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Soundings: Journeys in the Company of Whales
In this lyrical memoir of motherhood, love, and resilience, a woman and her toddler son follow the grey whale migration from Mexico to northernmost Alaska.
In this blend of nature writing, whale science, and memoir, Doreen Cunningham interweaves two stories: tracking the extraordinary northward migration of the grey whales with a mischievous toddler in tow and living with an Iñupiaq family in Alaska seven years earlier.
A story of courage and resilience, Soundings is about the migrating whales and all we can learn from them as they mother, adapt, and endure, their lives interrupted and threatened by global warming. It is also a riveting journey onto the Arctic Sea ice and into the changing world of Indigenous whale hunters, where Doreen becomes immersed in the ancient values of the Iñupiaq whale hunt and falls in love. Big-hearted, brave, and fearlessly honest, Soundings is an unforgettable journey.
In this blend of nature writing, whale science, and memoir, Doreen Cunningham interweaves two stories: tracking the extraordinary northward migration of the grey whales with a mischievous toddler in tow and living with an Iñupiaq family in Alaska seven years earlier.
A story of courage and resilience, Soundings is about the migrating whales and all we can learn from them as they mother, adapt, and endure, their lives interrupted and threatened by global warming. It is also a riveting journey onto the Arctic Sea ice and into the changing world of Indigenous whale hunters, where Doreen becomes immersed in the ancient values of the Iñupiaq whale hunt and falls in love. Big-hearted, brave, and fearlessly honest, Soundings is an unforgettable journey.
308 pages, Hardcover
First published March 3, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 126 reviews
January 29, 2023
I've wanted to read this since I heard Doreen Cunningham interviewed on NPR this summer. Honestly? I much preferred the interview to her book. Her vivid and beautiful descriptions of the bond that exists between whale mothers and their young are some of my favorites, but her storytelling felt very disjointed as she bounced between different times and places in her life. 🐋
September 4, 2022
Click here to hear my thoughts on this book over on my Booktube channel, abookolive.
February 21, 2022
I wasn't sure what to expect from this book - a parenting memoir, a travel story, a book about whales, a treatise on global warming? It ended up being a little bit of all of the above, with a love story gently layered in. I learned more about whales, Iñupiaq culture and whale hunting than I ever thought possible (and, the 8 year old wannabe marine biologist still inside me was delighted).
The story is split between the author's time in Alaska living with an Iñupiaq family and learning about whale hunting and a trip she took with her two year old son to follow the grey whale migration up the west coast of the US. The timeline jumped around a lot in the first half of the book and although it wasn't hard to keep up, it felt abrupt and took you out of the core story. I think it could have been a much more straightforward narrative if some details were cut down a bit.
The last quarter or so of the book was my absolute favorite. Overall it's a beautiful read and well worth your time.
With thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.
The story is split between the author's time in Alaska living with an Iñupiaq family and learning about whale hunting and a trip she took with her two year old son to follow the grey whale migration up the west coast of the US. The timeline jumped around a lot in the first half of the book and although it wasn't hard to keep up, it felt abrupt and took you out of the core story. I think it could have been a much more straightforward narrative if some details were cut down a bit.
The last quarter or so of the book was my absolute favorite. Overall it's a beautiful read and well worth your time.
With thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.
October 31, 2023
3.5
Soundings is a dual narrative memoir, that recounts two journeys a woman make, pursuing her dream to see the grey whales that migrate up the coast from Mexico where her journey begins, to the northernmost Arctic town of Utqiagvik.
The book is structured so that each chapter alternates the twin journeys, the first one when she is a young BBC journalist on a sabbatical, so the trip isn't for her job, she is winging it, not knowing ahead of time where she might stay, how she might join an indigenous subsistence whale hunt to be in a position to observe the whales. She would be there is listen, observe and with luck, participate.
The second trip is more of an escape from her current reality, that of a young single mother, recently awarded custody of her child, who can not afford to live in her home (due to high mortgage payments), who had returned to her parents home in Jersey - who then decides she wants to make a return trip and give her two year old son a formative experience of travel and whale watching.
It made me remember reading Scottish poet and nature essay writer Kathleen Jamie's Surfacing, where she visits and brings alive a Yup'ik village in Quinhagak, Southern Alaska. Doreen Cunnningham's interest in whales and the environment inclines more towards the science, research and a personal desire for a sense of belonging and a large dose of wishful thinking, than the more poetic and philosophical Jamie, who went towards the tundra in search of surfaces that might reconnect us to the past.
