I picked this book up because it went with my water theme and it was on a list of Barak Obama's favorites. I've honestly never gone wrong with anything off his lists. While they are not all favorites, I've always learned some interesting things and gained insights from them!
This book has a lovely cover. I like the whale tail so much even though that particular whale was none too friendly to our protagonists.
This is one of those non-fiction reads that seems to be fiction at first blush. Readers follow Maurice and Maralyn who embark on a journey from the UK to New Zealand- in the 1970's. Maurice is much older than Maralyn, and he's shocked she wanted to marry him. Based on my read, he was clearly on the autism spectrum- with difficulty giving up routine, and some strong preferences regarding how things should be done etc. Maralyn was more easygoing and able to recognize that her husband wasn't always well liked and thus she was able to smooth the way for him. A sailing trip in itself wouldn't have been much of a story, but mid trip- the couple find their ship damaged by a whale. The ship sinks and they were left to drift for over 100 days. When finally rescued by a Korean fishing vessel, a media frenzy takes over their lives. I don't want to spoil the story, but it was remarkable how this already unlikely couple worked together to survive this ordeal, heal and return to sailing again.
As a reader, I tend to have several books going at one time, and it's rare for me to concentrate on just one, but this one- I found I couldn't put it down and I had it read in 3 days. I think it's an interesting companion to Moby Dick ( which I've been delving into slowly) as both have an oddly obsessed captain type, a whale nemesis, and a journey undertaken for personal reasons. While the cover is beautiful, I'm not positive I'd recommend it for gifting, as it might be seen as a commentary on someone else's relationship etc.
I found this to be very well written, engrossing, and thoughtful and well worth the time taken to enjoy.
First Published : 2/2024
Pages: 256
Available as an Audio Book :YES
Trigger Warnings: Animal death, unusual food consumption, starvation
Not a full TW list, please read responsibly
No comments:
Post a Comment