eBook People of the Whale: A Novel (9 CDs) download

This is an extraordinary book. As I began to read, I was moved by the disintegrating lives of the people of the whale, the struggle of the old ways and the new. It was beautiful, though there was nothing here that shocked and astounded me. But then Hogan took me to Vietnam, and my notions of what life is and how we live it fell away. I had known young men in that war, and saw the devastation that was their life when - if - they returned. But in this book, I lived that war, from all sides. And it came to me that what we are, native American, Vietnamese, pampered middle-class child of privilege - none of this matters. But where we are in this scene that is life: that's what matters. Whatever the man-made struggle we are inevitably living through, what part are we playing? Are we observers? Are we torturers? Are we victims? If we awaken, appalled, can we change our roles? Really, how do we live our lives in the human contradictions that surround us? The book goes full circle. I went back and reread the first third in light of the second. I put it aside before I could go on to the end.

I bought this book for Kindle. Now I want a paper and ink copy. I want - though I can't see how I'll get it - Hogan's signature on it. In the 1970s, I met Linda Hogan at a function in New York sponsored by the Women's Salon. We were both young writers, young women, if I recall, young mothers, struggling to find our voices. I had no way of knowing then what depths either of us could or would reach. We were caught in the drama of the young learning to live. I'll say now that Linda Hogan has gone as far down into our depths as any writer I have ever read. And as far up into the realms of hope.

Some books are meant to be devoured. A great mystery, for example, or a romance where you can't wait to see if the star-crossed lovers ends up together or not.

Other books are meant to be savored. People of the Whale by Linda Hogan falls into this latter category, and savor it I did, like a fine wine.
When Thomas Witka Just marries his childhood sweetheart, Ruth, they are sure their love will last until the last gray whale sings its final song. They are members of the (fictional) A'atsika tribe, a West Coast tribe that holds the whale sacred, who believe they are descended from the whale.

But the old ways are dying. When Thomas succumbs to peer pressure to enlist, he goes off to fight in Vietnam without really understanding what, exactly, he is getting into. The horrors of war and wonton killing of women and children get to be too much for him; he kills soldiers from his own platoon and slips off into the Vietnamese jungle, leaving his dog tags behind so he will be presumed dead. He blends in with the native people and makes a living growing rice. Eventually, he fathers a daughter, Lin, there.

Back home, Ruth has given birth to Thomas's son, Marco Polo Just. Marco becomes the hope of his people as he grows. He seems to have an intuitive relationship with the octopus and the whale, and as he grows, he is taken to the island of elders to be trained in the Old Ways.

When men from the tribe decide they should kill a whale, Ruth is horrified. Where are the old ways? Where are the purification rituals, the songs, the prayers, that were to be performed before the hunt? Where is the respect for their ancestor, the whale?

Thomas returns just in time for the hunt. Barely acknowledging his son, Marco, they both board the whaling boat, and soon a young whale is spotted. Then tragedy strikes, and what becomes of both Ruth, Thomas, at the A'atsika is destined to be changed forever.

With Hogan's poetic prose and acute understanding of native peoples and the sea, one cannot help but see her parallels between the near extinction of the whale, indigenous peoples, and the slaughter of innocents in Vietnam. In Thomas's search for redemption after the bungled whale hunt, and Ruth's search for the salvation of herself and her people, it is difficult not feel compassion for people whose way of life has been all but wiped out by greed and pressure to give up traditional ways.

People of the Whale is an apropos tale for our time. It encourages the reader to view the world with a more spiritual set of eyes, to respect the balance of nature and our role in it. As I write this review, I recall an interview I read this morning with a Florida Tea Party member, voicing her disapproval of protecting Florida's endangered manatees. :We cannot elevate nature above people," she said. "That's against the Bible and the Bill or Rights."

Nowhere in the Bill of Rights do I find a word giving humankind the right to destroy nature. And if I recall my biblical studies correctly, God first made the Garden of Eden. Humankind was an afterthought to nature.

We are not above nature. We are part of nature. We all are people of the whale, the bear, the tiger, the snake. People of the Whale is a beautiful, gentle reminder of this.

If only we could get the Tea Party to read it!

A captivating book where the words flow like poetry and the people come alive. The story gives a compassionate yet realistic look into the lives, trials and tribulations of indigenous people and their deep relationship with the ocean and the lives it holds. The catastrophic Viet Nam war is described in a way that underscores the horrors of war on civilians and soldiers alike while emphasizing the emotional costs on all. Including those left at home. The heroine, Ruth, is not infallible, but a truly believable, good hearted, strong woman who faces deep loss, deception, the scorn and wrath from others with dignity, honesty, and sincere compassion and commitment. I highly recommend this book and have know ordered more by this gifted author. Linda Hogan. It was a riveting and emotional read.

The author is a skilled word-smith, but the plot and characters did not do it for me. There was WAY too much mystical, meandering, mumbo-jumbo for me. Also, it seemed to be setting up to be yet another eco-vehicle. Perhaps I was thinking the book would be akin to early Jean Auel (books 1 and 2)? Anyway, I bought it at $1.99, and thus don't regret moving on to other things on my carousel. I read about 25% of this before dumping it in favor of a summary to see if I could stick with it. No dice.

I did not know whether to be horrified or supportive of Thomas. I was both. It is a book a out a human being, bad as complex as we all are.

An in-depth study of a man's disconnection from the traditions and essence of his tribal culture -- and through his willingness to face the reality of who he has become, his opportunity for remembrance and reconciliation. An exquisite study of the depth and variations of human emotions.

The story alternates between delightful and heartrending. A powerful novel.

The first one was fun; the others get to be repetitive. It seems like cut and paste made the sequels easy to do.