Book Description
"A voice for which one should feel not only affection but admiration." --The New York Times
The Whale Caller, Zakes Mda's fifth novel, is his most enchanting and accessible book yet-a romantic comedy of sorts in which the changing face of post-apartheid South Africa is revealed through prodigious, lyrical storytelling.
As the novel opens, the seaside village of Hermanus, on the country's west coast, is overrun with whale watchers-foreign tourists wearing floral shirts and toting expensive binoculars, determined to see whales in their natural habitat. But when the tourists have gone home, the Whale Caller lingers at the shoreline, wooing a whale he calls Sharisha with cries from a kelp horn. When Sharisha fails to appear for weeks on end, the Whale Caller frets like a jealous lover-oblivious to the fact that the town drunk, Saluni, a woman who wears a silk dress and red stiletto heels, is infatuated with him.
After much ado-which Mda relates with great relish-the two misfits fall in love. But each of them is ill equipped for romance, and their on-again, off-again relationship suggests something of the fitful nature of change in post-apartheid South Africa, where just living from one day to the next can be challenge enough.
Mda has spoken of the end of apartheid as a lifting of the South African novelist's burden to write on political subjects. With The Whale Caller, he has written a tender, charming novel-the work of a virtuoso among international writers.
Customer Reviews:
Magical ... or empty?.......2007-08-07
There is very little that can be said about this book without bending over backwards to find reasons to praise it. "Magical realism" implies the richness of Marquez, but what Mda has done with "The Whale Caller" is bland and generic. The description evokes no sense of place, and as far as offering a comment on "post-Apartheid South Africa" as the book jacket claims, don't expect it. Mda has written an allegory - a thin story which cannot support the weight of its design. Once again, instead of reading the blurbs on the back, take a few minutes and dip into the book anywhere - it doesn't matter where - and you will discover the empty sameness which permeates the entire book. It just doesn't go anywhere.
Not what I expected..........2007-07-17
It has a promising story, but it's development drops abruptly...I am sorry to say that, for me, this was a wearisome book.
Who is the Hermanus Penitent?.......2006-05-08
In a coastal South African town, the Whale Caller waits for Sharisha, a Southern Right whale, to return from Antarctic waters to spend the breeding season offshore. Every year she and the other migrating whales return to the sound of the Whale Caller's kelp horn, though he shares a particular bond is with Sharisha. The two spend long days in a mutual dance, the Whale Caller on shore with his jubilant performance, and the whale in the sea, breaching and lobtailing in response to his music.
This year, however, Sharisha is late, and the Whale Caller is desolate; has she been killed by Japanese whalers, or injured by an errant ship's propeller? So worried is he that at first he completely overlooks the attentions of a flesh-and-blood woman on shore, Saluni the town drunk and self-proclaimed "love child." When she is not wooing the Whale Caller, Saluni spends her time singy jazz ballads in her smokey voice to earn wine from the tavern patrons, or entertaining The Bored Twins, unattended children who are by turns perfect angels and demonic hellions.
Eventually, Saluni merely shows up at the Whale Caller's little house with a suitcase, which becomes the unofficial beginning of their unconventional relationship. Fully understanding Sharisha to be her competition, Saluni sets about to change the man she loves even as he tries to wean her off of wine. Their love ebbs and flows; sometimes they are consumed with a "sickness" for one another, and others they share a small bed for days without speaking. Eventually, this ill-fated love triangle reaches a heartbreaking climax, and in the end "The Hermanus Penitent" is left alone on the beach.
Mda applies magical realism to a very real South Africa, and the problems of the post-Apartheid nation are woven subtly throughout, while never feeling preachy or overbearing. For this American reader, it was a surprisingly intimate experience for such a faraway place. The characters are unique and honestly rendered, and the writing is simple but evocative. The Whale Caller reads much like a fable, but is just as much about the characters' obsessions and inner demons as it is a fairy tale set in modern Africa. The unexpected force of Mda's narrative lingers long after the last page is turned (and it's a tear-soaked page at that).
