''Journey to the End of the Whale'' (2005) is a novel by

John David Morley John David Morley (21 January 1948 – 18 February 2018) was an English writer and novelist. Early life The third and youngest child of the artist and sculptor Patricia Morley (née Booth) and John Arthur Elwell Morley, a District Officer in t ...

, a book that almost killed its author in the making.'The Prince of Whales'
Joe Holden, ''The Observer Magazine'' (September 11, 2005)

Summary

Swiss orphan, insurance agent and amateur marine biologist Daniel Serraz free-floats with life's currents until a traumatic midlife episode sends him on a journey of discovery to the remote east Indonesian island of Lefó. There, he will uncover the secret of his origins, but not before risking everything

hunting Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...

with the islanders, the last torchbearers of an ancient tradition by which whales are bested by men in teak boats, harpooned by hand on the open sea.

Reception

Writing in '' The Observer,'' novelist and critic

Adam Mars-Jones Adam Mars-Jones (born 26 October 1954) is a British novelist and literary and film critic. Early life and education Mars-Jones was born in London, to Sir William Mars-Jones (1915–1999), a Welsh High Court judge and a President of the London ...

described the book as “a paean to the majesty, complexity and otherness of the world's whales; and an elegy for a way of life which depended on killing them.” In '' The Sunday Telegraph'', Matthew Alexander wrote: :"It is impossible to do justice in this space to the rich spiritual-thematic explorations which Morley produces... The whale legends and ancient traditions of the islands, the submarine lives of giant mammals connected by sound-telepathy across vast tracts of ocean, the giant whale-stone which overhangs the bay in Lefó; from these and many more images and experiences emerges a poignant kind of personal spirituality which leads Daniel to a new understanding of his own humanity." "A marvellous and original work of fiction, which has not quite received all of the recognition it deserves" was the verdict of novelist and broadcaster

Melvyn Bragg Melvyn Bragg, Baron Bragg, (born 6 October 1939), is an English broadcaster, author and parliamentarian. He is best known for his work with ITV as editor and presenter of ''The South Bank Show'' (1978–2010), and for the BBC Radio 4 documenta ...

, who chose ''Journey to the End of the Whale'' as one of his 'Books of the year' in ''The Observer''. In ''The Observer'' magazine, Joe Holden concluded simply: “If ever a writer put his heart into a book, it is

.” ''Journey to the End of the Whale'' was shortlisted for the 2006 Commonwealth Writers' Prize in the Eurasia section.

In Translation

In 2007, the novel was published in Spanish as ''Viaje al fin de las Ballenas'' in a translation by Mercedes Fernández Cuesta and Mario Grande.

References

External links

‘Briny Points'
John Spurling, ''The Times'' (November 20, 2005)
‘A little like a whale'
Karl Miller, ''The Times Literary Supplement'' (January 6, 2006) {{Novels by John David Morley 2005 British novels British adventure novels English philosophical novels Novels set in Indonesia Novels about orphans Novels by John David Morley Weidenfeld & Nicolson books