Showing results for "Whale" in Literary Fiction

It is 1938 and for Manod, a young woman living on a remote island off the coast of Wales, the world looks ready to end just as she is trying to imagine a future for herself. The ominous appearance of a beached whale on the island's shore, and rumours of submarines circling beneath the waves, have villagers steeling themselves for what’s to come. Empty houses remind them of the men taken by the Great War, and of the difficulty of building a life in the island's harsh, salt-stung landscape.

Moby-Dick is widely considered to be the Great American Novel and a treasure of world literature. The story details the adventures of the wandering sailor Ishmael and his voyage on the whale ship Pequod, commanded by Captain Ahab. Ishmael soon learns that Ahab seeks one specific whale: Moby Dick, a ferocious, enigmatic white sperm whale. In a previous encounter, the whale destroyed Ahab's boat and bit off his leg. And Ahab intends to take revenge.

A splash of the sea and the salt in the ocean air signals the beginning of the greatest whaling adventure of all time. This is literature's great voyage. The challenge of a man against the wonders of nature's ocean, of a man against his own weakness and strengths, and of a man against a demon, or perhaps his God, as he searches for his nemesis, the great white whale.

The legend of Sigurd and the Seawalkers sweeps across generations of a small Nordic coastal village as they transform from a whaling society into an early beacon of sustainability. When young Sigurd experiences a stirring vision during a hunt, it ignites a lonely existential crisis that ultimately leads him to pioneer compassionate ways for his people to co-exist with whales, not slaughter them.

It was in the early days in Fiji, when John Starhurst arose in the mission house at Rewa Village and announced his intention of carrying the gospel throughout all Viti Levu. Now Viti Levu means the "Great Land," it being the largest island in a group composed of many large islands, to say nothing of hundreds of small ones. Here and there on the coasts, living by most precarious tenure, was a sprinkling of missionaries, traders, beche-de-mer fishers, and whaleship deserters.

It was in the early days in Fiji, when John Starhurst arose in the mission house at Rewa Village and announced his intention of carrying the gospel throughout all Viti Levu. Now Viti Levu means the "Great Land," it being the largest island in a group composed of many large islands, to say nothing of hundreds of small ones. Here and there on the coasts, living by most precarious tenure, was a sprinkling of missionaries, traders, beche-de-mer fishers, and whaleship deserters.

Luke Balena - a dopey, impressionable 26-year-old - is standing on the edge of a hidden cave in the Malibu forest, revisiting a stoned conversation with his friend Wolf before he mysteriously disappeared three days earlier. Is he down there now, joyously exploring an uncharted dimension? With nothing to lose, Luke prepares to climb in and find out for himself. But first, one more hit...

This piece, which appeared in Outside magazine and was originally recorded for "Rough Water: Stories of Survival From The Sea," is about an old man, a Bequian harpooner, who uses a wooden sailboat to hunt humpback whales. The piece is an elegy of sorts - an unsentimental lament for something lost. Sebastian Junger is the internationally acclaimed author of The Perfect Storm, which spent over three years on the New York Times bestseller list and was the basis for a major motion picture starring George Clooney.

To everyone who knows her, 28-year-old Marcia leads the perfect life. But beneath the shiny surface lurks another reality. Plagued by panic attacks brought on by her family's wartime legacy and exacerbated by the news, Marcia is convinced that "demons" occupy her closet - and her mind. Determined to conceal her secret life, Marcia is pushed closer and closer to a breaking point. Desperate to rid herself of her "demons", she concocts a plan, hoping to be reborn as a new person. Soon, she discovers this creates its own problems. Can she find another path out of her psychic pain?

The Last Whale Watch and Other Stories includes 13 short stories. An artist and an actress venture to New York seeking their fortunes. A wandering sailor seeks revenge against a gangster. A gifted engineer, fired for insubordination within the factory system of an interstellar corporation, choses to rebel. An aging stunt performer, after years of recovering from crippling injuries, attempts a comeback. Plus much more.

What has Hezekiah Hopewell done with his long life? Well, he has been married to four different women. Lucky for him, since he has never had a job and his wives have supported him. He has not really done much of anything but read books. Now, fast approaching deep old age, where is his ever-going-forward getting him? To the same place all of our ever-going-forward — really more of a circling round and round — is getting the rest of us here on God’s green Earth.