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didntheramble's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
dashie's review against another edition
2.0
Seeing as we don't meet Moby Dick until the last 100 pages of a 500 page book - is that a spoiler? - I think this book should have been called "Herman Melville's Exhaustive and Comprehensive Guide to Whaling in 1819" instead.
That's all I have to say.
Okay, I lied.
Honestly, the writing as I mentioned over and over as I read the book, kept going in circles and there were many times when I wanted to stop reading it. But it is one of the books on my list of books I want to read before I die, so I persisted. And I am glad I did, I don't believe it was a waste of time, not in the least and I am glad that I chose to listen to the Dreamscape Audiobook that was recommended to me by my friend Brisni @brisnibythesea because I could listen to the tedious bits and the minutiae of whaling boats or the difference between British whalers and American whalers at 1.8x or 2.0x because I am a monster, as my brother said!
I do wish that the book was printed in the 21st century, because editors today won't allow writers to getaway with going off in self-righteous tangents so often. ;) Nevertheless, I did enjoy the chapters when Melville just told us the story of these men hunting down whales, convinced that these creatures were immortal (they're not, are they?) and evil (excuse me?) and that they, were the men doing God's work. As an environmentalist and a person of colour, there were many occasions where this book felt offensive to me for both its treatment of whales and shallow depiction of the coloured characters. And I am glad I persisted to the end because...
If you, like me, have this book on your literary bucket list I highly recommend trying the audiobook. Pete Cross did a great job with all the voices in the Dreamscape Audiobook version and helped me immensely in keeping up until the very end. Both those stars are for the literary quality of the storytelling when Melville was bothered to storytell.
That's all I have to say.
Okay, I lied.
Honestly, the writing as I mentioned over and over as I read the book, kept going in circles and there were many times when I wanted to stop reading it. But it is one of the books on my list of books I want to read before I die, so I persisted. And I am glad I did, I don't believe it was a waste of time, not in the least and I am glad that I chose to listen to the Dreamscape Audiobook that was recommended to me by my friend Brisni @brisnibythesea because I could listen to the tedious bits and the minutiae of whaling boats or the difference between British whalers and American whalers at 1.8x or 2.0x because I am a monster, as my brother said!
I do wish that the book was printed in the 21st century, because editors today won't allow writers to getaway with going off in self-righteous tangents so often. ;) Nevertheless, I did enjoy the chapters when Melville just told us the story of these men hunting down whales, convinced that these creatures were immortal (they're not, are they?) and evil (excuse me?) and that they, were the men doing God's work. As an environmentalist and a person of colour, there were many occasions where this book felt offensive to me for both its treatment of whales and shallow depiction of the coloured characters. And I am glad I persisted to the end because...
Spoiler
Moby Dick wins and everyone dies and the Peqoud is dragged to the bottom of the sea. Yay!If you, like me, have this book on your literary bucket list I highly recommend trying the audiobook. Pete Cross did a great job with all the voices in the Dreamscape Audiobook version and helped me immensely in keeping up until the very end. Both those stars are for the literary quality of the storytelling when Melville was bothered to storytell.
houseren's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
informative
tense
slow-paced
What a book. I tried to read this once as a child, once as a teen, and now as an adult I’ve finally vanquished my white whale. But still only on audiobook. It’s a slog to get through, but now that I’ve finished it I feel very fond of it. Melville just wanted to list everything white he could think of and how he felt about it, go on a rant about how everyone else is wrong about whales and only his opinion (that they’re fish) matters, and convince people that whalers are actually the most noble sailors and Americans are the best at it. And honestly king. I can’t label this with stars because I wish I could give it 5 and 1 at the same time. My new white whale is still this book, but in print instead of audio.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism
mittland's review against another edition
5.0
this book helped me realize that everything we know is fake and unreal and made up and that made me a lot happier & now i don't fear big, old books written by dusty white guys
geoffreyd123's review against another edition
3.0
Could have used a bit of an edit. Was rooting for the whale.
hannah_hxh's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.5