more technothriller and less high concept / first contact than I expected. engaging & brings up a lot of interesting questions, but I wanted it to go more technothriller and less high concept / first contact than I expected. engaging & brings up a lot of interesting questions, but I wanted it to go deeper...more
honestly kinda like reading hard scifi, with the positively abtruse sailing jargon throughout every page and submersion into what feels like a foreignhonestly kinda like reading hard scifi, with the positively abtruse sailing jargon throughout every page and submersion into what feels like a foreign world. he may as well have made up every detail as far as I’d be able to tell (although as I understand historical research was extensive). this is a feature of course, not a bug...more
I kept wanting more of this book -- more of the lucid immersive world-building, more poetic description of life in the ocean, more exploration of charI kept wanting more of this book -- more of the lucid immersive world-building, more poetic description of life in the ocean, more exploration of character relationships and the broader underwater society, more about the historical connection to land dwellers, more plot about navigating these relationships and connections... On the surface it's a short simple novel that has much more potential than it is able to follow through on, which is a bit dissatisfying.
The real strength is how the story reverberates, reinterprets, relates to broader connections outside the novel itself -- the real world history and trauma it's based on, the song by clipping., the initial music concept by Drexciya. It's about collectively bearing both the burden and joy of ancestral history, about interpreting heritage together as a group, about the strength that comes from this group connection that is missing when by yourself....more
Very readable, at times more simplistic than I'd like. I often wanted it to go more in depth than it did, with either detailed facts or interpretive iVery readable, at times more simplistic than I'd like. I often wanted it to go more in depth than it did, with either detailed facts or interpretive insights, but I'm reminded of something Melville wrote, along the lines of how the "mighty subject" of the whale can hardly be contained in any limited medium (although I may be conflating several quotations there). The unknowable! the sublime! And yet, scientists today do their best to gather and piece together relevant data to solve the never-ending mysteries of these leviathans. I appreciated how this book legitimizes a layperson's aesthetic/shallow interest in whales ("wow big! wow deep!") like my own, with scientific questions and facts underlining why we should be fascinated by the biology of how big they are, by how far they range across the globe, by their longevity and long history, by the mysteries of the ocean as an under-explored hinterland. The book is not just about whales, but about geological time, ecological webs, global weather patterns, centuries of human history -- whales are a product of their context on a grand scale, which is what makes them such a "mighty subject" beyond their fascinations as individuals. In another life I would most certainly be a biologist.
3.5, rounded up mostly because of how jazzed I am about whales and because it reminds me how much I want to reread Moby Dick some day. ...more
A fascinating deep sea dive! Lots of trippy facts, anecdotes, and questions about consciousness and the strange world of ocean life. Read this to expaA fascinating deep sea dive! Lots of trippy facts, anecdotes, and questions about consciousness and the strange world of ocean life. Read this to expand the mind and relationship to how various creatures perceive the world vs themselves.
I was, however, often left wanting a little more depth with succinct conclusions that better tie together the various tangents. It rambled a bit, but I would have liked an attempt to take the ideas introduced one step further. Also, there was proportionately less about octopuses than I expected, although not a drawback since every subject was fascinating and still related to the broader title/theme....more
Clear, engaging science journalism that was perfect for the layperson (me) who knows little about the subject going in. Absolutely loved the fascinatiClear, engaging science journalism that was perfect for the layperson (me) who knows little about the subject going in. Absolutely loved the fascinating jellyfish facts and the author's enthusiasm for the subject (she reads the audiobook and this clearly comes through), as well as the parts of the memoir that directly connected to her journey towards researching jellyfish and climate change. What strange aliens that live in our seas! And how wondrous/astounding that so much about them remain a mystery.
However, there were significant portions of the memoir aspect that seemed overly tangential, or at least too mundane to bother writing a book about. If I were having a conversation with her personally, it might be interesting to hear about her personal journey, and indeed the stories she told could be relatable, sympathetic, admirable, in a context where I'm invested in her. However, as part of a book with otherwise more interesting subject matter to discuss, it was jarring sometimes to transition from her detective work finding answers on exciting scientific inquiries, back to relatively mundane personal issues about minor anxieties; I didn't really care, and her attempts to connect the two to be relevant to each other on a thematic level were flimsy at best....more
This historical narrative brings to life the harrowing tragedy that inspired Moby Dick. It's gripping and immersive, while also being obviously well-rThis historical narrative brings to life the harrowing tragedy that inspired Moby Dick. It's gripping and immersive, while also being obviously well-researched, and (appreciatively) didn't drag anything on longer than it needed to, either for drama or past the facts available. If after reading Moby Dick, you've somehow found yourself wanting to know EVEN MORE about whalers, Nanucket, and survival on the sea, (or if maybe you're nostalgic for aspects of Moby Dick but are reluctant to reread such a tome at the moment) then this is the book for you! ...more
A thoroughly enjoyable, informative read-- a great choice if you want to learn about new places, but also want to be talked out of actually travellingA thoroughly enjoyable, informative read-- a great choice if you want to learn about new places, but also want to be talked out of actually travelling to them.
