Customer Reviews

White As the Waves

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I tracked this book down after Marc Bekoff recommended it (twice, in two of his books). His other recommendation, The White Bone (Barbara Guest), I have read, reviewed, and endorsed. Both are worth reading and more than that.

Among the confusing facts about White as the Waves, a re-telling of Moby Dick "from the whales' point of view," is its off-putting designation as "Young Adult Fiction." It is "young adult fiction" in the way that Charlotte's Web and the Earthsea trilogy are "children's books." In other words, don't be fooled. The language is spare and simple and readable, and there are few details that the most uptight adult will find cringe-worthy. Baird's white whale can be rather youthful in his sensibility (he's not quite convincing as the venerable nemesis of Captain Ahab), but the story is rich with accurate details and convincing evocations of whale life, and it is unflinching in its condemnation of the sin we commit by pursuing these beautiful, harmless creatures to extinction.

Baird's retelling of Moby Dick is not as compelling and breathtaking as Barbara Guest's first-person narrative of elephant extinction, but it is a fine book and belongs in print. Not only is this book out of print, but it's a rare book that I was fortunate enough to find at (only) its original publication price. Unfortunately, you probably won't even find it in an extensive public library. Looking at the bin after bin of scifi and fantasy and mass market sludge that remains on the market year after year, it seems tragic that this book is so hard to find.

White as the Wave is a book for all ages. Read it and grieve for what we have done.