Christopher Moore, not quite on the mark
Fluke: Or, I Know Why the Winged Whale Sings by Christopher Moore; 321 pages; genre: humorous pseudo-sci-fi; rating: &&&
other books I've read by Moore: Lamb, Practical Demonkeeping, Coyote Blue, Bloodsucking Fiends, The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove
Moore steps into the world of whale researchers and environmentalism with this one, couples it with governmental and pseudo-academic skulduggery, adds a side of Hawaiian surfer stoners, and finishes with a generous portion of comedic science fiction - all with mixed results. The sci-fi aspects of the book are just silly (and occasionally crass, and probably entirely unnnecessary to the greater plot), but I think the real problem is that Moore gets a bit preachy with his environmental concerns, to the detriment of his main strength which is a profoundly humorous empathy with his characters. I'm as much of a save-the-whales crunchy sort as anyone, so it's not that I disagree with his sympathies. But unlike any of his other works - even Lamb, a supremely touching and wildly funny revisioning of the life and death of Jesus Christ - Moore has an easy-to-spot axe to grind here, and it makes Fluke not quite as much fun as perhaps it could have been with more subtlety on his part.
Still, it's a lot more entertaining than Moby-Dick. :)
2007 totals: 5 books, 1615 pages
other books I've read by Moore: Lamb, Practical Demonkeeping, Coyote Blue, Bloodsucking Fiends, The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove
Moore steps into the world of whale researchers and environmentalism with this one, couples it with governmental and pseudo-academic skulduggery, adds a side of Hawaiian surfer stoners, and finishes with a generous portion of comedic science fiction - all with mixed results. The sci-fi aspects of the book are just silly (and occasionally crass, and probably entirely unnnecessary to the greater plot), but I think the real problem is that Moore gets a bit preachy with his environmental concerns, to the detriment of his main strength which is a profoundly humorous empathy with his characters. I'm as much of a save-the-whales crunchy sort as anyone, so it's not that I disagree with his sympathies. But unlike any of his other works - even Lamb, a supremely touching and wildly funny revisioning of the life and death of Jesus Christ - Moore has an easy-to-spot axe to grind here, and it makes Fluke not quite as much fun as perhaps it could have been with more subtlety on his part.
Still, it's a lot more entertaining than Moby-Dick. :)
2007 totals: 5 books, 1615 pages