Once you realise that the narrative goes back and forth, it becomes easier to stick with it, the chapters in the more recent past focus as much on the logistics of trying to travel with a child, car seat and stroller, finding kindred spirits who might assist getting her on a boat to see the whales and trying to avoid fellow travellers who look askance at this young mother, attempting the extraordinary.
As they travel, she also shares something of the challenges in the past of reporting on climate change, the reluctance to report on the environment and the habit many broadcasters had of always finding a sceptic to present an alternative view to the facts.
In her earlier visit, she takes time to listen to their stories, of the first ships that came in, bringing equipment, alcohol and disease. She hears of the social problems of another indigenous people, of children sent away, of PTSD, of a sense of rage and powerlessness, of a need to educate themselves in order to better represent and protect their culture and ways. She also hears of the effect of the warming of the ocean, its impact on animals, on the ice, on patterns of behaviours, of the risk to their livelihood.
We also learn a little of her childhood experiences, of her wild pony Bramble, of an Irish granny and the songs she still sings that the whales seem to respond to. She injects enough of the personal story to keep the pace going, as the flow risks at times being overwhelmed by the facts and background research. However, as I go back and reread the passages I highlighted, I find it interesting to encounter some of this information a second time around, now that I've removed the expectation of a flowing narrative.
There is a something in this book for everyone, it defies genre and shows the gentle, yet vulnerable courage of a young mother persevering against the odds, seizing the reins, following her intuition and going on a grand adventure with a small boy, who is more likely the greater teacher to her than the elusive whales, on motherhood.
Soundings is a dual narrative memoir, that recounts two journeys a woman make, pursuing her dream to see the grey whales that migrate up the coast from Mexico where her journey begins, to the northernmost Arctic town of Utqiagvik.
The Iñupiat have thrived there, in a place periodically engulfed in ice and darkness, for thousands of years, bound closely together by their ancient culture and their relationships with the animals they hunt, most notably the magnificent and mysterious bowhead whale. I hadn't just seen the whales there, I'd joined a family hunting crew, travelling with them in a landscape of astonishing beauty and danger.
The book is structured so that each chapter alternates the twin journeys, the first one when she is a young BBC journalist on a sabbatical, so the trip isn't for her job, she is winging it, not knowing ahead of time where she might stay, how she might join an indigenous subsistence whale hunt to be in a position to observe the whales. She would be there is listen, observe and with luck, participate.
The idea was that you could immerse yourself in a place and absorb more than if you were questioning people as a reporter and narrowing the world down into stories. I was supposed to take thinking time away from the relentless news cycle, open my mind and return bursting with creativity and new ideas.
The second trip is more of an escape from her current reality, that of a young single mother, recently awarded custody of her child, who can not afford to live in her home (due to high mortgage payments), who had returned to her parents home in Jersey - who then decides she wants to make a return trip and give her two year old son a formative experience of travel and whale watching.
I'd felt so alive then, so connected to other people and to the natural world? If only I could feel that way again and give that feeling to Max.
It made me remember reading Scottish poet and nature essay writer Kathleen Jamie's Surfacing, where she visits and brings alive a Yup'ik village in Quinhagak, Southern Alaska. Doreen Cunnningham's interest in whales and the environment inclines more towards the science, research and a personal desire for a sense of belonging and a large dose of wishful thinking, than the more poetic and philosophical Jamie, who went towards the tundra in search of surfaces that might reconnect us to the past.
I told myself I would relearn from the whales how to mother, how to endure, how to live.
Beneath the surface, secretly, I longed to get back to northernmost Alaska, to the community who'd kept me safe in the harsh beauty of the Arctic and to Billy, the whale hunter who'd loved me.
Once you realise that the narrative goes back and forth, it becomes easier to stick with it, the chapters in the more recent past focus as much on the logistics of trying to travel with a child, car seat and stroller, finding kindred spirits who might assist getting her on a boat to see the whales and trying to avoid fellow travellers who look askance at this young mother, attempting the extraordinary.
As they travel, she also shares something of the challenges in the past of reporting on climate change, the reluctance to report on the environment and the habit many broadcasters had of always finding a sceptic to present an alternative view to the facts.
