
At the school I work at, students can earn "money" for making good choices. Among other things, it can be used towards a monthly raffle. While the raffle prize varies month to month, giant stuffed animals are some of the common prizes. Usually the stuffed animal is given some sort of name. This month is Herman the Whale.
Book 9 for my #TenBeforeTheEnd and one I‘ve had on my shelf since it was long listed for the Women‘s Prize years ago. An entertaining tale based on true events in a whaling community in 1908. The main character Mary is funny and the writing had me laughing out loud a few times. Glad I finally read it!
#5joysfriday @DebinHawaii
• Reading the tagged book🐳
The unharming sharks, they glided by as if with padlocks on their mouths; the savage sea-hawks sailed with sheathed beaks. On the second day, a sail drew near, nearer, and picked me up at last. It was the devious-cruising Rachel, that in her retracing search after her missing children, only found another orphan.
#MobyDick #HermanMelville #book #books #bookmark #Classics #Fiction #Literature #Adventur #HistoricalFiction #Novels #American #Audiobook
5/5. Based on the shipwreck of the Essex. A whaler based out of Nantucket, it was sunk when an angry sperm whale rammed it. This story was the inspiration for Moby Dick. The portrayal of cannibalism the crew was forced to resort to in order to stay alive is horrifying. (Side note-apparently cannibalism became so common after shipwrecks that when survivors were rescued they were quick to say when they hadn‘t resorted to cannibalism 😳)
#FirstLineFridays
Like a giant bird of prey, the whaleship moved lazily up the western coast of South America, zigging and zagging across a living sea of oil.
This dark listen covers a lot— from the tail end of the whaling era, violent men, the violence of whaling and sealing, plus the harsh conditions of survival in the Arctic Circle. The characters are hard to connect with, but even in their worst moments, still feel authentic. The audio is well-performed and while I never felt eager to keep listening (definitely don‘t eat while listening!!), I was still intrigued to see where it would all go.