Despite the racist title*, I continue to find Maarten's perspective and engagement with foreign cultures refreshing. This book, as the third one of his I've read, really made me feel like I have gotten to know Maarten as a person, in addition to becoming familiarized with the foreign places he lives/visits. As other reviewers have remarked, his writing is reminiscent of Bill Bryson with the wacky personal encounters interwoven with background history and facts, and I find it interesting that both men are "culturally American" but for large swaths of their life have lived abroad or travelled. In addition to providing more fodder for the foreign travel genre, I think this experience gives him a unique cultural perspective to write from as well as a refreshingly nonjudgemental, easygoing approach. Indeed, the most enjoyable parts of his books are not the fantastic, incredible things he sees (although the marriage/dancing ceremony was really cool), but the everyday observations of minor challenges/clashes and, especially, the collossal mishaps he faces. He doesn't have adventures, so much as misadventures, but this only makes the stories more interesting (and me glad I can't travel to where he goes).
*Calling tribal peoples savages envokes a long, colored history of oppression by Westerners. That said, Maarten is nothing but respectful of native populations in places he lives/travels, certainly more so than most of the other expats and Westerners he encounters abroad, and I get the deep impression he is entirely sincere in his recountings (not edited for the book). It's obvious he sees people as, well, people-- I like the story about them not having extravagent security at their house, unlike a friend's who was robbed, and his advice is for the friend is to visit his local kava bar instead of the expats' kava bar-- don't view people as part of the scenery but relate to them as community. Also, with the title I get what he was going for though, particularly as a sequel to Sex Lives of Cannibals-- it encapsulates his sense of humor (fuck it, I'll call it the most shocking and wacky thing I can think of so maybe someone might accidentally buy it), albeit with unfortunate word choice....more
This book is a voyage-- long, exhausting, but with flashes of intense excitement and moments of pure beauty. You will notice that I started this book This book is a voyage-- long, exhausting, but with flashes of intense excitement and moments of pure beauty. You will notice that I started this book over 3 years ago, but despite how many times I put it down, was compelled to keep reading it in small bursts until I finished. For the most part this is not a book filled with such dramatic tension to keep one up reading late at night-- rather the short, poetic, often ponderous chapters are meant to be taken a day at a time. You shouldn't try to sail around the world in a day- you would not only be overwhelmed and exhausted but miss the sights along the way.
Moby Dick is unlike any other novel I've ever read, and you can't approach reading it like you would any traditional book. Some article I read mentioned that Moby Dick takes place on two axes-- a horizontal axis that is the progression of the plot (man goes on a whaling voyage, hunts whales, tragedy ensues), and a vertical axis that connects every part of that journey to other topics, expanding each scrap of information from facts to philosophy. We travel with Ishmael along the surface of the ocean, but periodically dive down into the depths of human knowledge to search for greater truth. While in the midst of a chapter on rope this can seem dull and inane, but altogether it builds into a grand masterpiece.
This quotation in particular sums up what Ishmael as narrator is trying to do with his telling of this tale: "For in the mere act of penning my thoughts of this Leviathan, they weary me, and make me faint with their outreaching comprehensiveness of sweep, as if to include the whole circle of the sciences, and all the generations of whales, and men, and mastodons, past, present, and to come, with all the revolving panoramas of empire on earth, and throughout the whole universe, not excluding its suburbs. Such, and so magnifying, is the virtue of a large and liberal theme! We expand to its bulk. To produce a mighty book, you must choose a mighty theme. No great and enduring volume can ever be written on the flea, though many there be who have tried it."
There have, I'm sure, been whole books written interpreting the themes and heavy symbolism from this book, so I'm treading well-worn ground even attempting to discuss this. But perhaps that's the overarching theme Melville himself is aiming for in his heady explorations of whales throughout history, cultural interpretations of whiteness, philosophy of whaling laws, etc-- symbols are in the eye of the beholder, so can we ever claim to know true meaning? Queequeg has intricate tattoos all over his body that tell "a complete theory of the heavens and the earth, and a mystical treatise on the art of attaining truth", but he himself cannot read them! They are a mystery for him to unfold. Numerous omens foretell the Pequod's tragic fate, but Ahab in his monomania wilfully interprets them omens of good fortune and his impending success. Even what should be a straightforward endeavor to classify types of whales involves Ishmael as narrator picking and choosing what observations to include, what facts are superfluous, which characteristics are important to consider.
Ishmael as narrator tirelessly (enthusiastically) deconstructs every fact he knows related to whales and the whaling industry, both straightforward mundanities and deeper abstract meanings, just as Ahab tirelessly attempts to have his vengeance and bodily conquer Moby Dick. However, in the end, Ahab dies and Ishmael writes a long meandering book with few concrete conclusions--whatever Moby Dick symbolizes (God, the Sublime, the power of nature, truth, the human condition, life or mortality), it is only something we can seek (the act of seeking is itself meaningful and important!) and never something we can indisputably conquer.
Anyway, this whale of a book was a lot of work to kill, but immensely satisfying by the end....more
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