first I thought I was going to be okay with how the novel explored some obviously very heavy themes: you have regret for not making amends, you have the weird sensation of others treating someone like they were a saint when they were not solely because they are dying/dead, you have familial pressures to behave certain ways, etc etc lots of stuff going on
fffffffffffffffuck how the writer decided to handle it!
As a caveat I am obviously very sensitive about this entire theme, and I acknowledge that, but the final resolution placed way too much goddamn blame on Jay, a child, for his father's shitty behavior. Yes, you often do have good memories of people who abused you, mixed in with the bad. No, those good memories do not mean that the times were better than you remember. Yes, it's difficult and weird to know that the monster of your childhood (or whatever situation) is also a human being who is capable of love and laughter. But again, no, that does not mean that you owe them anything. The child is not obligated to make amends and peace, regardless of age, although to me it's important, as well, that Jay is quite young. If Jay's dad wanted peaceful resolution, he could've used his fucking big boy voice to apologize. If he couldn't even manage that on his death bed, then I think he should jump into the ocean twice.
Yes, I'm being very harsh.
3) the writing style
This is also a thumbs down for me, although definitely less of an aggressive thumbs down than point #2.
The way I would describe my issue is that the writing style felt a little too "try hard"? Like, as the reader, there were a lot of times where I felt like the writer was perhaps overly proud of landing a real heart-wrenching line or a zinger of a metaphor. I am not sure how to define the difference between that and actually doing those things, but I think some of it is he just did it way too often. I dunno how else to describe it except to say my impression was the writer was extremely aware he was writing an emotional story about connecting with your dead abusive dad and that awareness kept some of the prose from feeling genuine. Don't know if that makes sense, or is even fair, but it's how I felt!
#books2023
