Whalefall

As soon as I read the premise of Whalefall-a young man named Jay Gardiner undertakes a difficult task of locating his father’s remains in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Monastery Beach-I knew that I had to read it. The ocean has always been a fascinating and terrifying thing for me, as I personally can’t swim. Aside from that fact, the thought of being so vulnerable to various creatures that you can’t even see, is still enough to make my heart beat a little bit faster despite being on dry land. 

Now add the trauma surrounding Jay’s father’s life and death, along with the horror of being swallowed by a massive sperm whale and you have a novel that keeps you on the edge of your seat while tearing at you emotionally. Whalefall is both painful and triumphant, there were moments that I wanted to comfort Jay, who is still only a teenager and experiencing such a harrowing encounter and one where I yelled “No!” aloud due to sheer horror and disbelief. 

I devoured Whalefall over the weekend, with most of my time spent reading it the second day. I was never bored and while the relationship between Jay and his father Mitt was sometimes difficult to stomach-depictions of childhood emotional abuse are present within the flashbacks-the eventual resolution was worth the experience. 

The actual struggle that Jay undergoes trying to escape from the sperm whale that swallowed him was captivating. I feel as though I learned a great deal about sperm whales and scuba diving, and it felt natural, as opposed to mere exposition. I could picture everything clearly and every new challenge left me somewhat afraid of the conclusion. 

How does one escape the stomach of a whale? How does one grow to understand the specter of a complicated parent? Whalefall is a phenomenal novel that answers both questions and takes both the reader and Jay on an incredible journey along the the way.