The Dolphin People

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Overview

Shortly after the end of WWII, sixteen-year-old Erich Linden and his family have fled Germany and joined Erich's uncle, Klaus, in Venezuela, where they will begin a new life. But, en route to Klaus's outpost further inland, they encounter a storm and their plane crashes in the middle of the jungle. Stranded deep within Amazonia with no hope of rescue, they are discovered by the Yayomi, a violent and superstitious Stone Age tribe. The Yayomi believe the strange looking foreigners are freshwater dolphins in human form—and the Lindens believe that as long as they can keep up the bizarre ruse they'll be safe. But the jungle is a dark, mysterious place, and no place for a family of sham ...

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More About This Book

Overview

Shortly after the end of WWII, sixteen-year-old Erich Linden and his family have fled Germany and joined Erich's uncle, Klaus, in Venezuela, where they will begin a new life. But, en route to Klaus's outpost further inland, they encounter a storm and their plane crashes in the middle of the jungle. Stranded deep within Amazonia with no hope of rescue, they are discovered by the Yayomi, a violent and superstitious Stone Age tribe. The Yayomi believe the strange looking foreigners are freshwater dolphins in human form—and the Lindens believe that as long as they can keep up the bizarre ruse they'll be safe. But the jungle is a dark, mysterious place, and no place for a family of sham dolphin-people who are ultimately left with only two choices: to escape or to die trying.

Editorial Reviews

Booklist
“[Krol is] a mesmerizing storyteller with a taste for grotesque, wildly improbable satire.... [A] clever, gory, suspenseful, and outrageous novel.”
Chicago Sun-Times
“You won’t be able to put down this gruesome and marvelous novel.... Krol’s writing mixes stark, laconic realism with passages of economical beauty.”
More Reviews (2) Fewer Reviews
Publishers Weekly
Krol's bizarre second novel (after Callisto) sends a Nazi-sympathizer family into the wilds of the Amazon. Sixteen-year-old narrator Erich Linden is fleeing to Venezuela with his war widow mother, Helga, and effeminate younger brother, Zeppi, after the fall of the Reich. They've been sent for by Erich's uncle Klaus, who intends to marry Helga as part of a plan to change his identity to evade prosecution for war crimes. Once they arrive and are rebranded as the Brandt family, they head inland to their new home, but their plane crashes, leaving them stranded in the Amazon, where they are welcomed by members of the Yayomi tribe, who believe the Brandts are dolphins in human form, as prophesied by a tribesman's dreams. Gerhard Wentzler, a German anthropologist who has been living with the tribe, serves as a translator, helping the “dolphins” stay as long as possible, which isn't long. Though the dolphin conceit is a stretch and the climax is too chaotic to be fulfilling, Krol is adept at creating suspense while imbuing the story with an unexpected amount of compassion and tenderness. (Dec.)
Kirkus Reviews
A German family struggles for survival in the Venezuelan jungle after World War II, in a story thick with bloodshed and allegory. Erich, the narrator of the second novel by Krol (Callisto, 2009), is a 16-year-old boy forced to grow up fast. His father died on the Russian front, and with no prospects in a decimated Nazi Germany, his mother opts to uproot Erich and his younger brother Zeppi and move to Venezuela. There she marries her brother-in-law Klaus. It's purely a marriage of convenience (Klaus is a former SS officer eager to obscure his work in the concentration camps), and as if to punish the family for its inauthenticity, their plane crashes into a river deep in the jungle. They're soon discovered by the Yayomi, a tribe that welcomes them thanks only to Gerhard Wentzler, a German researcher who's been living with the natives while the Nazis laid waste to Europe. Wentzler soothes the Yayomi by saying the new arrivals are nonthreatening "dolphin people," but, this being a story of culture clashes, the strategy doesn't last long. Krol's twist on lost-in-nature stories like Life of Pi and The Mosquito Coast is to emphasize Erich's pubescent obsession with sex, manliness and authority, along with his immaturity (he clings to his dad's Iron Cross, not to mention his anti-Semitism). That makes for a sometimes unseemly amount of detail about bodily functions, as Krol details the tribe's bathroom behavior and Erich's intimate relationship with a young native woman; moreover, Zeppi turns out to be a hermaphrodite, and terrifyingly bloodthirsty creatures lurk in the river. But Krol is admirably determined to explore the pure primal essence of each of his characters, and however off-puttingsome plot points might be, his writing is sharp, capturing the emotional zigzagging of his adolescent narrator without losing his grip on the plot. With the theme of anti-Semitism slowly becoming more amplified as the story moves along, Krol expertly turns his adventure story into a pointed commentary on the nature of tribal hatred. An unflinching, nightmarish fable with plenty of smarts behind it.

Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780061672965
  • Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
  • Publication date: 11/17/2009
  • Pages: 356
  • Sales rank: 833,109
  • Series: P.S. Series
  • Product dimensions: 5.30 (w) x 8.04 (h) x 0.91 (d)

Meet the Author

Torsten Krol is the author of Callisto. Nothing further is known about him.

Customer Reviews

Average Rating 4
( 7 )

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Sort by: Showing 1 – 6 of 7 Customer Reviews

  • Posted April 9, 2010

    more from this reviewer

    I Also Recommend:

    9780375726057 9780380789016

    Skip it

    The Dolphin People is not a great book. I'm not sure what I was expecting from it, but I was very disappointed. I couldn't relate to it in any way and it wasn't crazy enough to bring me into another world. The graphic nature of this book is understandable and reasonable. I don't think I will read anything else by this author though. The writing was not that good.

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  • Posted February 6, 2010

    I Also Recommend:

    9780307269980 9780307454546

    The Dolphin People

    While I enjoyed this book, it was hard to decide if the author was trying to be darkly humorous or perfectly serious. Given that this is fiction, it would have been more to his advantage to go for the humorous, since some of the scenes depicted, while based in truth, were so off the beaten path as to not be taken seriously by the average reader.

    I'm not sure if I will read anything more by this author.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted January 9, 2010

    Perfect for a long travel day!

    I purchased this book as I enjoy fictional stories that take place in foreign countries where I plan to travel. The plot and characters kept me interested during a 14-hour trip. World War II information was unexpected but relevant. Not for the squeamish, the anthropological details of a fictional Amazonian tribe's life lie somewhere between possible and horrifying. Just relax and enjoy!

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  • Posted December 7, 2009

    more from this reviewer

    The Dolphin People

    In "The Dolphin People" Torsten Krol has created an unreal situation where a family of four has to survive in the Amazon with a tribe of local natives "The Yayomi" who believe they are dolphins in human form. Set in post WWII, the Erich Linden and family have come to Venezuela to join Uncle Klaus. Their plane crashes in a river, and they are discovered by the Yayomi and are revered as special because of their dolphin status. With little chance of getting back to society they try and assimilate into the native culture with the assistance of Gerhard, another German who has lived with the tribe for eleven years as research for a book. Krol has written this book through the eyes of sixteen-year-old Erich and we observe him grow and change while here. His family has their own issues to take care of. As events unfold we learn more and more about everyone. Some parts are a little disturbing. "The Dolphin People" is a challenging and strange book; yet an enjoyable one.

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  • Posted November 8, 2009

    more from this reviewer

    a thought provoking Post WW II tale

    In 1943 on the Russian Front, Erich Linden's father died. Two years later, now sixteen years old, Erich, his widow mom Helga and his twelve years old brother Zeppi flee the ruined Third Reich for Geneva; there they board the Stromboli and sail to Venezuela where Uncle Klaus waits for them. He will marry Helga so he can care for her and her two sons while also using them as a front to dodge war crime prosecution for his work at the concentration camps.

    In Venezuela the Brandt family, as they are now called, flies into the Amazon to their new home, but the plane crashes. The Yayomi tribe welcomes the lost Brandt family because they believe they are the dolphins wearing human garb prophesied by a tribesman's dreams. German anthropologist Gerhard Wentzler who lives with the tribe to study them assists the Brandt brood in their temporary not so easy adaptation.

    The blood (and other liquids too frequently) flows in this deep dark allegorical historical thriller. Each of the Brandt family member has their civilization attire torn off along the lines of Carlyle's Sartor Resartus Clothing theory of man so that the reader can explore deeply their motivations to include growing up too fast, anti-Semitism, and other racial superiority. Not an easy read, The Dolphin People is a thought provoking Post WW II tale told mostly through the biased filtered lens of Erich as the narrator.

    Harriet Klausner

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  • Anonymous

    Posted May 3, 2010

    No text was provided for this review.

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