In her earlier visit, she takes time to listen to their stories, of the first ships that came in, bringing equipment, alcohol and disease. She hears of the social problems of another indigenous people, of children sent away, of PTSD, of a sense of rage and powerlessness, of a need to educate themselves in order to better represent and protect their culture and ways. She also hears of the effect of the warming of the ocean, its impact on animals, on the ice, on patterns of behaviours, of the risk to their livelihood.
We also learn a little of her childhood experiences, of her wild pony Bramble, of an Irish granny and the songs she still sings that the whales seem to respond to. She injects enough of the personal story to keep the pace going, as the flow risks at times being overwhelmed by the facts and background research. However, as I go back and reread the passages I highlighted, I find it interesting to encounter some of this information a second time around, now that I've removed the expectation of a flowing narrative.
There is a something in this book for everyone, it defies genre and shows the gentle, yet vulnerable courage of a young mother persevering against the odds, seizing the reins, following her intuition and going on a grand adventure with a small boy, who is more likely the greater teacher to her than the elusive whales, on motherhood.
April 13, 2024
The whaling captain’s wife gave me a beer, which came in a small can and a piece of whale heart to eat. The meat was chewy, did not easily shred or disintegrate into fibres. It was clearly part of a whole, carried a message about entirety. After I swallowed it, I sat still and quiet. It took me down into the ocean, sounding, down below the light where benign goliaths swam by.
Adding to the trend of memoir through scientific investigation, environmental journalist Doreen Cunningham, at the lowest point in her life — unemployed single mother, living in a women’s hostel on the island of Jersey, with no prospect for improvement — made the rash decision to take out a large loan and bring along her two year old son on a loosely-planned adventure: to follow a pod of grey whales, from their birthing grounds off the Mexico coast, to their feeding grounds in the Aleutian Islands. Although she had no prior interest in grey whales specifically, Cunningham was entranced when she learned that theirs was about the longest annual migration of any mammal. And she had a secondary motive: to make her way back to the small Alaskan village of Utqiagvik and the man she had met and fallen in love with there, seven years earlier. Soundings is the narrative of these two adventures — with frequent interspersals of the story of Cunningham’s childhood on the island of Jersey, up to the challenging relationship with her son’s father and subsequent custody battle — and I found the whole thing to be charming. I liked Cunningham’s voice, I admired her chutzpah, and although her connection to whales felt a little bit tenuous, as an environmental journalist, I appreciated her explanation that whales are signal species, and their fate is our fate. I loved everything about this.
From there everything happened quickly. A string was pulling me, out of the window, into the sky, across the sea. The next day I left the hostel and moved into a friend’s attic room. I got a loan, organised visas. We would follow the mothers and babies from Mexico to the top of the world, I told Max. They would swim, and we would take the bus, the train, and the boat alongside them. I told myself I would relearn from the whales how to mother, how to endure, how to live. Beneath the surface, secretly, I longed to get back to northernmost Alaska, to the community who kept me safe in the harsh beauty of the Arctic and to Billy, the whale hunter who’d loved me.
In Cunningham’s narrative “now”, we tag along as she attempts to wrangle an energetic toddler onto buses, trains, and charter boats along the western coast of North America; forever just making connections, cursing foggy views, and always just a day or two behind the migrating whales. This narrative is thoroughly human and relatable. In her intermittent story of seven years prior, she was on sabbatical from the BBC, with a bursary to help her study anything she liked, and initially, she intended to travel across the top of Alaska and Canada, asking the Indigenous peoples along the way about their lived experience with climate change. But when she arrived at her first stop of Utqiagvik and was invited by its Iñupiaq people to witness an upcoming bowhead whale hunt, Cunningham decided to stay put, soon finding a warmth and acceptance from these people that she had never before known. This narrative thread is engaging and exciting, with gorgeous nature writing of the frozen north, as well as a blossoming love story. The third thread — with stories from an unhappy family life and the fractious pony that was her only childhood balm — we learn something of what made Cunningham the woman she would become. Along the way, she shares facts about whales and climate change — although this really isn’t a science-forward book — and for me, this sort of adventure-as-memoir really works.
Here comes the grey whale from the beginning of time, say the fossils. They pose a question too: All this you know, now what? Human thought and intention are part of the global ecosystem, the most powerful driver of change, the most powerful obstacle that both we and the whales have encountered through millennia. We are writing the next chapter of the story of all life on earth.
