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3.4 AVERAGE
3.4 AVERAGE
it just took. so. long. to get through
yes the writing is fantastic, yes there’s lots to unpack (you would fucking hope so after nearly 700 pages) but i think i’m just not the audience. i adore melville’s short stories but this wasn’t the one for me. i think i’ll revisit in a decade or so and see if i have a greater appreciation for it but for now it’s going on the shelf
yes the writing is fantastic, yes there’s lots to unpack (you would fucking hope so after nearly 700 pages) but i think i’m just not the audience. i adore melville’s short stories but this wasn’t the one for me. i think i’ll revisit in a decade or so and see if i have a greater appreciation for it but for now it’s going on the shelf
Greatest book of all time. Replace the Bible with Moby Dick.
if I'd been on that boat with Queequeg it wouldn't have gone down like it did
This was like trying to read the Bible combined with a biology textbook all in 19th century overly verbose English. While Moby Dick may have been unique for its time, it is not at all enjoyable as part of classic literature, but more for a formal study.
I felt like Melville couldn't decide if he wanted to write a non-fiction book about whaling or a novel about a crazed whaleboat captain bent on revenge. Chapters that moved the story along (episodes in which more of Capn. Ahab's past/character are revealed) were interspersed by Ishmael's extremely detailed accounts of whale biology (19th century style!) and whaleboat operations. Luckily, my mother's edition of this book explained that Melville originally intended to write more of a memoir of whaling, but his friend, Nathaniel Hawthorne, convinced him into making the book a novel, instead. While interesting and well-written, the book was really neither memoir nor novel, but a proto-mashable of both.
slow-paced
Mostly a whaling encyclopedia, but epic metaphors and excellent prose occasionally arise.
I laughed, I cried, I learned so much incorrect info about whales
adventurous
dark
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Over the years I have made intermittent efforts to continue the heroic efforts of my English teachers to introduce me to the canon of American literature. Every so often I pick up a volume by an acclaimed author – Cooper, Twain, Crane, James, Dos Passos, Ellison, Hijuelos – in an effort to broaden my horizons and sample for myself the writers who have contributed so much to our culture and our identity. Some of these books were enjoyable and others were a slog, but I have tried to manage it in ways that do not lead me to give up my attempt in favor of more congenial reading.
Perhaps this was why I had avoided picking up a copy of Herman Melville’s magnum opus until now. For as long as I can remember, it has enjoyed a reputation that has made the prospect of reading it seem less like an experience – to say nothing of a pleasure – than an intimidating slog doomed to failure. Not did the covers depicting grim captains or boats of men being smashed by a massive cetacean make the prospect of picking up a copy any more appealing, as they all seemed to communicate the same message: Abandon All Hope, You Who Opens This Book.
As the years have passed, however, I have made more of a conscious effort to keep an open mind about things. Because of this, when a friend suggested that we read the novel together, I decided to give it a try. And here is where that intimidating reputation may have been to my benefit. For while I was expecting a text so dense as to be indigestible, what I found instead was an atmospheric tale that, while a slow burn, moved along at a reasonable pace as I was introduced to all of those characters I already knew by name. Wariness turned to enjoyment, as I settled in to see where Melville would take me.
This lasted until chapter 32. It was then that I started to encounter the parts that likely have done the most to give the novel the reputation with which I was familiar. These are also the ones that dated the book the most, as I suspect that readers who lived lives before the information age were far more engaged by discussions of ship operations and cetology than we are today. Reading them in that spirit made them more digestible. So did the appreciation that I did not have to read every word of them if they threatened to undermine my interest, as much of the description seemed superfluous to the plot.
With that in mind, I was able to push through to the climactic confrontation with the eponymous whale. Discovering that Moby Dick doesn’t make an appearance until the final three chapters was the final surprise of my experience, and one that certainly added to the tension of Melville’s description. It also helped me to appreciate how important it was foe me to have waited until I was a more mature reader to undertake the novel, as had I read it earlier I doubt I would have appreciated its sublime genius. Much like Ahab, I plan on taking on the challenge of reading it again at some point, though not to defeat the undefeatable but to savor again and with a better understanding one of the truly impressive achievements of American letters.
Avast! Here be spoilers!
I loved this book. But this isn’t about my feelings; this is about how Melville wrote a truly radical book, a book that turns the world upside-down, one of the Best. Books. Ever.
Moby Dick begins as the story of a fastidious Yankee schoolmaster who signs onto a whaling voyage but finds himself in the realm of topsy-turvy. At first he is terrified and disgusted by his boarding house’s filth and by his bedmate, Queequeg, a South Pacific cannibal, idolater, and tattooed guy. But Queequeg’s affection, integrity, and bravery destroy many of our whaler’s prejudices about race, nation, religion, and relationships between men: “Thus, then, in our hearts’ honeymoon, lay I and Queequeg—a cosy, loving pair.” He even consents to worship Queequeg’s little carved idol Yojo: after all, if his own Presbyterianism demands that he do unto others blah blah blah, and if he would have Queequeg join his own faith, “Consequently, I must then unite with him in his; ergo, I must turn idolator.” So far this is all charming, funny, and slyly subversive. But Melville’s project seeks to upset even more fundamental prejudices about humans, nature, and God: that these categories exist in hierarchy, that they are not interchangeable, and that they possess any discrete characteristics at all.
Additional thoughts on The Whale at: http://alisonkinney.com/category/melville-moby-dick/
Thanks!
I loved this book. But this isn’t about my feelings; this is about how Melville wrote a truly radical book, a book that turns the world upside-down, one of the Best. Books. Ever.
Moby Dick begins as the story of a fastidious Yankee schoolmaster who signs onto a whaling voyage but finds himself in the realm of topsy-turvy. At first he is terrified and disgusted by his boarding house’s filth and by his bedmate, Queequeg, a South Pacific cannibal, idolater, and tattooed guy. But Queequeg’s affection, integrity, and bravery destroy many of our whaler’s prejudices about race, nation, religion, and relationships between men: “Thus, then, in our hearts’ honeymoon, lay I and Queequeg—a cosy, loving pair.” He even consents to worship Queequeg’s little carved idol Yojo: after all, if his own Presbyterianism demands that he do unto others blah blah blah, and if he would have Queequeg join his own faith, “Consequently, I must then unite with him in his; ergo, I must turn idolator.” So far this is all charming, funny, and slyly subversive. But Melville’s project seeks to upset even more fundamental prejudices about humans, nature, and God: that these categories exist in hierarchy, that they are not interchangeable, and that they possess any discrete characteristics at all.
Additional thoughts on The Whale at: http://alisonkinney.com/category/melville-moby-dick/
Thanks!
adventurous
dark
informative
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes