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3.4 AVERAGE
3.4 AVERAGE
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I probably would never had read this on my own, but my bookclub decided to read it. And it actually turned out to be such a great read/listen. Listening was helpful to get through it, and there is a lot of information about whaling industry. While it was dense, I really liked the history and overview of the industry. I've been casually interested in whaling history since reading Endurance and their rescue by a whaling crew and seeing all the whales and birds while I traveling in the south Atlantic.
My bookclub has quite a few academics and an English professor. So we had interesting conversations about the symbolism of the book. There was some beautiful prose. My favorite character was Queequeg. I loved his resurrection scene. He had a work to do so he chose to live.
Poor Pip! Starbuck's monologue when he almost kills Ahab because he knows what is going to happen if the continue to follow his obsession.
I was trying to finish it before the bookclub meeting and so binge read the last chapters. The chase was SO exciting! I also didn't really know how it was going to end, so it was all a surprise. The description of how it ended was mind blowing. It was so good.
Probably not a book I'll read again, but definitely worth the time.
My bookclub has quite a few academics and an English professor. So we had interesting conversations about the symbolism of the book. There was some beautiful prose. My favorite character was Queequeg. I loved his resurrection scene. He had a work to do so he chose to live.
Poor Pip! Starbuck's monologue when he almost kills Ahab because he knows what is going to happen if the continue to follow his obsession.
I was trying to finish it before the bookclub meeting and so binge read the last chapters. The chase was SO exciting! I also didn't really know how it was going to end, so it was all a surprise. The description of how it ended was mind blowing. It was so good.
Probably not a book I'll read again, but definitely worth the time.
adventurous
challenging
funny
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
challenging
informative
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Look, is this a classic, a timeless piece of brilliance in the history of literature? Absolutely. Is Melville's prose elegant, impressive and worthy of endless praise? Sure. But, at the end of the day, you either like a story or you don't, and while I can appreciate this book for the classic piece that it is, I'm also not in love with it. I'm glad I've read it, I'm amazed by Melville's talent, and yet, this will not be a book I will re-read over and over again.
adventurous
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
The best American book ever written and one of the best epics from anywhere. I think this is one of those books that people lie about having read. If you are one of these people take the time and read it, it will change your life.
Everything they always told you it was.
1. "As for me, I am tormented with an everlasting itch for things remote. I love to sail forbidden seas, and land on barbarous coasts."
2. “Yes, there is death in this business of whaling—a speechlessly quick chaotic bundling of a man into Eternity. But what then? Methinks we have hugely mistaken this matter of Life and Death. Methinks that what they call my shadow here on earth is my true substance. Methinks that in looking at things spiritual, we are too much like oysters observing the sun through the water, and thinking that thick water the thinnest of air. Methinks my body is but the lees of my better being.”
3. "Oh, man! admire and model thyself after the whale! Do thou, too, remain warm among ice. Do thou, too, live in this world without being of it. Be cool at the equator; keep thy blood fluid at the Pole. Like the great dome of St. Peter's, and like the great whale, retain, O man! in all seasons a temperature of thine own."
4. “For small erections may be finished by their first architects; grand ones, true ones, ever leave the copestone to posterity. God keep me from ever completing anything. This whole book is but a draught—nay, but the draught of a draught. Oh, Time, Strength, Cash, and Patience!"
1. "As for me, I am tormented with an everlasting itch for things remote. I love to sail forbidden seas, and land on barbarous coasts."
2. “Yes, there is death in this business of whaling—a speechlessly quick chaotic bundling of a man into Eternity. But what then? Methinks we have hugely mistaken this matter of Life and Death. Methinks that what they call my shadow here on earth is my true substance. Methinks that in looking at things spiritual, we are too much like oysters observing the sun through the water, and thinking that thick water the thinnest of air. Methinks my body is but the lees of my better being.”
3. "Oh, man! admire and model thyself after the whale! Do thou, too, remain warm among ice. Do thou, too, live in this world without being of it. Be cool at the equator; keep thy blood fluid at the Pole. Like the great dome of St. Peter's, and like the great whale, retain, O man! in all seasons a temperature of thine own."
4. “For small erections may be finished by their first architects; grand ones, true ones, ever leave the copestone to posterity. God keep me from ever completing anything. This whole book is but a draught—nay, but the draught of a draught. Oh, Time, Strength, Cash, and Patience!"
adventurous
challenging
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes