Award-winning and best-selling author James Dickey returns with the heart-stopping story of Muldrow, an American tail gunner who parachutes &#...
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reviews
Jan 09, 2010
Jacob
rated it: 
To the White Sea contains one of the most uncompromising narratives and most unilaterally driven protagonists every committed to paper.
Muldrow, a WWII gunner, shot down over Tokyo, does whatever is necessary to survive; he is a man apart, thrown into a foreign land, with a different language, culture, and ideology.
The novel, almost devoid of dialogue, is a first person narrative of madness, encapsulated in the thoughts of one man. Lyrical, akin to a tone poem (being More...
Muldrow, a WWII gunner, shot down over Tokyo, does whatever is necessary to survive; he is a man apart, thrown into a foreign land, with a different language, culture, and ideology.
The novel, almost devoid of dialogue, is a first person narrative of madness, encapsulated in the thoughts of one man. Lyrical, akin to a tone poem (being More...
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Oct 07, 2009
Matt
rated it: 
Forget "Call me Ishmael." Here's a hook for you:
"We are going to bring it to him," the Colonel said with satisfaction. A lot more than usual. "Fire. This is what you've got to look forward to. This is what he's got to look forward to." He leaned into it, from the heels, you could say. I sat and waited, looking straight ahead. "We're going to bring it to him." He looked down the rows of us, but I didn't watch him do it; all this was like before.More...
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Jun 18, 2009
Alex
rated it: 
This is another book that I listened to on a tape while driving. The novel tells the story of an American bomber gunner shot down over Tokyo during World War II. For the most part, its a gripping narrative, especially the first (I'm guessing here) hundred pages or so. The novel kind of reminds me of Hatchet by Gary Paulson and similar manly-man stories by authors like Hemingway and McCarthy. However, like these other manly-man writers, I feel that Dickey fumbles when it comes to revealing de
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May 14, 2011
Read in 2009.
In the early 2000's, the Coen Brothers were supposed to adapt this book into a silent film starring Brad Pitt. I was super excited at the notion of a Coen-directed lyrical drama set during WW2, but then of course the project collapsed and it all went to hell. I finally picked up the book last year and gave it a read. And I'm glad I did - it's a fantastic, harsh story filled with some of the most fluid prose I've ever read. There is maybe three lines of dialogue in the enti More...
In the early 2000's, the Coen Brothers were supposed to adapt this book into a silent film starring Brad Pitt. I was super excited at the notion of a Coen-directed lyrical drama set during WW2, but then of course the project collapsed and it all went to hell. I finally picked up the book last year and gave it a read. And I'm glad I did - it's a fantastic, harsh story filled with some of the most fluid prose I've ever read. There is maybe three lines of dialogue in the enti More...
Feb 05, 2009
Steve
rated it:
I’m not sure how to rate James Dickey’s novel, To the White Sea. As a piece of writing, it’s much better than I thought it would be, since the book was written toward the end of Dickey’s hard living life. However, the human factor – unless you want to identify with the Japanese victims in the novel (as tangential as they are, a very real option)– is about zero. Muldow, who is virtually the only character in the novel, since it's told in the first person, is a B-29 gunner who is shot down over
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Jan 27, 2010
Bob
rated it:
By the author of Deliverance. Set in Japan during WWII, it’s the story of a downed flyer as he makes his way from Tokyo where he was shot down to the northern end of Hokkaido. Muldrow is a tail gunner and before the Air Force he lived with his father in the interior of Alaska, Just the two of them in the wilderness. He grew up at home in the wild and snowy mountains, hunting and running trap lines. Winter was his special time and home and his escape to the north was in search of the cold and
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Mar 15, 2009
Rob
rated it:
I can't help but compare this book with another one that almost has the same setting: American soldier is down behind enemy lines, with nobody to depend on but themselves in order to survive. To do so, they must descend to living and thinking like a savage and journey, with a single-minded determination toward a destination that promises salvation. That was The Last of the Breed, by Louis L'Amour. Louis L'Amour's premise is that a civilized man, when confronted with a choice between brutality an
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Sep 26, 2010
DoctorM
rated it:
What shall we say? Cormac McCarthy in the Kanto? Yes--- I like that. Beautifully written, powerful, great set pieces and landscapes with sudden eruptions of savage violence.