This is more lyrical than one might expect from an “environmental journalist” (Cunningham is working at the BBC once more, encouraged that there’s no longer a policy in place to give time to a sceptic every time an actual climate scientist talks), and if the following doesn’t turn you off, you might enjoy this as much as I did (I’ll admit it’s a bit precious, but I like her):
I am woman, human, animal. I bore my child in water. We sang to the whales. We listened to them breathing. We listened to the sea. This book is what I heard.
August 8, 2022
This book is very uneven in pacing. The parts about Alaska are wonderful, and I liked reading about the whales, but the narrative that Noreen tries to sell as the core story, about a single mother and her son, wasn't compelling.
March 25, 2022
At last. Thats what I felt when I read this book.
I knew there were insecure, foul mouthed and brilliant mothers out there doing amazing things - I just hadn't read them before.
Soundings is the memoir of an extraordinary woman and her young son. They are fellow adventurers. Together they migrate thousands of miles looking for grey whale mothers and pups. Like the ocean that fills it this story rolls with complicated currents of the personal and universal, life and death, the human and non human world, moving and migration. The cold hard stuff is laid bare and so too is love. All sorts of love.
The flow of Cunninghmans writing dives deep but gives you lots of air to take it all in. As a reader you too will go on a fabulous Soundings journey and you will not want it to stop.
I knew there were insecure, foul mouthed and brilliant mothers out there doing amazing things - I just hadn't read them before.
Soundings is the memoir of an extraordinary woman and her young son. They are fellow adventurers. Together they migrate thousands of miles looking for grey whale mothers and pups. Like the ocean that fills it this story rolls with complicated currents of the personal and universal, life and death, the human and non human world, moving and migration. The cold hard stuff is laid bare and so too is love. All sorts of love.
The flow of Cunninghmans writing dives deep but gives you lots of air to take it all in. As a reader you too will go on a fabulous Soundings journey and you will not want it to stop.
April 27, 2023
I've read a number of books about whales, as well as books about the Arctic, and that may have done this book a disservice: I had too much with which to compare it. Soundings weaves two threads of time together: it opens with an older Doreen and her young son Max, who are travelling the coast of the United States and Canada, following the great migration of the grey whales, the longest migration of any mammal. The book also meets a younger, childless Doreen who is Utqiagvik in Alaska, learning about bowhead whales, and joining Inupiaq people on their traditional whale hunt. Both of these stories are full of potential: there is space for the reader to learn about two fascinating species of whale, about migratory journeys, and about Inupiaq people and their relationship with whales. And Cunningham does touch on these subjects -- she writes in an interesting and persuasive way about how the Inupiaq, as subsistence hunters, understand the bowhead whales better than anyone else, and how their insight into, and respect for, the whale, is one of our more important examples of living alongside whales without destroying their habitats. However, everything in the book is filtered from Cunningham's perspective: we never learn about the whales without discovering what the whales mean to her, or learn a fact about climate change without it being filtered through a memory of Cunningham's own childhood. I was also frustrated by the emotional weight Cunningham places on the whales: she seems to expect their presence to heal her from a traumatic relationship and a difficult childhood, and looks to them for compassion and tenderness. It's important to resist the urge to anthropomorphize animals, and while studies have shown whales' complex language, societies and abilities, I do not believe they form special bonds with humans, or have a particular connection to us. Also, in most cases, the best thing we can do is leave the whales alone, and not try to pet them in their birthing lagoons or follow them in boots. If we truly loved them, we wouldn't follow them: Cunningham doesn't seem to understand that. I compared this to Sightings: The Gray Whales' Mysterious Journey by Brenda Peterson and Linda Hogan, which taught me much more about grey whales; to Fathoms by Rebecca Giggs, which is a careful, thoughtful study of whales and their history, and This Cold Heaven by Gretel Ehrlich, the most considered and thorough study of the arctic I've read, and found that Soundings was wanting every time. Too much of Cunningham's life is in this book, and she loses sight of the whales and of the Arctic culture she's writing about. It was nice to learn more about the bowhead though.
November 27, 2022
Von Grundsatz her ein gute Idee. Eine Frau begibt sich mit ihrem Sohn auf reisen zu den Walen um ihrem Leben zu entfliehen. Man lernt noch einiges Interessantes und Spannendes dazu. Was den Roman aber unglaublich trübt, ist dieses zweijährige Kind, welches die Protagonistin auf reisen mitnimmt. Ein Zweijähriger, der locker 6-Wort-Sätze spricht und sich gebildet ausdrückt. Unglaubwürdig und wirklich nervig.
