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mezameyo's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
One of my favorite books of all time. Not an easy read by any means; parts of it are a slog. But much of it is fascinating, and all of it transports you to a different world, from which you will return raw and sore and stinking and soaked. The whole is a work of genius.
It's a book about many things, but for me the most salient theme is that of interpreting experience -- i.e., making sense of a harshly indifferent and inscrutable world.
Fundamental to human nature is our need for meaning. We cannot help but try to make sense of things, to bring order to chaos. At a basic level, that is what stories are -- a selective ordering and interpretation of a collection of elements and events into a narrative synthesis that imbues them with meaning. So what happens when a creature that needs meaning as much as it needs oxygen inhabits a world that is chaotic, indifferent, and inscrutable?
Ahab's answer to this conundrum is monomaniacal obsession, to "strike through" the blank "pasteboard mask" that the white whale represents. He is determined to impose meaning upon the world through sheer force of will. And, well, spoiler alert: it doesn't end well for him.
Again and again, characters struggle to understand what they encounter, whether it's Ishmael trying to decipher a "boggy, soggy, squitchy" painting at the Spouter Inn, or a parade of Pequod sailors with different interpretations of the significance of a doubloon (complete with Pip's half-crazed meta-commentary, "I look, you look, he looks, she looks..."). An entire chapter ruminates on the symbolism of "The Whiteness of the Whale" (and includes the longest sentence I've ever seen published in any book, ever -- it is a full page long in the tiny print of my Norton Critical Edition), and offers a range of possible interpretations, some conflicting with each other.
Melville does not offer any easy answers to the conundrum, though he seems to be suggesting that a dogmatic commitment to a single interpretation is not a good idea. Rather, it's best to be flexible, to remain open to multiple lines of interpretation.
I will allow that my own interpretation of this book was colored by the context in which I read it. I took an undergraduate course on Melville during the year that happened to mark the 150th anniversary of the publishing of Moby Dick. My professor helped to organize celebrations on San Francisco Bay. Sir Patrick Stewart, who had played Ahab in a film adaptation, came to hang out with my class and do a chapter reading. He talked about his own life, shared some personal stories with us, and was absolutely delightful.
(Side anecdote: when one of my classmates said, "I hate to put you on the spot, but could you just say 'Make it so,'" Sir Patrick was all class with his reply: "Well, in fact, you have put me on the spot, so I'm afraid I will have to respectfully decline.")
Be that as it may, it's clear to me that Melville's mind was one of febrile imagination and creativity. Only a brilliant madman could have written Moby Dick.
It's a book about many things, but for me the most salient theme is that of interpreting experience -- i.e., making sense of a harshly indifferent and inscrutable world.
Fundamental to human nature is our need for meaning. We cannot help but try to make sense of things, to bring order to chaos. At a basic level, that is what stories are -- a selective ordering and interpretation of a collection of elements and events into a narrative synthesis that imbues them with meaning. So what happens when a creature that needs meaning as much as it needs oxygen inhabits a world that is chaotic, indifferent, and inscrutable?
Ahab's answer to this conundrum is monomaniacal obsession, to "strike through" the blank "pasteboard mask" that the white whale represents. He is determined to impose meaning upon the world through sheer force of will. And, well, spoiler alert: it doesn't end well for him.
Again and again, characters struggle to understand what they encounter, whether it's Ishmael trying to decipher a "boggy, soggy, squitchy" painting at the Spouter Inn, or a parade of Pequod sailors with different interpretations of the significance of a doubloon (complete with Pip's half-crazed meta-commentary, "I look, you look, he looks, she looks..."). An entire chapter ruminates on the symbolism of "The Whiteness of the Whale" (and includes the longest sentence I've ever seen published in any book, ever -- it is a full page long in the tiny print of my Norton Critical Edition), and offers a range of possible interpretations, some conflicting with each other.
Melville does not offer any easy answers to the conundrum, though he seems to be suggesting that a dogmatic commitment to a single interpretation is not a good idea. Rather, it's best to be flexible, to remain open to multiple lines of interpretation.
