Book Review: "Ocean Sea" by Alessandro Baricco

I was searching the realms of the online world in order to find more books like Rites of Passage by William Golding or even The Terror by Dan Simmons (I mean I remember reading The Terror and having the absolute wits scared out of me for about a week). I came across a dark-ish novel that some were recommending written in a post-modern kind of style called Ocean Sea. Now, when I read the blurb I wasn't too sure this was what I was looking for and, after a sample, the book looked a bit empty on the page. However, I gave it a go anyway to see how it would turn out. Honestly, it's a little here and there.

The novel begins at the Almayer Inn, a surreal, otherworldly hotel perched by the ocean. This inn is neither entirely realistic nor wholly fantastical, a liminal space where a diverse group of characters gather. The ocean, vast and enigmatic, serves as both a backdrop and a character, embodying the themes of renewal, danger, and the unknown. Each guest has been drawn to the inn for deeply personal reasons, creating a mosaic of human longing and brokenness. I love any book that has long, dark and raging descriptions of the sea but I'm not going to lie to you when I say I was really hoping for more here. There were descriptions yes, but they didn't enthrall me like I was hoping. It was more light and romantic than Billy Budd, Sailor, if you know what I mean.

Elisewin, a frail and emotionally delicate young woman, arrives at the inn accompanied by her protective father and Father Pluche, her spiritual guide. Her father believes the sea might cure her debilitating fear of life, a condition that has left her isolated and incapable of functioning. Elisewin’s presence at the inn sets the stage for her transformative journey from fragility to a kind of self-possession, influenced by her interactions with the ocean and the other guests. I enjoyed the sub-stories within this main plot of a guest who is taken to a sickbed. However, I did feel like many of the other characters apart from Elisewin became forgettable as the book went on. It was like they didn't really matter all too much. Again, it was a little empty for me.

Professor Bartleboom, an eccentric scientist, has come to the inn to study the ocean’s limits—both its physical boundary and its metaphysical nature. He carries with him a notebook filled with letters to the wife he has not yet met, a symbol of his idealistic and romantic yearning. Bartleboom is a comical yet deeply earnest character, embodying the human struggle to reconcile logic and emotion. He finds himself drawn to Elisewin but is unsure how to approach her, reflecting his own naivety and longing for connection. This could've been a good storyline with more pages available. But I remember reading about the scientist and thinking that he was a really well-written character. That was until his obsession obviously became the woman he was drawn to and everything happened so damn quickly. I don't want to say the author kind of ruined it for me, but the author kind of ruined it for me.

Ann Deverià arrives at the inn under the shadow of scandal. Her husband has sent her there to atone for her infidelity, and she is consumed by guilt and a desire for absolution. Ann’s presence creates an emotional tension among the guests, particularly with her sensual and enigmatic nature. Her interactions with Bartleboom, Elisewin’s father, and the ocean itself reveal the complexities of her character and her struggle to reconcile her desires with societal expectations. Now that's all well and good but, with all these characters entering I can't really keep up not knowing much about any single one. I kept asking myself whether I'm reading a book or playing Clue. This is where I started to get annoyed with the book because there are other characters who enter who definitely have some sort of impact, but the book isn't even three-hundred pages - it doesn't have the time and space to do all of these things.

Interwoven with the events at the inn is the harrowing tale of a group of shipwreck survivors stranded at sea. Their story is told through fragmented narratives, exposing the extremities of human endurance, morality, and desperation. These survivors confront hunger, thirst, and the primal instincts that emerge in life-or-death situations. This was probably the only enthralling and immersive part of the book. Everything else was simply too average for me. It was very much a hit-and-miss situation in this reading experience.

All in all, I think the main issue this book had was its potential to be great was not lived up to because of the length of the book. It's a fairly short book with lots and lots simply crammed in. It needed to take its time and expand by a few hundred pages. It simply was not immersive enough.