Hätte sich die Autorin mehr auf die Wale, deren Lebensraum und den Umweltschutz fokussiert hätte es mich weit mehr angesprochen.
Hätte sich die Autorin mehr auf die Wale, deren Lebensraum und den Umweltschutz fokussiert hätte es mich weit mehr angesprochen.
March 22, 2022
Soundings is one of the most beautiful books I have read which isn't an easy thing to accomplish when the author is grappling with such important and difficult topics. The book artfully and poetically takes you on a journey through many different landscapes, the descriptions of the Arctic and the Utqigvik community we meet there are the ones that I really loved. The way that facts about global warming are woven in are subtly and masterfully done. I haven't read or felt a landscape so closely, almost as if it were a person itself. The relationship between the narrator and her son are especially moving and even though we travel through experiences that were sometimes incredibly difficult we also come to the end of this story feeling optimistic about the power of human relationships and the love and attachments we have with the natural world that carry us through.
January 16, 2023
Mixed feelings about this one, quality content on whales, Inupiat culture and climate change is confused with personal memoir about single parenthood and family relationships. Still a good read but for a book about whales, a better choice would be Rebecca Giggs Fathoms; the world in the whale.
November 10, 2022
The author's journey with Max, her son, was not as engaging as her earlier time spent in Alaska.
March 4, 2023
I bought Soundings to catch up on my gray whale knowledge before heading to Baja on my own gray whale adventure. I usually gravitate towards books about animals but I found this one a tad tiresome and sloggy. In this memoir author Doreen Cunningham decided to follow the gray whale migration path from Baja to the Arctic with her son in an attempt to find more meaning in her life. I felt like her storytelling was choppy as she bounced around from different traumas in her past to the present without divulging many details or transitions to help orient. Her writing and chapter summaries stuck me as trite and I had a hard time staying engaged. Overall, I could’ve done with more whales and less self-introspection. At least our own adventure proved fruitful with the whale sightings and facts!
November 1, 2022
SOUNDINGS: JOURNEYS IN THE COMPANY OF WHALES is a combination of things – memoir, travelogue, nature writing, and scientific journalism. It follows the author’s journey to track grey whale migration at two points in her life. For the first, she is living in Alaska with an Iñupiaq family. The second time is seven years later while she is traveling with her toddler.
The book bounces back and forth between the two timelines of the author’s trips. I had very polarized feelings about this book because of the dual timelines. I loved the sections about her time in Alaska living with an Iñupiaq family as she learned about the ways of the Indigenous whale hunters and how climate change affected the whales and the people. There was a lot of great scientific information given and I really enjoyed learning about the whales and the Iñupiaq culture. The writing of these sections contained emotion as well. You could tell how impactful the experience had been for her. Unfortunately, the sections about her travels with her toddler in search of grey whales on their migration route were comparatively underwhelming and not enjoyed. It felt like reading someone’s social media status updates – We’re on a boat looking for whales… We saw whales... People didn’t like my child… I changed a poopy diaper… We waited to see more whales... – There was a disconnect from the emotion that was shown in the sections about Alaska. I found myself hurrying through these parts as I really didn’t care about her standing on a boat with her child. I would have loved all of that taken out of the book and replaced with more about the time in Alaska and further information about the whales and Indigenous whale hunters.
Overall, SOUNDINGS: JOURNEYS IN THE COMPANY OF WHALES was an informative read. Although I didn’t like one of the timelines in the book, the other timeline was strong enough to keep my attention and provided enjoyment. I’d recommend this book to fans of memoirs, nature writing, whales, and pieces on climate change.
Thank you to Scribner for the finished copy.
The book bounces back and forth between the two timelines of the author’s trips. I had very polarized feelings about this book because of the dual timelines. I loved the sections about her time in Alaska living with an Iñupiaq family as she learned about the ways of the Indigenous whale hunters and how climate change affected the whales and the people. There was a lot of great scientific information given and I really enjoyed learning about the whales and the Iñupiaq culture. The writing of these sections contained emotion as well. You could tell how impactful the experience had been for her. Unfortunately, the sections about her travels with her toddler in search of grey whales on their migration route were comparatively underwhelming and not enjoyed. It felt like reading someone’s social media status updates – We’re on a boat looking for whales… We saw whales... People didn’t like my child… I changed a poopy diaper… We waited to see more whales... – There was a disconnect from the emotion that was shown in the sections about Alaska. I found myself hurrying through these parts as I really didn’t care about her standing on a boat with her child. I would have loved all of that taken out of the book and replaced with more about the time in Alaska and further information about the whales and Indigenous whale hunters.