I will allow that my own interpretation of this book was colored by the context in which I read it. I took an undergraduate course on Melville during the year that happened to mark the 150th anniversary of the publishing of Moby Dick. My professor helped to organize celebrations on San Francisco Bay. Sir Patrick Stewart, who had played Ahab in a film adaptation, came to hang out with my class and do a chapter reading. He talked about his own life, shared some personal stories with us, and was absolutely delightful.
(Side anecdote: when one of my classmates said, "I hate to put you on the spot, but could you just say 'Make it so,'" Sir Patrick was all class with his reply: "Well, in fact, you have put me on the spot, so I'm afraid I will have to respectfully decline.")
Be that as it may, it's clear to me that Melville's mind was one of febrile imagination and creativity. Only a brilliant madman could have written Moby Dick.
dmcke013's review against another edition
1.0
One of those books that I've always felt was required reading (like The Lord of the Rings), but boy oh boy: was that heavy going!
Not a novel to read for the fun of it: Melville goes so heavily into the minutae of life aboard a whaler that, at times, it's more like reading a (exceedingly dry) technical tome than reading an actual novel. I think you could chop a good 2/3rds of the book out, and still get the flavour of the plot ...
Not a novel to read for the fun of it: Melville goes so heavily into the minutae of life aboard a whaler that, at times, it's more like reading a (exceedingly dry) technical tome than reading an actual novel. I think you could chop a good 2/3rds of the book out, and still get the flavour of the plot ...
rkade93's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
informative
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
pampam_'s review against another edition
adventurous
informative
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
hungryrye's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
speranta's review against another edition
4.0
An active, fascinating and superbly boring at times book, which had me both completely immersed in the adventure and absent in a seventh tab of unrelated stories. Loved it.
codymyre97's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
bfair's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
informative
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
dn_horizon22's review against another edition
4.0
It is very easy to understand how this book has become a classic. The skill behind the writing is crazy, and I can only hope I ever manage to channel my inner Melville if I ever write a story of similar format.
I took away a star simply because for a modern reader, this story would not sit well with most. it is very slowly drawn out, and frankly a good 2/3 of the book could be taken out and not ruin the story. Melville spends a great deal of time describing whales and their anatomy and what is or is not known about whales in 1850.
Unless the reader is very critical and enjoys analyzing cultural and psychological standpoints, the story would most likely be skipped by a modern day audience.
However, since i do enjoy analyzing the deeper meaning to a novel aside from just what is given at a face value, I found myself enjoying the pacing of the novel, and therefore it earns 4 stars as oppsed to being an average 3 star book.
Unless the reader is prepared to trudge through some tedious fact picking for the better part of two hundred pages, I would not reccomend the book. However, if someone I knew was very into the cultural perspective and the psychological growth of the characters, which is a large part of the motivation in the story, then I would definitely suggest they read it.
It comes down to whether or not you think you can handle reading through the facts in order to get the glimpses of action, though in my opinion the action is well worth the learning done beforehand.
I took away a star simply because for a modern reader, this story would not sit well with most. it is very slowly drawn out, and frankly a good 2/3 of the book could be taken out and not ruin the story. Melville spends a great deal of time describing whales and their anatomy and what is or is not known about whales in 1850.
Unless the reader is very critical and enjoys analyzing cultural and psychological standpoints, the story would most likely be skipped by a modern day audience.
However, since i do enjoy analyzing the deeper meaning to a novel aside from just what is given at a face value, I found myself enjoying the pacing of the novel, and therefore it earns 4 stars as oppsed to being an average 3 star book.
Unless the reader is prepared to trudge through some tedious fact picking for the better part of two hundred pages, I would not reccomend the book. However, if someone I knew was very into the cultural perspective and the psychological growth of the characters, which is a large part of the motivation in the story, then I would definitely suggest they read it.
It comes down to whether or not you think you can handle reading through the facts in order to get the glimpses of action, though in my opinion the action is well worth the learning done beforehand.