~Jacquelyn Gill
Dumb book.......2006-04-30
I picked this up at the library, and i am so glad that i didn't waste my money on it (like with Aragon, another DUMB book). This book started out slow, kept on staying slow, and the ending sucked. sorry to ruin the ending *SPOILER ALERT* but any book that ends up with a whale blown up and the female lead killed by a pair of kids is a bad book. This guy, while providing an interesting view of non-American life, knows nothing about whales and relationships, which is fine if he weren't writing about them. get it at a library if you must read this book.
Stood up by Sharisha?.......2006-03-05
After decades of wandering along the coasts of two Oceans, a sometime fisherman returns home. The remote South African town of Hermanuspietersfontein has phoenixed in his absence. It's now part of "The Whale Coast" and tourists flock here with cameras, video and tape recorders, dour expressions and money. The latter has brought vendors and craftspeople. The entire enterprise has cost the village the last four syllables of its name. The fisherman, who once caused a schism in his local church, is also enchanted by the whales. That attraction manifests itself as a compelling and spellbinding story - the creation of the Hermanus Penitent.
The Whale Caller, whose name we never learn, played a "kelp horn" so well for his church, that it split between those who adored his music and those who favoured tradition. He learns that the passing whales also have an ear for his music. One Southern Right in particular, who he dubs "Sharisha", is particularly responsive. Every season he waits for her return from the Southern Ocean [a third one!]. He will play the kelp horn for her and she will respond with her own cries and ecstatic maneuverings. They are a song and dance team.
When Sharisha fails to arrive, the Whale Caller is desolate. Has she been overrun by a ship, the propeller shredding her flesh? Have the Japanese whale fishers taken her for their sushi tables? He pines and grieves. With no means of learning what may have happened to Sharisha, the Whale Caller visits Mr Yodd to unload his troubles upon. Mr Yodd makes the Whale Caller feel he's overwrought and must find the patience to await Sharisha's return. Who is Mr Yodd and why does he live in a grotto at the edge of the community?
While the Whale Caller is learning to deal with his frustrations over Sharisha's absence, he becomes aware he's the object of someone's quest. Saluni, a "love child" who brooks no dispute with her elevated status, has set her sights on him. Although she normally frequents Hermanus' taverns, cadging drinks from the fishermen and other patrons, she has developed another quest. Hovering about as the Caller haunts the cliffs awaiting Sharisha, Saluni understands the whale is her competition. Plotting and scheming being a part of her nature, she wants the Whale Caller for herself. How do you compete with a whale, particularly one who dances and sings to the Caller's kelp horn music? Saluni's time is divided between pursuing the Whale Caller and the fascinating Bored Twins who's singing has captivated her as the Whale Caller's has Sharisha.
Mda's wide ranging experience and graceful prose has wrought a tale of endless interest. The tale verges on the new genre of "magical realism", but retains a firm hold on reality. There is fantasy, of course, but that lies mainly in the minds of the protagonists. The people are valid characters. If they do unusual things or act in bizarre ways, that's due to who they are, not because Mda wants to transport us to an illusory world. Take up this book secure in the knowledge you will enjoy a captivating read. It's a faraway place, but the journey is worth the time. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]
Customer Reviews:
The worst book ever! .......2005-09-13
I know Cassie's books are a like saccarine (light and sweet) but this book was ridiculous! They fall in love almost instantly without much dialoge or time spent together and there was little descriptions in how they look or for that matter look at each other or even how felt touching each other so soon, it was all very unemotional & rushed. Very vague in descriptions and I have no idea what they felt for each other, and made me uninterested in them as well. I wonder if the author had a deadline to submit chapters ASAP? Many chapters were 2 pages! Not only that, the redundant writing of Jo "murmered" over & over, I couldn't take it anymore and had to quit reading! I mean a lawyer, who murmurs? I could see a shy or low self esteemed person murmuring, but it is sometimes twice a page she uses that word! Egad!
I hate it.......2004-03-31
It's hard to believe that book was written by Cassie Edwards. What a deception !!!! It was the worst historical romance i've ever read!!!!!
It was soooooo silly and so childish that i couldn't finish it.
DON'T BUY IT.
