People of the Whale by Linda Hogan

People of the Whale Reviews

• 
  Christina Carson

  I have spent many years studying and working with First Nations in Canada. Their way of understanding the world is one that could teach us a great deal about wholeness, lack of attachment and interconnectedness. In this novel, Linda Hogan, a Native herself, not only tells a truly poignant tale but does so in the manner that reveals an authentic portrayal of Natives and their interactions. It's lyrical nature often has the rhythm that their songs do, and it carries the story along with the same sort of flow in which they live. Withhold your judgement if you know little of these cultures, for they are indeed different from us. But in that difference lies a vast wisdom. Would that we had such healing spiritual roots to return to. Though the story is necessarily bleak, the novel is a rich portrayal of a people struggling to find themselves once again.
  
  
• 
  Julie Eilén

  Wow. Just wow. I have no words for this book yet, I need some time for it to sink in first.
• 
  Tamara Agha-Jaffar

  
  People of the Whale by
  Linda Hogan portrays the lives of the A’atsika Nation in a Native American village on the Pacific coast. Hogan integrates Native American mythology and folklore with the daily lives of the A’atsika people to form an intricate web illustrating the importance of wholeness and interconnectedness with all creatures whether on land, sea, or sky.
  
  The central characters are Ruth and Thomas, a married couple who have been sweethearts since childhood. Ruth and Thomas have in common auspicious beginnings. Born with gills that have to be removed surgically, Ruth’s affinity with the sea is marked from birth. Thomas’ birth coincides with a large octopus emerging from the sea to take up temporary habitation in a dark cave. The villagers shower the octopus with gifts, perceiving it as a sacred being. Thomas’ mother acknowledges her son’s intimate connection with the octopus. She carries her infant to the mouth of the cave every evening as a form of dedication to the octopus, seeking its protection for her son.
  
  Ruth and Thomas lead simple, idyllic lives until Thomas enlists to join the military and is shipped off to Vietnam. Their paths diverge for many years. Ruth remains in the village, giving birth to their son, Marco, and raising him as a single mother. She instills in him the values and culture of his people. Thomas, meanwhile, exposed to the horrors and atrocities perpetrated by all sides in Vietnam, has become a fractured human being. He takes up residence in one of the Vietnamese villages, is embraced by the locals, marries, and has a child. After his wife dies by walking into a mine field, Thomas is picked up by American troops and returned to America.
  
  Hogan skillfully weaves the separate lives of Ruth and Thomas until Thomas returns to his native village many years later. But Thomas is now a changed man, tortured by images of carnage and haunted with nightmares. His flashbacks are scattered and disjointed, and it is not until the end of the novel that a complete picture emerges of his experience in Vietnam.
  
  Hogan’s language is lyrical, her sentences rhythmic, her pace unhurried. She moves backwards and forwards in time and place, picking up a thread here, dropping it there, replicating the ebb and flow of the ocean that permeates every aspect of the villagers’ lives. She draws parallels between the Vietnamese villagers struggling to eke a living with those of the Native American villagers struggling to do the same under a different set of circumstances. She blurs the lines between the spiritual and physical realms. Her characters are richly drawn and believable, with Ruth emerging as the indomitable moral center fighting to retain traditional values with their concomitant respect for the natural environment against the onslaught of greed and exploitation of that same environment.
  
  With sensitivity, compassion, and insight into Native American culture, Linda Hogan explores the issues of loyalty to family and tribe; adherence to traditional values; the quest for wholeness; the wisdom of the elders; respect for the natural environment; the survival of the human spirit against seemingly insurmountable odds; the restoration of balance; and the spiritual and physical interconnectivity of all forms of life.
  
  This is a beautiful story, beautifully told, illustrating the fragility and delicacy of all life.
  
  Highly recommended.
• 
  Sarah

  Hogan's writing is so rich and intricate that I found myself actually stumbling through the first third of this book, having to put it down for longer stretches than I wanted to while I mustered up more patience and focus to continue on. Hogan's voice just felt so otherwordly and I felt like I couldn't experience the characters directly enough because she seemed to write around them rather than about them. But soon enough I fell into sync with it all and found myself doing exactly the opposite: fully experiencing the characters and appreciating the beauty of the misty, bones-and-breath prose. It's a difficult story but an important one, something you experience rather than simply read. It gets five stars for being a 'substantial piece of literature' rather than just a 'really good book.'
• 
  Lauren Davis

  This is one of those books I'm going to re-read. It's just so RICH. The writing is astounding, and the story is compelling. Such wisdom and healing - wide and deep as the sea, and the whales and the people who live in profound harmony with their environment.
  
