People of the Whale

A Novel

By: Linda Hogan

Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki

Raised in a small Native American village by the sea, Thomas Witka Just has just married his childhood sweetheart when an ill-fated decision to fight in Vietnam changes his life forever.

Cut off from his community and traumatized by war, he finds refuge in another tribal village there and fathers a child with another woman. When he returns home many years later, he finds his tribe in conflict over a decision to hunt a whale, a spiritual symbol for his people.

Torn by guilt, yet desperate to return to a life of authenticity, Thomas realizes he must reconcile his two existences if he is to help heal his equally fractured community.

With a keen sense of the sacredness of nature and the trauma of war, People of the Whale is a compassionate novel about the painful moral choices humans make and how the lost soul of a man or a people is restored.

©2008 Linda Hogan (P)2008 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

What a beautiful book.

Above all, it is Hogan’s knowledge of the sea, the tiny but beautiful details that make this work so lovely.

Epic, Deep, Beautiful!!!

Wow!!! This story is so profound, mystical, deep. Nominated for a Pulitzer Prize because of brilliant and sensitive writing. A journey of indigenous tribal people in the 1960s and 1970s. They are very connected to the ocean and whales. One of best books I have ever read. Narrator does a subtle and excellent job here - deep voice. I am surprised this book isn't as well known as others. Please listen - you will be enriched!!!

Excellent

Best narrator! Beautiful story sharing powerful truths told through well developed characters and rich imagery.

Poetry

The author has written a novel length poem. it is beautiful. Well worth the reading.

Great book, great narrator

Great timeless story that reads in the present but feels like it's ancient native folklore. Can't believe this was a free read. Probably one of my top three books ever

Made of dreams and the reality of war

A beautiful people these natives are. So close to the earth and what is right. If we were all like them there wouldn’t be war and greed in this world. Thanks

Wow.

I loved this book it kept me wanting to listen and listen. Well written, a bit slow but still phenomenal. I had to rewind some parts because some parts happen so quickly you can easily miss important actions.

Beautiful. I felt deeply.

Thank you for writing this book. It is beautiful. I wish more were available to listen to through audible.

Absolutely Amazing book!

I really loved how much detail and depth Hogans gives in her book “People of The Whale”. She explains the lives of two young people once a couple then separated by years or war while he(Thomas) goes missing in action in Vietnam During his absence and then reemergence Ruth has Thomas’s child Marco and raises him on her own. Just the beauty and strength see of the characters in this book is absolutely spectacular! I highly recommend this book! I read this book on assignment for my school reading in my diversity class and I plan to keep this book for a long time to come! Something I would keep in my is this is not necessarily a PG/ PG- 13 book. It has a lot of violence throughout the book. As you can imagine as it talks about Thomas’s time while in the war. So I would urge discretion on who reads this on that point. Other than that I have nothing but praise for this book and for the performance of the narrator.

Beautiful story telling

Loved how visual ms Hogan describes tribal lore…it’s sad, funny, and extremely amazing how so much history is woven together about lives of the whale people and the ugliness of war..incredibly poignant and I learned a lot! It will be listened to again as it’s one of my favorites.