One of the stranger works of historical fiction I've read, this stream-of-consciousness tale moves through territory of history, fable, story, poetry, and forays into the speculative at a frightening pace, but is carried along by a tough lyricism that all but demands a reader keep going. It feels like this book might be one which could benefit from a second and even a third read, but so much of what I enjoyed here was in the 'experience' and poetry of the first reading, I suspect I'm more likely to try one of Sjon's other works. This one was an interesting one, certainly, but covered so much territory that the reading felt more fragmented and wandering than I really would have liked. ( )

http://tamaranth.blogspot.com/2023/07/2023098-from-mouth-of-whale-sjon.html ( )

Oh, I wanted to like this book. Oh, I tried to like this book… but it did not work for me. I do believe that there is a right time for a book, and this one maybe came at the wrong time. I usually don’t mind “stream of consciousness” but I really found it hard to follow it here. The narrator’s voice jumped and changed from long fantastic flows into historical accounts (I did like those – they were a reprieve) to mystical meanderings. I would get lost and as much as I tried and paid attention, I could not find my way around this story.

Other reviewers mentioned that they never read anything like this book before. I do agree with them there, but a novelty is not necessary a pleasurable experience.

I am giving it 3 stars though, because I have a great attraction and sympathy for characters/people that suffer from what I call The Cassandra Syndrome: Those that are able to see a situation, or are historically ahead of their time, but their knowledge is not welcomed. On the contrary, they are cursed and banned by the very people that they could have helped.

I would still recommend this book, but only to those people that can stare at a disco light without getting a migraine, or yet a seizure. The psychedelic feeling would be very much alike, I assure you.
( )

Es cierto que el lenguaje es muy bonito pero todos los capitulos empiezan igual, con una descripcion muy larga y mas o menos todo es bastante monotono. La historia en si no tiene gran contenido y lo mas interesante son las visiones que tiene.
En general, libro bonito pero sin direccion. ( )

The rhythm of Sjon's stream of consciousness style was a bit enchanting. The story of a man being persecuted for attempting to understand the workings of the world always needs to be told. ( )