Simple enough plot, of course. An American B-29 crewman is shot down over Tokyo in March 1945, during the great fire raids on the city. He escapes north, seeking safety, seeking to avoid the fate--- beheading ---meted out to captured B-29 aircrew. He's Alaska-born, raised as a hunter and a trapper, and he has a li More...
Simple enough plot, of course. An American B-29 crewman is shot down over Tokyo in March 1945, during the great fire raids on the city. He escapes north, seeking safety, seeking to avoid the fate--- beheading ---meted out to captured B-29 aircrew. He's Alaska-born, raised as a hunter and a trapper, and he has a li More...
Jun 01, 2011
Doug
rated it:
I heard about this book while reading a screen writing magazine and since I usually like WWII stories I borrowed it from the library. I was pleasantly surprised to find out it was written by James Dickey of Deliverance fame. The book starts off well enough, but quickly starts to drag on and on and on. Overall I liked the story, but feel it could have been shortened and still have been equally effective.
The story is about an American airman who is shot down over Japan, he survives in a very More...
The story is about an American airman who is shot down over Japan, he survives in a very More...
Nov 13, 2009
Marlene
rated it: 
I tried, I really tried to make it through this book. It's written in first person and the guy, to me, is like a robot. No feeling, no emotion, constantly likening himself to animals. He grew up in Alaska, in the wilderness, and studied the animals; how they stalked, how they survived. He goes into the service and becomes a tail gunner in WWII. The plane is shot down and he parachutes into Tokyo. This was the first unrealistic part for me. There seems to be a lot of time while the plane is going
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Feb 18, 2010
Drew
rated it:
How do you relate to a brutally efficient killing machine doing anything to survive? One of the blurbs said To The White Sea "made the trials of Deliverance seem pale and suburban by comparison", which is probably it's biggest strength and weakness. Imagine if Deliverance were retold with Lewis (Burt Renolds' character from the film) as the only character and the hillbillies are Japanese soldiers. The story is similar, but the doubt, vulnerability and guilt that make the other book's c
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Jul 23, 2008
Ben
rated it:
The more I think about this book, the more I appreciate it. Ultrasymbolism is the name of the game. So is reverse anthropomorphism and a dash of hyper-atavism.
Blue-beyond-blue, stark red, endless white play leading roles here. So do fisher martens, rabbits and bears. So do blood and shit, stabbing and beating.
The book gets three stars because it just wasn't very enjoyable. It is very ponderable, but gets a little ponderous toward the middle. The point of the book is More...
Blue-beyond-blue, stark red, endless white play leading roles here. So do fisher martens, rabbits and bears. So do blood and shit, stabbing and beating.
The book gets three stars because it just wasn't very enjoyable. It is very ponderable, but gets a little ponderous toward the middle. The point of the book is More...
Jan 09, 2010
Toby
rated it:
Hmmm...
I have very mixed feelings on this one. The main character is a hard guy to connect with (due to some fairly--without revealing too much of the story--anti-social tendencies, to say the least), but he does have a whole lot of the 'call-of-the-wild' about him as well. The story itself, the airman downed in Tokyo in WWII and trying to survive, is extremely compelling; it was the main reason that I got the book.
The writing is spectacularly clean and tidy, and very precise. I have More...
I have very mixed feelings on this one. The main character is a hard guy to connect with (due to some fairly--without revealing too much of the story--anti-social tendencies, to say the least), but he does have a whole lot of the 'call-of-the-wild' about him as well. The story itself, the airman downed in Tokyo in WWII and trying to survive, is extremely compelling; it was the main reason that I got the book.
The writing is spectacularly clean and tidy, and very precise. I have More...
Jan 17, 2010
Ralph
rated it:
I will not disclose "spoilers" here.
The novel is powerful, memorable and intriguing. The skillful writing of Dickey is delicious in this page-turner!
Easy plot data: Downed pilot in WWII Japan fighting, running and hiding for his life. Much internal monologues, of course.
After the reader turns the last page, one can only exclaim"Wow!"
The novel is powerful, memorable and intriguing. The skillful writing of Dickey is delicious in this page-turner!
Easy plot data: Downed pilot in WWII Japan fighting, running and hiding for his life. Much internal monologues, of course.
After the reader turns the last page, one can only exclaim"Wow!"