Savage Fires.......2000-07-02
Cassie Edwards! You are the greatest. When I read your books I travel to another time and wish it was me falling in love with a powerful Chief. Not only Savage Fire but more than 50 of your Native American Series that I have read and have loved them all. Cassie, as long as you continue to write you will for sure keep me busy reading. Waiting for Savage Devotion. Continue writing wonderful books. I give you 5 stars for all the ones I have read. Please continue the wonderful writing and best wishes, jackie
Lunchroom.......2000-02-26
You should not bring this book into school and read it to your lunch table unless you are willing to accept the consequences. Altough it would be extremely humorous (thanks to Chris Van Artsdalen we know this)."The Novel dealt with the romance between a Native American Chief and a paraplegic lawyer"- Liberty Life
EXCELLENT!.......1999-11-09
I THOUGHT THE PLOT OF THIS BOOK WAS TRULY AMAZING! I COULDN'T PUT IT DOWN EVEN JUST FOR A MINUTE. THE STORY ABOUT WOLF AND JOSEPHINE WAS BREATHTAKING AND WEEL-WRITTEN! I WILL RECAMEND THIS BOOK TO ANYONE WHO LIKES BOOKS.
Average customer rating:
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Into the Fire
Jeffrey S. Savage
Manufacturer: Covenant Communications
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House of Secrets: A Shandra Covington Mystery
ASIN: 159156042X |
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Savage Fire
Phoebe Conn
Manufacturer: Zebra
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Binding: Paperback
Regency | Romance | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0821713973 |
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Savage Fire
Manufacturer: Pinnacle Books
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ASIN: 0523410921 |
Product Description
multiple books ship as one item. save on shipping/handling charges.
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multiple books ship as one item. save on shipping/handling charges.
Average customer rating:
- Favorite Novel
- Favorite Novel
- Literary novels of the fantastic
- 3 lovely early masterpieces...
- god awful
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Otherwise: Three Novels
John Crowley
Manufacturer: Harper Perennial
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Binding: Paperback
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Novelties & Souvenirs: Collected Short Fiction
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Novelty: Four Stories
ASIN: 0060937920 |
Book Description
The Deep
In a twilight land, two warring powers -- the Reds and the Blacks -- play out an ancient game of murder and betrayal. Then a Visitor from beyond the sky arrives to play a part in this dark
and bloody pageant. From the moment he is found by two women who tend to the dead in the wake of battles, it is clear that the great game is to change at last.
Beasts
It is the day after tomorrow, and society has been altered dramatically by experimentation that enables scientists to combine the genetic material of different species, mixing DNA of humans with animals. Loren Casaubon is an ethologist drawn into the political and social vortex that results with Leo -- a creature both man and lion -- at its center.
Engine Summer
A young man named Rush That Speaks is growing up in a far distant world -- one that only dimly remembers our own age, the wondrous age of the Angels, when men could fly. Now it is the "engine summer of the world," and Rush goes in search of the Saints who can teach him to speak truthfully, and be immortal in the stories he tells. The immortality that awaits him, though, is one he could not have imagined.
Customer Reviews:
Favorite Novel.......2007-09-17
This novel is hands-down my favorite. This almost comes as a shock to me, because I am usually not overfond of fantasy novels, as they tend to be predictable and set to a grade-school level.
Crowley creates worlds so fantastic and complex that the reader becomes instantly engaged. The fantasies are mysterious, dark, and beautiful. It goes beyond mere leisure reading - there is a concrete message embeded into each tale.
A must have.
Favorite Novel.......2007-09-17
This novel is hands-down my favorite. This almost comes as a shock to me, because I am usually not overfond of fantasy novels, as they tend to be predictable and set to a grade-school level.
Crowley creates worlds so fantastic and complex that the reader becomes instantly engaged. The fantasies are mysterious, dark, and beautiful. It goes beyond mere leisure reading - there is a concrete message embeded into each tale.
A must have.
Literary novels of the fantastic.......2007-04-18
In future centuries, Crowley may be remembered as one of the greatest writers of fantastical literature and science fiction in the 20th century. Just the same, people expecting adventure and action will be disappointed. These works are about feelings, myths, ideas, wonder, fables, and such. The novel Beasts, for example, uses genetic engineering to tell stories about a lion that would be king and a sly fox. If you like Borges, Calvino, and Lem, you will appreciate Crowley. If you are looking for adventures in space or swordsmen fighting wizards, Crowley is not for you.