Overall, SOUNDINGS: JOURNEYS IN THE COMPANY OF WHALES was an informative read. Although I didn’t like one of the timelines in the book, the other timeline was strong enough to keep my attention and provided enjoyment. I’d recommend this book to fans of memoirs, nature writing, whales, and pieces on climate change.
Thank you to Scribner for the finished copy.
August 11, 2023
A very beautiful book about emotional recovery after a failed relationship through love of animals, particularly whales and ponies, and just being a mum. Single parenthood becomes a balm rather than a chore in a chase to follow whales on their migration from Baja in Mexico to Northern Alaska and the Inuit family the writer becomes friends with . I loved it.
September 17, 2022
This was better than I thought it was going to be. I love learning anything about whales and also Alaska. The personal side of the story was lacking and at times, tedious and boring. Props to the bits about whales and Alaska. Glad this was a library book.
September 26, 2022
Two travel stories + climate change findings + personal history = a complex book. I wasn’t sure that Cunningham was going to be able to pull it off, but in the end, it came together in an impactful way. I’ll be thinking about this one for a while.
August 16, 2022
Based on the other reviews this is obviously not the popular sentiment - but these people were not likeable at all.
Or maybe I'm just cranky like the old folks on the tour boat, who knows?
Or maybe I'm just cranky like the old folks on the tour boat, who knows?
April 16, 2023
"I am whale diving. The light shrinks to a shining hole above. My blood-pumps slows, lungs close, body shuts down. Colour slips away. I'm lost in a deep mist. I hear the ocean floor, twisting, flowing. Water sizzles, hums with life, shrimps snap. I probe the dark for voices, call out, try to summon the greys."
This extraordinary memoir documents the journey of a mother and son as they follow the migration of the grey whales from Baja to the Arctic.
"I told myself I would relearn from the whales how to mother, how to endure, how to live."
Part memoir, travelogue and nature writing, Doreen Cunningham presents this artful and completely unapologetic tale that is powerful and captivating as she recollects the challenges she has faced in becoming a single mother while finding friends in unlikely places and experiencing adventures of a lifetime.
Cunningham's narration is deeply moving and raw, you get a sense that she is baring her soul to the reader in her reflection.
"You are unique and spectacular beings, sentinels of the sea, ecosystem engineers, harbingers of the climate change that will affect us all."
Her writing is almost poetic as she describes the landscapes and I was particularly enthralled by the tales of the Utqigvik community and their unique lifestyle.
The ever-present concern of climate change is present and very real within this book and Cunningham explores it with grace, weaving its importance throughout her personal story in an impactful style. An incredibly important book.
"This is what the ocean should be like everywhere, what it once was. Populated, a home to wild and teeming communities, to the most incredible lives, journeys and ecologies."
I would like to thank @doreenwriting for offering me a copy of her incredible book and to @viragopress for so kindly providing the copy.
This extraordinary memoir documents the journey of a mother and son as they follow the migration of the grey whales from Baja to the Arctic.
"I told myself I would relearn from the whales how to mother, how to endure, how to live."
Part memoir, travelogue and nature writing, Doreen Cunningham presents this artful and completely unapologetic tale that is powerful and captivating as she recollects the challenges she has faced in becoming a single mother while finding friends in unlikely places and experiencing adventures of a lifetime.
Cunningham's narration is deeply moving and raw, you get a sense that she is baring her soul to the reader in her reflection.
"You are unique and spectacular beings, sentinels of the sea, ecosystem engineers, harbingers of the climate change that will affect us all."
Her writing is almost poetic as she describes the landscapes and I was particularly enthralled by the tales of the Utqigvik community and their unique lifestyle.
The ever-present concern of climate change is present and very real within this book and Cunningham explores it with grace, weaving its importance throughout her personal story in an impactful style. An incredibly important book.
"This is what the ocean should be like everywhere, what it once was. Populated, a home to wild and teeming communities, to the most incredible lives, journeys and ecologies."
I would like to thank @doreenwriting for offering me a copy of her incredible book and to @viragopress for so kindly providing the copy.
July 12, 2023
Found this book in London and luckily didn’t regret it 🐋
Really liked this book about Doreen traveling with her son Max to follow the grey whale migration and reading about her stories in Alaska when she was younger.
