Daniel Kraus’s Whalefall is a gripping and emotional survival novel that turns a solo mission in the deep sea into a stage for grief, reflection on the nature of family and second chances.
The story follows 17-year-old Jay Gardiner. During an illegal dive in search of his dead father’s remains, he ends up trapped inside a sperm whale with a dwindling air supply and a lifetime of memories to dredge through. It’s equal parts nail-biter and tear-jerker, which also makes it surprisingly quotable.
The film adaptation, out Oct. 14, stars Austin Abrams, who also appeared in Zach Cregger’s smash horror hit Resident Evil.
Whether you’re staring at the horizon or just surviving a Monday, we’ve collected 30 of the book’s most memorable lines to use as your next Instagram captions.
(Whalefall via MTV Books)
For flaunting your addiction to the ocean:
“Weekdays, weekends, holidays, the man’s blood so attuned to tidal patterns that he gets up without an alarm to begin the bedroom invasions, cowbelling his coffee cup.”
For recognizing that people are complicated:
“People aren’t doors. They’re whole floor plans, entire labyrinths, and the harder you try to escape, the more lost inside them you become.”
For when you’re in it and there’s no turning back now:
“He’s psyched himself up so hard for this, doom metal tunes and coffee, that the idea of quitting nauseates him.”
For noticing just how fast time is passing:
“That’s all right. Every hour of the pearl, you realize you’ve lost pages too. More and more pages until … you’re all gone.”
-Mitt Gardiner
For looking ridiculous in a scuba outfit:
“You can’t really hide in diving gear. Might as well be wearing a suit of armor.”
For being, but not feeling like, an adult:
“Is he fully grown now? Few would say so.”
For when it’s been a while since you worked out:
“Abs like dough, thighs like sticks, lungs that think they know aerobic exercise but really don’t.”
For the situation that throws you off kilter:
“Makes him feel like a piece of cardboard being bent.”
For that gut sensation that lets you know everything’s about to change:
“You feel that, dummy? That’s how you know something big is on its way.”
-Mitt Gardiner
For the aerial shot of something unforgettable:
“It holds the pose: a comma in a sentence so large only gods can read it.”
Also read about Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil first reactions.
For contemplating a big risk:
“It’d break every bone in your body.”
-Mitt Gardiner
(Whalefall via 20th Century Studios)
For the photo that encapsulates everything:
“Behold, a universe.”
For taking care of your teeth:
“If you don’t floss, you’ll go from a sperm whale to a baleen—the joke being that baleen whales are toothless.”
For telling a white lie:
“Let me tell you the lesson of this prophet. Truth never outweighs mercy.”
-Hewey
For encountering an incredible creature in the wild:
“Respecting an animal isn’t gaping at it through museum glass or from the deck of a charter boat. Respecting an animal is living with it.”
-Mitt Gardiner
For not fearing the sea’s mighty animals:
“Not sharks, not stingrays, not orcas. Nothing down there wants to eat us.”
-Mitt Gardiner
Also read about every Resident Evil game remake confirmed so far.
For braving the ocean on a boat:
“Man versus ocean. It’s not a fair fight. It never was.”
For when you’ve had better days:
“Brain bad. Not think good.”
For being grateful to be back on your legs after a while at sea:
“Humans might have come from primordial waters, but they had made their choice of dry land.”
For putting things into perspective:
“Listen, all this stuff. Math, social studies, whatever. You succeed, you fail—once you grow up, none of it matters, all right? You’re little and don’t get it. But trust me. Nothing looks so bad the next day.”
-Mitt Gardiner
For trying not to hyperventilate:
“You’re breathing out more CO than you’re breathing in oxygen, which makes your brain go goofy. Your thoughts are flying all over the place, right?”
-Mitt Gardiner
For refusing to be a victim:
“Option Five. The prey becomes so dangerous the predators let him go.”
-Mitt Gardiner
For seeking a better understanding of the world:
“If you can’t know what’s right in front of you, you can’t know what’s beyond you.”
For admiring the tenacity of whales:
“Option Five. The prey becomes so dangerous the predators let him go.”
(Whalefall via 20th Century Studios)
For trying to leave your preoccupations behind you:
“Also possible: there’s nothing to worry about.”
For reflecting on hesitation:
“(Answers to questions have weight)
(And we wanted to stay light)”
For comprehending the power of human connection:
“No one carries the best parts of themselves. The best parts are those held inside of others.”
For contemplating the nature of reality:
“But what is real? There’s what we have seen, heard, smelled, tasted, touched. Then there’s what we know in every platelet to be truth.”
For thinking it might be time to let go:
“(What are you holding on to)”
For approaching a new day with optimism and the desire to live:
“Sleeper, arise!”
Are you as obsessed with Whalefall as we are? Click HERE to discover which Resident Evil character is most like you, based on your zodiac sign.