  A couple of quotes: "
  
  “He wakes up and he is not a halfhearted man and he can’t remember why he wakes this way, except that he hears the sound of birds and it is as if behind the human world something else is taking place. "
  
  and:
  
  “Like the water, the earth, the universe, a story is forever unfolding. It floods and erupts. It births new worlds. It is circular as our planet and fluid as the words of the first people who came out from the ocean or out of the cave or down from the sky. Or those who came from a garden where rivers meet and whose god was a tempter to their fall, planning it into their creation along with all the rest.”
  
  Marvelous. Hogan is a literary priestess.
• 
  Robert Wechsler

  In this novel, Linda Hogan did just about everything right. And at least as far as I’m concerned, this wasn't easy, because the novel contains several things that do not appeal to me, including the real-life effects of Native American tales (aka magical realism), some New Age-y language, and repetitive tales and phrases that do not grow with repetition. And yet Hogan made it all work.
  
  She pulls off a narrative pace that is, for the most part, rapid to the point of sketchiness. She successfully mixes Native American and Vietnamese hill cultures. There is a good balance between real-world issues and myth. And the character around whom everything turns — a Native American woman named Ruth — is more than capable of holding the novel together. This is as American as any novel I've ever read; don't think of it as just Native American.
  
  Hogan��s ear for prose isn’t perfect, but it’s sufficiently good and at a consistent level, and she handles the density and lyricism of the prose very well. The last section is the novel’s weakest, but as a whole this is an amazing, singular work. A 4.5.
• 
  Steve

  I wasn't so sure about this book for the first 75 pages or so. The language is very poetic and this was jarring and seemed a bit overdone at the start. But when part 2 kicked in, with the story of the main character's daughter growing up without him in the wake of the Vietnam War, Hogan hits her stride. And from that point the narrative never flagged for me. I guess either the poetry subsided or I grew so used to it that it didn't bother me any more. And, too, Hogan's characters are so richly drawn that I became wrapped up in their stories and need to see how they were resolved, which to me is a sign of great writing. Add to the this that Hogan tackles the big topics unflinchingly and shows us many aspects of a Native American culture that most people would never consider.. She looks at the effects of the war from so many different perspectives and also weighs in on the importance of finding your connection in your culture, while still living in the present. In the end, while I might not have finished this book based on the first 50 pages, I'm really glad I read it.
  
  
• 
  Miz Lizzie

  Linda Hogan is a poet who writes exquisitely beautiful and deeply meaningful novels about the emotional and environmental fall-outs of devastating events that somehow manage to come to a place of redemption and hope. Raised on a remote west coast reservation, Thomas Just goes out drinking with his buddies and ends up signing up to serve in the Vietnam War. The effects of the war on Thomas, his wife, his children, and his community reverberate through the years as everyone struggles to restore the lost balance in their lives and the world around them. Whales and the sea are the main sources for spiritual connection and redemption. Though all the characters are engaging, Thomas's wife, Ruth, was the emotional center of the novel for me. Her strength of spirit and ability to gracefully survive and speak her own truth are an inspiration.
• 
  Kelly

  I had such a good conversation with my BF about this book. I think Linda Hogan is a fantastic writer. This is a relatively short book but it took me quite a while to read because it's so dense. It's written beautifully, and the reason why I had to read it slowly is because I had to stop and think about Native American lore and culture and how that collides with Western (white) culture. Everything that Thomas was raised to believe, revere, and live is in complete contrast to what he has to do in the Vietnam War. The story is sad but not morose, and it's one of the best books (probably the best?!) that I have read that deals with post traumatic stress disorder from the war (particularly Vietnam).
  
  
• 
  Beverly Atkinson

  Very moving, captivating. Hogan created a challenging setting and main characters (Thomas and Ruth) and made them real. With difficulty and some unevenness, she transcended time and place, blurring the lines (if any) between earth, water, and spiritual worlds. Thomas, Ruth, Marco, Aurora, and other characters were quite believe-able.
  