Crowley's greatest work is Little Big which the best novel to start. Read these stories if you want more.
3 lovely early masterpieces..........2006-08-31
These three works are wonderful in themselves, and fascinating in their anticipations of Crowley's visionary masterpiece--and one of American fiction's handful of true masterpieces--Little, Big (1981).
Perpetually warring factions on a distant planet are thrown out of equilibrium when a stranger appears among them...The Deep is a gnostic parable ingeniously hidden in a just-this-side-of-cheesy '70s sci-fi adventure novel plot. Its secret concern is with the origins of the Renaissance, historically and as an emblem of personal rebirth. The ending is really, really something.
Beasts hides itself a bit also. In the dying America of a future Earth, biologically engineered man/animal hybrids attempt to throw off their chains and find a place in the world. They are variously aided and opposed by the novel's human beings, each of whom proves to be a very much distinct creature as well. It is a story of violent revolution, but also of our turning toward one another, from truly different perspectives, for the first time.
Engine Summer shrugs free of all adventure plot conventions and delivers the first dose of full Crowleyan power. It's a hair-tearing shame that this most perfect of books is buried away in genre fiction, to be sniffed at absently by seekers of pedestrian escapism now and then, but discovered by so few of the millions who would love it...The setting is the future again, but who cares? Well, Crowley, in a sense: the question here is what remains when all else has passed away. A young man chases a lost love and lost civilization across a world of painfully mortal beauty. Where beauty and pain merge completely we are completely alive, we learn. Words stop, there; but, somehow, not Crowley's.
And then Little, Big...
god awful.......2006-01-15
Again I bought this book because of the outstanding reviews and am sadly disappointed. This is junk. Not one of the three stories is entertaining. The only positive I can say is that it has a similar feel to Gene Wolfe but that is like saying an ant is similar to a man because it has legs, so just forget it, this blows.
Customer Reviews:
A superb analysis of the lifestyle of dhimmis under Islam.......2004-12-18
Why do Arabs attack Zionism? In this book, Bat Ye'or gives a surprisingly simple answer. I think she's absolutely nailed the cause of the problem:
"It is well known that the successful revolt of the colonized frequently traumatizes the colonizer. Vengefulness and hatred express the distress of the oppressor confronted by his victim's rebellion. An equality of rights with the inferior party humiliates the dominating group which, deprived of its superiority, seeks compensation in phantasms. Such reactions have been exhaustively analyzed in books dealing with the phenomenon of racism."
The author shows these attitudes in action, as various Arabs complain that the presence of Jews in Israel defiles the land, or that the land is all Arab, with Jews being mere "dhimmis." The liberation of the Jews is sometimes considered a crime against Nature, as we see Egyptian President Nasser call it "the greatest international crime that has been committed in the entire history of mankind."
The terms applied by Arab racists to Jewish dhimmis who sought freedom are now applied to Israel itself: insolent, arrogant, and needing punishment.
I think this book is one of the best at explaining why Arabs and Jews are at odds in the Middle East. And why they'll continue to be at odds until Arabs renounce such racism and until international applause for this racism quiets down.
Bat Ye'or explains the problems of being a dhimmi. A dhimmi lacks rights and is thus dependent on the good will of, um, real people. A dhimmi has no history; actually a dhimmi has no right to have a history, and real people write any history they please regarding dhimmis. And the author shows that although Zionism is more an Oriental phenomenon than a European one, the refusal to acknowledge Zionist history tends to lead to claims that Zionism is exclusively a European movement. In addition, she implies that the refusal of many Arabs to refer to Israel or to allow it to be on Arab maps is another symptom of the tendency to refuse dhimmis the right to a historical existence.
The author contrasts the outrage of many antizionist Arabs with the relative silence of some genuine victims: Jews who were expelled from Arab nations. She attributes some of this to a tendency of dhimmis, with their history of having been exploited, servile, and silent, to think in terms of gratitude and toleration rather than in terms of rights.
In this book, Bat Ye'or does a superb job of explaining the dhimmi condition. And I think we all ought to heed her warning that those who forget history are indeed condemned to repeat it.
Asesome book.......2004-07-16
The Dhimmi: Jews & Christians Under Islam is required reading for any American.
The author writes, in detail, in a marvelously researched manner. The mistake that many people make is that Islam is only anti-Israel and anti-Jewish. For from it. Islam is anti-American, anti-Christian, anti-Protestant, anti-Catholic, and anti-Buddhist, anti just about everything.
Even if there was no Israel, or the US was not an ally of Israel, radical Islam would still despise the USA.
When Islam despises you, your live is in danger.
This is a horrifying book. What is most horrifying is that it is non-fiction.
Disturbing Account Of Religious/Racial Prejudice.......2003-09-20
This is a disturbing book which reveals what is described as a socially acceptable Islamic conduct against peoples who were classed as "inferior".
For the most part the book describes these peoples as Jews and Christians who were classed as "dhimmi". "Dhimmitude" being further elaborated as the religious, cultural, and political fate of non-Muslims living under Islamic rule, usually when their lands have been subject to Islamic conquest.
Where the politicisation/allegations of racial prejudice, segregation, apartheid and indeed genocide have become quite common-place in the Middle East against the Jewish state, a book such as this is very timely in showing another side to the story. A book that reveals the painful, disturbing policy of prejudice, racial hatred and segregation of countless people who the book describes were classed as "inferior"on the basis of their religion alone.
Many examples are referred to in this study and many issues are discussed. The book draws a number of distinctions drawn and prejudices applied upon Jews and Christians who refused to accept and bow to Islam. Just by way of a single example, page 56 of this study deals with the "Invalidity of the Dhimmi's Oath".
With legal cases being dealt with under Quranic law, every case involving a Muslim and a dhimmi received a "peculiar" treatment in that a dhimmi was forbidden to give evidence against a Muslim. The Dhimmi's oath being deemed unacceptable in an Islamic court, which made it virtually impossible for any Muslim opponent to be condemned. To further any defence, the book describes that the dhimmi would be obliged to "purchase" Muslim witnesses, often at great expense.
This refusal of Muslim religious courts to accept such testimony of the dhimmi being based on hadiths which maintained that the infidels were of a "perverse and mendacious character because they deliberately persisted in denying the superiority of Islam". The same law preventing any Muslim from being put to death on account of an infidel.
This principle alone is further elaborated in this book with the example of the frequent accusations directed at Jews and Christians of having "blasphemed" the Prophet or Islam, an offence punishable by death. In such a case, the dhimmi was clearly in no position to contradict the testimony of a Muslim making the accusation and could therefore only save his life by conversion to Islam. (Although some exceptions have been recorded, this was the abiding principle nearly always adhered to.)
This is a classic study of this subject and it is not a "light" read, but a subject which demands attention. Thank you.
Frank discussion of Islamic history.......2002-09-06
I found this book to be very interesting, albeit only the first half. The historical accounts in the book are all footnoted to the original sources, and the author lets the events and laws speak for themselves.
A silent history finds a voice.......2002-01-16
This is the classic study of dhimmitude - the condition of non-Muslims who are permitted to live as permanent tributaries under the dhimma, a pact of submission to Islamic conquest. A profoundly moving human document, The Dhimmi is deeply challenging to the 'Andalusian myth', that Muslim relations with those of other faiths have been the epitome of peaceful coexistence. In The Dhimmi, Bat Ye'or provides her classical definition of the psychology of dhimmitude, which is of fundamental importance for understanding the current role of Islam in its full global context.
Dhimmi history is hard to study, in part because the conquerors have written their own version, and promulgated it with supreme moral self-confidence. It is also hard to access dhimmi documents, which are written in Greek, Latin, Farsi, Coptic, Ethiopian, Hebrew, Armenian, Serbian, English, French, Hindi etc etc. A great strength of this book is it's very rich collection of translations from dhimmi and Arab documents.
A must read in these times.
