
People of the Whale
A Novel
کتاب های مرتبط
- اطلاعات
- نقد و بررسی
- دیدگاه کاربران
نقد و بررسی

Thomas Witka Just is a member of a fictional Northwest tribe with ties to the whale and the octopus. Unexpectedly, he signs up to fight in Vietnam, where he deserts the Army and forms another family. Stefan Rudnicki effectively uses his deep voice to render Thomas as a lost soul and his abandoned wife, Ruth, as the conscience of the tribe. The tribe is also lost, and when it revives the practice of whaling for the wrong reasons, a series of disasters occurs. Although Rudnicki's timing is impeccable--he slows and softens his tone with each tragedy--the overall narration is a bit overly dramatic--in the manner of reading to a child. A.B. (c) AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine

June 16, 2008
In telling a story of the fictional A'atsika, a Native people of the American West Coast who find their mythical origins in the whale and the octopus, Hogan (Mean Spirit
) employs just the right touch of spiritualism in this engrossing tale. When Thomas Witka Just succumbs to peer pressure and joins the army, then is sent to Vietnam, Ruth Small is pregnant with his child. In an attempt to prevent an atrocity, Thomas kills fellow soldiers and deserts, ultimately blending into the Vietnamese culture and fathering a child, Lin, by Ma, a village girl. In the meantime, Ruth gives birth to their son, Marco Polo, who is said to have the same mystical whaling powers of Thomas's grandfather. Years later, following Thomas's return, Dwight, a ne'er-do-well friend of Thomas's, arranges for the tribe to kill a whale and to sell the meat to the Japanese, a plan that will draw in Marco Polo and set up a confrontation between the whole ensemble. Despite the plot's multiple strands, the story flows smoothly, and Hogan comes up with a powerful, romantic crescendo.

November 15, 2008
In this latest novel from American Book Award® winner and Pulitzer® Prize finalist Hogan ("Mean Spirit"), a young man returns to his seaside Native American village after the Vietnam War to find his tribe in conflict over the decision to hunt a whale. Hogan's combination of mythic and realistic elements results in a spiritual listening experience, while Audie® Award-winning narrator Stefan Rudnicki's perfectly paced and sonorous diction adds just the right weight. Recommended for public libraries with a demand for Hogan's earlier works. [Audio clip available through www.blackstoneaudio.com.Ed.]Karen Fauls-Traynor, Sullivan Free Lib., Chittenango, NY
Copyright 2008 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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