Especially the stories about her time in Utqiagvik were really interesting. Cool to read that she at some point actually became part of the Iñupiaq family.
Felt really sad that she didn’t had the time to meet with Billy anymore when she returned to Alaska at the time that she was traveling with her son (which I was hoping for).
Besides that sad that on some points she missed out on seeing the grey whales, but as the book mentioned “you can’t just push a button to see them wherever you are”. Anyway, would love to go on a similar trip, really nice to have read her stories :)
Really liked this book about Doreen traveling with her son Max to follow the grey whale migration and reading about her stories in Alaska when she was younger.
Especially the stories about her time in Utqiagvik were really interesting. Cool to read that she at some point actually became part of the Iñupiaq family.
Felt really sad that she didn’t had the time to meet with Billy anymore when she returned to Alaska at the time that she was traveling with her son (which I was hoping for).
Besides that sad that on some points she missed out on seeing the grey whales, but as the book mentioned “you can’t just push a button to see them wherever you are”. Anyway, would love to go on a similar trip, really nice to have read her stories :)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 1, 2023
Abgebrochen. Zu viele Sprünge in der Geschichte, viel Irrelevantes und zu wenig Informationen über Wale. Ich fand es gezwungen emotional, teilweise fühlte es sich einfach nicht mehr natürlich an. Außerdem hatte ich nicht erwartet, dass der Fokus so stark auf der Mutter-Kind-Beziehung/Alleinerziehenden liegen würde. Toll für alle, die mehr über Doreen Cunningham wissen möchten, enttäuschend für alle, die mehr über Wale wissen möchten.
February 20, 2024
Ich habe mich sehr auf das Buch gefreut. Ich liebe Wale und es ist wichtig mehr über den Klimawandel zu erfahren.
Leider hat die Autorin zu viel Persönliches mit einfließen lassen. Sie wollte die Verbindung mit den Walen und ihrem Leben aufzeigen. Teilweise war es sehr poetisch und ich habe ihre Liebe zu den Grauwalen gespürt. Jedoch war es größtenteils langatmig und leider langweilig. Ein paar Unstimmigkeiten habe ich beim Lesen auch feststellen können.
Über die Kapitel aus Alaska habe ich mich sehr gefreut. Diese waren interessant, spannend und informativ. Die Besonderheit der Wale hat sie gut erläutert. Es ist aber schade, dass sie nur schlechte Worte über die Orcas geschrieben hat. Auch sie müssen sich ernähren und dementsprechend andere Tiere essen. Hier hätte ich mehr Professionalität erwartet.
Fazit: Interessante Fakten über Wale und die Iñupiats in Alaska mit einer persönlichen und langatmigen Geschichte der Autorin.
Leider hat die Autorin zu viel Persönliches mit einfließen lassen. Sie wollte die Verbindung mit den Walen und ihrem Leben aufzeigen. Teilweise war es sehr poetisch und ich habe ihre Liebe zu den Grauwalen gespürt. Jedoch war es größtenteils langatmig und leider langweilig. Ein paar Unstimmigkeiten habe ich beim Lesen auch feststellen können.
Über die Kapitel aus Alaska habe ich mich sehr gefreut. Diese waren interessant, spannend und informativ. Die Besonderheit der Wale hat sie gut erläutert. Es ist aber schade, dass sie nur schlechte Worte über die Orcas geschrieben hat. Auch sie müssen sich ernähren und dementsprechend andere Tiere essen. Hier hätte ich mehr Professionalität erwartet.
Fazit: Interessante Fakten über Wale und die Iñupiats in Alaska mit einer persönlichen und langatmigen Geschichte der Autorin.
July 4, 2023
A beautiful memoir about a single mother finding her way while following grey whales on their migratory route. It often reads like a novel, with super historical and factual information about the whales and places travelled.
January 1, 2023
Der Gesang in den Meeren
In "Der Gesang in den Meeren" berichtet Doreen Cunningham von einer Reise, die sie mit ihrem zweijährigen Sohn Max unternimmt: sie wollen den Grauwalen auf ihrer Reise nach Norden folgen. Mit der Reise will Dorreen ein Zeichen setzen, dass sie eine als alleinerziehende Mutter durchaus in der Lage ist, eine solch strapazierende Reise durchzuziehen. Während die majestätische Tiere ihren Weg von Mexiko nach Alaska im Pazifik zurücklegen, tun Doreen und Max das mit Bus, Zug, Flugzeug und Boot.
