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3.4 AVERAGE
3.4 AVERAGE
Often difficult, often fascinating, occasionally even funny. A frustrating read in that its spirit-oriented brilliance is so anchored by its overt obsession with details seemingly irrelevant to the central plot. But there's something provocative about even those descriptions, something oddly alluring in the dryness (and--paradoxically enough--the richness) of their prose. Ahab as the self-destructive heart of the tale is of course the book's primary appeal, and it's his interior state, raging more than the sea itself, that draws the reader's morbid fascination and interest. At his most driven, Ahab represents the purest form of blind, embittered vengeance; while at his most honest and self-aware, Ahab offers no less than the most piercing of reflections on the tragic habitualities of what it means to be human. Ultimately, Moby-Dick is a walloping commitment of a read, but chances are, if you're ready for it, it'll be worth it in the end.
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
informative
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Ishmael is a very charming in his open-minded naïvety and wonder, his narrative voice suits the American world in which he finds himself. His dynamics with Queegqueg and Ahab are very interesting, and I wished that the latter was more deeply explored. Starbuck and Stubb share a slight bit too much of the focus at times in my opinion.
The chapters spent with Father Mapple were some of my favourites, his fire-and-brimstone delivery is memorable and imprints upon the rest of the story firmly. Ishmael also shows this ‘imprinting’ in almost every interaction he has, feeling them change him as a narrative voice. Not quite as much change as in a real bildungsroman, but reminiscent, and somewhat deserving of the length of the novel (although not entirely I might argue.)
Truly enjoyed, albeit slowly.
The only thing that redeemed this book was the discussions we had in my class. I thought the book itself was rambling and trivial. SO glad to move on. Hopefully never have to read that again.
it's alright ig i just don't get why it's such a high regarded classic?
rip moby dick whale on
rip moby dick whale on
adventurous
challenging
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
There's an adventure tale at the heart of Moby Dick, but it can be hard to see sometimes because it is draped in lengthy theatrical monologues, essays on whales and the whaling industry, and transcendentalist reflections on the veil between the perceptible and the invisible worlds.
This was my second time through the book, the first being 20 years ago. It's a ponderous, dense book that frequently departs from any narrative to consider matters relating to but not necessarily directly impacting events. It's the kind of book that feels momentous while you're reading it, that has a gravitational pull, that's immersive, such that you start slowing down as you near the end because you're not sure what will happen when the gravity finally lets go.
Early on the narrator himself makes clear the White Whale is more than an animal. He's a metaphor, yes, but he's also a force of nature, a writhing and diving meeting of the physical and spiritual — at least for Ahab and his crew. This makes Moby Dick perhaps the most Gothic of Gothic novels, because though it has no medieval trappings or, significantly, any real concern with lineage and the inheritance of the past, it is almost absolutely pure in pitting the human against the inhuman, the Cartesian thinking being against an unthinking world that may, one fears, be at last inhospitable to us.
This was my second time through the book, the first being 20 years ago. It's a ponderous, dense book that frequently departs from any narrative to consider matters relating to but not necessarily directly impacting events. It's the kind of book that feels momentous while you're reading it, that has a gravitational pull, that's immersive, such that you start slowing down as you near the end because you're not sure what will happen when the gravity finally lets go.
Early on the narrator himself makes clear the White Whale is more than an animal. He's a metaphor, yes, but he's also a force of nature, a writhing and diving meeting of the physical and spiritual — at least for Ahab and his crew. This makes Moby Dick perhaps the most Gothic of Gothic novels, because though it has no medieval trappings or, significantly, any real concern with lineage and the inheritance of the past, it is almost absolutely pure in pitting the human against the inhuman, the Cartesian thinking being against an unthinking world that may, one fears, be at last inhospitable to us.
adventurous
informative
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This is one of my all-time favorite books. I love that there is an entire chapter on the detailed taxonomy of whales. It is a beautiful, meandering story with a whale always lurking just below.