  In "Power" (a novel), Hogan also deals with the issue of killing an animal -- in this case, the Florida panther which is "considered to be a sacred ancestor of the Taiga people." I highly recommend this novel.
• 
  Rosalyn Leigh

  haunting tale with beautifully metaphorical language and insight. 4 1/2 stars
• 
  Jenn

  The descriptions were beautiful and the story was beautiful and heart-breaking. The character of Ruth is - as Thomas observes - one of the only real warriors and heroes - and she’s absolutely incredible and I loved her. The collisions of old ways and new ways, colonizer culture and indigenous cultures, gender roles, and all the rest are beautifully and tragically described. As is the total devastation of wars and how the psychic wounds affect a whole culture. In ways it reminded me of Leslie Marmon Silko’s Ceremony - which I obsessively love - the writing is gorgeous and the narrative has the same slow burn and the beautiful revelation of culture and representations of the impact of the war on veterans and the struggles of younger generations who are trying to be assimilated into mainstream culture, but feel displaced everywhere. I didn’t love this as much - maybe because Tayo in Ceremony is one of my all-time faves and it’s hard to measure up, but I did love Ruth and find the story compelling.
• 
  Ryan Mishap

  A new book from another of my favorite novelists, this is just as good as her last. Set in a village of a native nation fallen on hard times on the Pacific Coast, young Thomas, descended from those who talked to the whales, loves childhood friend Ruth and they marry. When out drinking with his buddies, Thomas joins the army and is shipped to Vietnam. Ruth takes this as a betrayal, but does not stop loving him. His death is reported and Ruth continues on, fishing, arguing with the men who want to start hunting whales again, and trying to keep traditional values alive. She was pregnant when Thomas left, and their son, Marco, grows into manhood with the gift of tradition and the teaching of the elders.
  Thomas had not died, though, and one day he comes back, tortured by the death of his companion in Vietnam—he deserted and fell in with tribal peoples there—and at having to leave behind his daughter. Once home, he joins the whale hunt, though Ruth is against it. Marco, though against the way the hunt has been organized—the meat sold to Japanese interests—decides to accompany the hunt and tells the men not to shoot the first whale they encounter. They do, however, Marco is killed, and drought visits the village.
  Meanwhile, back in Vietnam, Thomas’ daughter struggles to survive after escaping the ransacking of her village. Eventually she secures a place in the city and decides to travel to America to see her father.
  From Ruth’s determination to stand for what is true for her people despite personal loss, to Thomas’ desperate inner conflicts, Lin’s journey growing up, or the folk wisdom of the elders, this is a beautiful, complex, and rewarding novel. Don’t miss it.
  
• 
  Jen

  This book was simply lovely. There are elements of Native American myth and story, woven together with the story of a man (like so many men) who lived through the horrors of Vietnam. Thomas Just and his wife Ruth are the central characters. Thomas is trying to make sense of, and return to his life in California (albeit with no further interest in Ruth) after the shattering yet also transformative experience of Vietnam. The A'atsika tribe that both Thomas and Ruth belong to is the true beating heart of this story. I think that their people's struggle to maintain, and re-discover their deep connections to the natural world are really what makes this story resonate and stick. At times the lines between reality and tradition in the narrative blur in a beautifully spellbinding way. I'll never think of an octopus or a whale the same way again after reading this. Highly recommended.
• 
  Sue

  I have been searching for words that can adequately describe all the ways I love this book. I can't. What I know is it's the most beautifully written book full of tales, conflicts and pain that I have ever experienced. I am so grateful for all the wisdom and lessons conveyed.
  Told under the backdrop of a Native American from a remote, seaside village who enlists in the Vietnam war,it is a history of sorts...culture wars, old ways vs new, internal struggles, good vs evil, man vs nature.
  The prose is poetically perfect, lyrical and takes time to get through. I tend to be a skimmer at times but I savored every word and didn't want it to end. My first reaction was to immediately begin to read it again.
• 
  Anne

  I liked this book, and true to Linda Hogan's other books, the imagery is amazing. The story started off really strong and I loved the fantastical embedded in Native American folklore. However, it soon jumped to Vietnam and back with a good storyline, but not as strong as where we'd started. I still wanted to learn more about Ruth being born with gills and what happened to Thomas, if even in the "other world". Most of the pieces wrapped up in the end, but with less energy and vividness than I'd hoped. I think this was a very personal story to the author but maybe the whales and the war were two different stories. This certainly won't stop me from reading all of her other books though...
• 
  Donna

  There were things I liked and things I didn't....almost in equal measure. I did the audio for this book and that was a plus.
  
  This was kind of a sad little story. The writing was quite eloquent. I felt though that it was a little too deep for me when it came to all the superstitions. I'm really not a fan of that.
  
  I liked the story of Marco and his family, but then it shifted to someone else. It felt a little disjointed and I kept wanting focus.
  
  So even though I liked this, I didn't like all of it.
• 
  Kat B.