Aber die Tour ist auch eine Wiedererleben ihrer ersten Reise in die Arktis, einige Jahre zuvor, als sie als Umweltjournalistin einige Monate bei einer Iñupiat-Familie in Alaska verbracht hat. Die Erzählung wechselt zwischen den beiden Reisen, was nicht mit Jahreszahlen explizit gemacht wird, allerdings merkt man das schnell an der An- oder eben Abwesenheit vom kleinen Max.
Während ihrer Zeit in Alaska hatte sich gleich doppelt verliebt: in Billy, den Waljäger, aber auch in die Grauwale, mit ihrer Serenität, Treue und Intelligenz. Und ihre Liebe trägt sie auf den Leser weiter. Man kann sich einfach nur noch für Wale begeistern, wenn man dieses Buch liest. Ohne belehrend zu wirken, stellt die Autorin auch klar, dass wir Menschen den Auftrag haben, den Walen zu schützen und den von menschlichem Handeln verursachen Klimawandel gegenzusteuern.
In "Der Gesang in den Meeren" berichtet Doreen Cunningham von einer Reise, die sie mit ihrem zweijährigen Sohn Max unternimmt: sie wollen den Grauwalen auf ihrer Reise nach Norden folgen. Mit der Reise will Dorreen ein Zeichen setzen, dass sie eine als alleinerziehende Mutter durchaus in der Lage ist, eine solch strapazierende Reise durchzuziehen. Während die majestätische Tiere ihren Weg von Mexiko nach Alaska im Pazifik zurücklegen, tun Doreen und Max das mit Bus, Zug, Flugzeug und Boot.
Aber die Tour ist auch eine Wiedererleben ihrer ersten Reise in die Arktis, einige Jahre zuvor, als sie als Umweltjournalistin einige Monate bei einer Iñupiat-Familie in Alaska verbracht hat. Die Erzählung wechselt zwischen den beiden Reisen, was nicht mit Jahreszahlen explizit gemacht wird, allerdings merkt man das schnell an der An- oder eben Abwesenheit vom kleinen Max.
Während ihrer Zeit in Alaska hatte sich gleich doppelt verliebt: in Billy, den Waljäger, aber auch in die Grauwale, mit ihrer Serenität, Treue und Intelligenz. Und ihre Liebe trägt sie auf den Leser weiter. Man kann sich einfach nur noch für Wale begeistern, wenn man dieses Buch liest. Ohne belehrend zu wirken, stellt die Autorin auch klar, dass wir Menschen den Auftrag haben, den Walen zu schützen und den von menschlichem Handeln verursachen Klimawandel gegenzusteuern.
July 24, 2023
Eine sehr bewegende Geschichte und noch dazu sehr informativ.
February 11, 2024
Absolute Leseempfehlung
March 3, 2024
Been dipping in and out of this one for a while. Another excellent memoir that features whales (niche genre but one I love).
Read
April 23, 2024Very interesting but having trouble getting through it. Might pick back up.
February 15, 2023
From the perspective of someone who reads a lot of memoirs, I would not recommend.
From the perspective of someone who is fascinated by whales, I would not recommend.
From the perspective of someone who is intrigued about indigenous traditions and stories - I would maybe recommend?? If you are alright with reading "Whales mummy!" a few hundred times, give it a go.
The best parts were her reflections back to her time in Alaska living among the locals and learning about their culture and the whales.
Unfortunately there was much more about the (self acknowledged) poorly planned chase of grays during their migration north. Visas aside - you can't expect a 4th of July firework show when you show up in early September.
Everything about the pony? Slightly weird and depressing and not all that interesting.
I also needed to know how we ended the memoir with more children while still fully wrapped up in the fantasy of a former lover. Huh??
From the perspective of someone who is fascinated by whales, I would not recommend.
From the perspective of someone who is intrigued about indigenous traditions and stories - I would maybe recommend?? If you are alright with reading "Whales mummy!" a few hundred times, give it a go.
The best parts were her reflections back to her time in Alaska living among the locals and learning about their culture and the whales.
Unfortunately there was much more about the (self acknowledged) poorly planned chase of grays during their migration north. Visas aside - you can't expect a 4th of July firework show when you show up in early September.
Everything about the pony? Slightly weird and depressing and not all that interesting.
I also needed to know how we ended the memoir with more children while still fully wrapped up in the fantasy of a former lover. Huh??
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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