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2.85 AVERAGE
2.85 AVERAGE
”No more trying situation is conceivable than that of an officer subordinate under a captain whom he suspects to be not mad, indeed, but yet not quite unaffected in his intellect” (p. 85). I liked reading this book, but I’m not sure if I liked it with Melville’s convoluted sentence structure and making what probably would have made a better short story into a novella. Still, happy to have read this classic.
God help those who were forced to analyze every page of this book in their Advanced English class
Dear High School Curriculum Writers:
I am positive that you can find a better novel than this one to use when introducing symbolism and extended metaphor to developing readers. "Christ-figure" is the most over-used of these extended metaphors; over-used to the point where its offensiveness ceases to be about the in-your-face religious aspect of it and becomes instead about the simple over-use of the symbols. If you want to "go there" with symbolism and metaphor and have high school age kids the ways in which literature can illuminate our experience not by representing it literally but by unhinging from it, try helping these students discover Garcia-Marquez or Allende.
And that's just assuming you want to stay in the "safe" territory of the Western hemisphere.
Ever your advisor,
me.
I am positive that you can find a better novel than this one to use when introducing symbolism and extended metaphor to developing readers. "Christ-figure" is the most over-used of these extended metaphors; over-used to the point where its offensiveness ceases to be about the in-your-face religious aspect of it and becomes instead about the simple over-use of the symbols. If you want to "go there" with symbolism and metaphor and have high school age kids the ways in which literature can illuminate our experience not by representing it literally but by unhinging from it, try helping these students discover Garcia-Marquez or Allende.
And that's just assuming you want to stay in the "safe" territory of the Western hemisphere.
Ever your advisor,
me.
adventurous
informative
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Short story about the Beautiful Sailor with many verbose asides and ruminations. Written by Timothy Thesaurus.
Do not like this style of writing. Just in the first six chapters there's so much long-winded and drawn-out text about an event that is while relevant, can be summed up in just a few passages. This doesn't feel like a story made for entertainment but a text that was padded over and over again to hit a word count. I've lookep up the history of this book and the fact that the author himself did not finish it, tells me that I shouldn't bother either.
challenging
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
School assignment when I was in middle school. HATED IT!
If you want to read this for literary analysis and homoerotic subtext go for it. There’s plenty of material for that.
I would not recommend this is you’re planning on enjoying yourself. I’d keep Tylenol handy.
Honest review: This made my brain hurt.
I would not recommend this is you’re planning on enjoying yourself. I’d keep Tylenol handy.
Honest review: This made my brain hurt.