This review will not be long, for this book has defeated me, and in such a way that I don’t overly feel like enumerating what went wrong here. The short answer is most likely that I’m just not the right reader for this book (and this author, which is why I’ve deleted The Children’s Book from my TBR). I bought this ages ago, probably over a decade, and finally gave it a try about six years ago. I got 48 pages in before I said I’d try it another time. The White Whale square was like a siren song for me, and I figured this would be a perfect time to finally read this book, and give it a real shot.
It did not go well.
To be quite honest with you, before I started speed-reading this, while I was genuinely trying to read it straight, a great deal of it was being interpreted by my brain as absolute gibberish. It was extremely bizarre. It’s like I’m a magnet and this book is a magnet and you try to push the wrong ends together, and they just push each other apart. I had to force it the whole way.
And it was frustrating, because this sounds like something I would love, but the style absolutely 1000% did not work for me. I felt like I was slowly losing my faculties as I read.
Basically in this metaphorical game of Ahab and the whale, the whale has eaten Ahab and roams the ocean still, his teeth bloody.
P.S. Whalers were gross and the ships attacked by whales deserved it. HOT TAKE!!
CBR BINGO: White Whale (BLACKOUT with the remaining three BINGOs, including finally! The Ring BINGO: Flora / Uncannon / Self Care / White Whale / Fauna & Rec’d / People / White Whale / Sportsball / New Series & White Whale / People / They She He / Libations / Uncannon / Mythic / Gateway / Sportsball)
