March 13, 2026 - Reading time: ~1 minute - Category: reviews
The North Water is a quick, gritty read. Set in the Arctic in the 1850s, it paints a grim picture of the incredibly harsh whaling industry. Every single character is a morally reprehensible bastard, there's murder, rape, animal cruelty, and the vast majority of it is acknowledged as a fact of the whaleman's life.
It's written, just a bit, like Cormac McCarthy's The Road. Not so much in style, but in tone. The writing is vivid and descriptive and brutal. It wasn't a fun read, but it was captivating and enthralling and it comes to a satisfying conclusion.
If you have a stomach for all types of violence, and don't mind that none of the characters are good people and don't get redeemed, this is a great quick read. It's also been adapted into a 5 episode miniseries that's supposed to be pretty good.