Jan 29, 2010
Larry
rated it:
Just astonishing. Best novel I'd never heard of I've read in a long time. Unusual and evocative setting (the Japanese countryside after the firebombing of Tokyo). Muscular Jack London prose. A fascinating monster of a protagonist. Even some subtle post-modern unreliable narrator gamesmanship.
Nov 22, 2010
Scott
rated it:
Extremely dense in his prose, yet sublimely beautiful in his imagery. This is a tough read and is certainly not "light." (It took me 3-4 months to get through it.) But Dickey is unparalleled in his portrayal of the animalistic underbelly of humanity.
Nov 15, 2010
Rereading for craft purposes but still lost in the magic. Take one amazing piece of writing—the cliff-climbing scene in Deliverance—and extend it to make it a downed airman trying to make his way across Japan in World War II. Horrifying, beautiful, genius.
May 16, 2009
Bryan
rated it: 
Yet another instance of "lowly" genre fiction dressed up as literature. "The Killer Inside Me" goes to war. Damn shame, too. The premise and the language are excellent. An U.S. Air Force machine gunner is shot down over Tokyo the week prior to the firebombing that resulted in more deaths than Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined. He must survive by his wits, staying hidden in Japan during wartime. Could have been amazing, especially if the hero of the story had to struggle b
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Jan 18, 2009
Greg
rated it:
I did not care for this book. I got the point that there were no chapters in the book and it was suppose to be a recall of events. I found the first 70 - 80 pages of the book interesting but after that it did not captivate me.
Feb 14, 2008
Chris
rated it:
Poetic. It starts out feeling very much like a typical Hollywood action flick. You have a loner type hero who gets shot down over Tokyo during WWII and makes a plan to sneak to Hokkaido, the great northern island of Japan that is full of mountains and wide open spaces where the hero intends to survive. But the story turns dark quickly. The hero kills without hesitation. On one hand, this makes sense, since he is alone in a country full of his enemies and killing is the only way he can survive, b
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Feb 23, 2009
Christopher Rex
rated it:
Amazing book from the author of "Deliverance". Not for the faint of heart. A pilot shot down over Tokyo in WWII hides in the sewer awaiting the Allied fire-bombings to provide cover for his escape. When it comes, the brutal journey begins. An incredible story which will challenge your views about "justified violence" in times of war.
Aug 23, 2010
drew
rated it:
this book is a whole lot of things, and most of them are not apparent for the first hundred pages or so. an unreliable narrator made this not-so-simple tale of survival during wartime a very memorable read
Jan 04, 2009
Same author as Deliverance. Creative adventure story about a downed pilot in Japan during WW II. A bit of a weird ending and a fair amount of brutality.
Apr 12, 2010
Chris
rated it:
Taut, cold, mystical story of a downed Alaskan airman in WWII stealing through Japan.
May 05, 2009
I have to admit, I gave up. I just could not stay in this book. The first person perspective of a terrifyingly single-minded protagonist was just too much. I still think it could be a fantastic film for the Coens to make, but I can't be that close to that person for the time it takes to get through the book.
Dec 01, 2009
Donna
rated it:
<a href="http://www.avclub.com/articles/to-the-white-sea-donna-bowmans-comments,35855/"My post at the A.V. Club's Wrapped Up In Books for November 2009.</a>
Aug 18, 2011
Ben
rated it:
It’s too bad the Coens have so far never filmed the treatment they wrote for this. Almost zero dialogue, flashes of brutality, hauntingly beautiful landscapes – it could be classic ‘them’. Oh well. The book is basically one long inner monologue about a downed WWII gunner trying to survive long enough to make it to Hokkaido and live off the land. It’s pretty fantastic. But I still doubt I'll ever read 'Deliverance'.
Jul 30, 2011
Frazzz
rated it:
This is the first book of dickey I have read. I found it immersing and driven, ever-present and fabulously self immersed. I felt strangely touched when the main character lost focus near the end.
A friend compared it with bierce's a strange occurrence at owl creek, and I struggle to interpret it that way.
A friend compared it with bierce's a strange occurrence at owl creek, and I struggle to interpret it that way.
Sep 15, 2010
Scott
rated it:
2.5
Had so much potential and so much more that I wanted to happen. Alas, the father's red wall against the Alaska landscape is the image that may prevail.
Had so much potential and so much more that I wanted to happen. Alas, the father's red wall against the Alaska landscape is the image that may prevail.