  As usual, Linda Hogan tells a powerful story with beautiful, descriptive language that pulls me into the world of the story. This novel is one of my new favorites.
• 
  Bette

  Beautifully written. Characters are very real and the plot moves quickly. Cultures clash, Native American tradition of hunting whales vs. sport and money.
• 
  Lisa Penninga

  I chose this book because of the 2022 Q2 prompt “Octopus” and I am so glad I read it! The euphonic diction reads almost like poetry, and the tone is incredibly peaceful and purposeful despite it circling topics like grief, war, betrayal, and decay. It not only shows the contrasts of the real war and peace amongst American Indians, but also the betrayal of ancestral traditions to American profit. Thomas & Ruth’s relationship before and after the Vietnam was is so powerful, seeing the drastic change in Thomas. I love the themes of loyalty and betrayal to allies, the natural world, and our creator. The element of truth and living our truth is strongly tied to serious consequences that occur in nature and to our quality of life. A drought occurs when a character is murdered and betrayed, and the parallel consequences to the earth and the people was really well done. I also loved the historical allusions to the soldiers who went with good intentions but faced impossible decisions of whether to listen to their commands or go against America and save women and children. The wall in Washington was an interesting symbol, shown in contrast to the wall Thomas built so he couldn’t see the light. Overall, it was really a tragic, beautiful story that reminds us that evil exists everywhere, and we must open our eyes to our own truth and live that life in gratitude to our creator and those we love.
• 
  Jaime M

  I reached my 75th goal for books read with this book. What a lovely note to reach my goal on. This audio version has a really good voice actor and the story(ies), were so interesting and a topic not quite covered in other Indigenous materials. I love this book, the whales, the octopus & the women 💕
• 
  Peggy

  Values such as easy wealth, entitlement, and toxic masculinity threaten the well-being of a small community of Northwest Coast indigenous people. Thomas Just is a veteran of the Vietnam War who disappears himself in country rather than return home to his wife, Ruth, and son, Marco. When he finally makes his way back, it is to participate in a whale hunt that leads to tragedy. His behavior is impossible for either Ruth or the reader to understand until important information is slowly revealed. Ultimately, the novel is a story of redemption and justice. Although told through the perspectives of three characters and one of them arrives somewhat late in the narrative, I grew to care about each, and never stopped wanting to read on.
• 
  Cynthia Sillitoe

  4.5.
• 
  Mary

  I struggled a little bit with her non-linear storytelling, but it's a lovely story.
• 
  Valerie

  This is quite a peculiar book.
  
  The whole story itself is very beautiful, cool, wonderful, and even magical, and although the whole promised plot happens already in the very first part and finishes in the second, it's still a good read and I recommend it a lot.
  
  However, I must warn you about the prose.
  
  See, the prose itself isn't bad; if you're those "show, don't tell" partisans, you'll hate it a lot because the whole novel is pretty much about telling and very few showing. However, since I am not of those partisans, I can tell you that this telling prose is not really that annoying. As a matter of fact, if you see it as a traditional Indian narration, then you'll love its rather awkward but poetic style, and it will have so much more sense if you see it that way. Because if you don't, you won't enjoy it.
  
  Yet, and this is something I do want to warn you as well, one thing that REALLY annoyed me and that was the sole thing impeding me from giving 5 stars, is the fact that all main characters, obligatory, cry every single time.
  
  Every. Single. Fucking. Time.
  
  I swear to you, every page lists either Thomas or Ruth or Aurora or Lin crying... Maximum, every 5 pages. And soon it lost its mystical quality and became almost a drinking game. It's REALLY annoying. So yeah, get used to the "Drink every time somebody cries" game. You'll turn into vegetative state by the time the morning comes.
• 
  Heid

  Beautiful as all her prose, this book took me to the ocean and into the minds of a character whose transcendent relationship with water figures as heavily as the plot based on human experience. Excellent and troubling depictions of community politics and tribal obligations. And yet, as compelling as I found this book, I had to wonder over Hogan's creating a fictional tribe who (very like the actual Makah tribe) decide to reinstate the hunting of whales. I do not know why the Makah decided to hunt, but take as given they were within their rights. Hogan's fictional tribe set out to kill a whale for reasons stated as spiritual but it seems everyone knows the true motivations are economic. In the end it all goes horribly wrong, of course.
  
  All in all, the politics of hunting whales becomes less the center of this story than the post-trauma of one of the characters. Thomas Just's story of post-Vietnam trauma and his relationship to Ruth, a woman who loves the ocean like pentecostals love Jesus, is what makes People of the Whale a good read.