Average customer rating:
- Demystifing "Islamic tolerance"
- The Dhimmi: Jews and Christians Under Islam
- Excellent source book limning "protected peoples" in Islam
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The Dhimmi: Jews and Christians Under Islam
Bat Ye'Or
Manufacturer: Associated Univ Pr
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Customer Reviews:
Demystifing "Islamic tolerance".......2004-01-16
There are alot of apologists for Islam out there, and this book is important as it chronicles Islamic treatment of non-muslims, known as dhimmis, from the perspective of a dhimmi historian, the Egyptian Jew, Bat Ye'or. This book is not written from the perspective of the victorous muslims, and there is no doubt many muslims dislike this book for this reason. It is more important to think about toleration of the existence of conquered non-muslims and not "Islamic tolerance", because to give one example, dhimmis payed to the muslim umma a tax called the jiyza and paying this was suppossed to guarantee their lives. There is even in the documents section at the end of the book a document about how in Syria because the Sultan abolished the jiyza for a period, the local muslims saw this a breach of the contract of the dhimma, a contract of toleration of the dhimmi's existence and mobs massacred Christians, looted them, etc.
I particularly disagree with how on pages 121-122, she mentions how as Islamic domination lessened in politics in many muslim nations, with leaders such as Answar Sedat, Ataturk, etc. the situation of dhimmis generally improved. In Turkey the dhimmis have significantly declined since the time of Ataturk due to deliberate Turkish government policies, and she recognizes the problems of Arab nationalism, but not other muslim ultra-nationalisms. One thing Islamic domination of politics did allow dhimmis was a degree of self-rule that is abandoned with the concept of establishing a national state and not a theocracy, where there is only one civil law. In the Ottoman Empire dhimmis would if they were a Christian and had a dispute with another Christian, go to a bishop which functioned much like a muslim kadi, the Jews would go to rabbis, but if they had a dispute with a muslim then the dhimmis had to deal with Islamic law where they were disabled legally and their testimony was not respected. Now without religious domination of politics, they always have to deal with Islamic bias and prejudice and they have lost this kind of autonomy they once had.
The Dhimmi: Jews and Christians Under Islam.......2003-01-24
This is a fabulous work of scholarship which opens one's eyes to problems in the Middle East, India, the Phillipines, Indonesia,the Sudan, Cyprus, and other areas where Moslems are killing Christians, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, and Animists, e.g.: anyone who does not submit to Islam.
Excellent source book limning "protected peoples" in Islam.......1999-08-14
The history of Jews and Christians living under Islam is not widely known. When thinking of it at all, one looks to the glories of Islamic Spain or to the Ottoman Empire. The general historical reality is different from these however. Bat Ye'or provides an excellent overview of this history in the first part of her book and a wide variety of source documents in the second.
Here we learn of the religiously sanctioned forced conversions, daily humiliations, massacres, oppression, inequitable taxation, and the like, which eventually led to the near disappearance of the extensive Christian and Jewish communities which had flourished throughout the Near East and North Africa prior to the advent of Islam.
As "dhimmi" (people of the contract) Jews, Christians, Zoroastrians and others of the accepted religions had no rights of citizenship within a Muslim state. As "protected peoples" they had no right to self-defense. They were at best tolerated and at all times living without security - subject to the law but not protected by it.
For example, Jews and Christians are specifically accused in the Qur'an of having falsified God's word. In past Islamic societies therefore, Jews and Christians were considered to be willfully and knowingly adhering to a lie. As religiously convicted liars, they were given no standing in courts of law and could be convicted of crimes on the unsupported word of two Muslim males. The abuses of this system were extensive.
All-in-all, Bat Ye'or's two books ("The Dhimmi" and "The Decline of Near Eastern Christianity under Islam") do much to re-illuminate the forgotten history of Jews and Christians under Islam. They deserve a wide readership.
As an aside here to prove the non-partisanship of my review, it's worth pointing out that the historical behavior of Christian societies toward indigenous Jews and heretics was no better. Muslim societies took a cue for much of their discriminatory legislation from the intolerant religious laws of the conquered Christian Byzantines. True religions display peculiar proofs, don't they.
The hard-cover edition of "The Dhimmi" is currently out-of-print it seems. However Amazon.com carries the paper-back. Get it while it is available if you're interested at all in the history of "protected peoples" living under Islam.
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- Trouble on Triton: An Ambiguous Heterotopia
- Trying to Save Piggy Sneed
- Vintage Munro
- Wheat that Springeth Green (New York Review Books Classics)
- When the Nines Roll Over: And Other Stories
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