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3.4 AVERAGE
3.4 AVERAGE
Good to the last drop. If anyone tells you to read this, but "skip the whaling/cetology chapters," ignore them and don't ever listen to a word they have to say about booka again. If you skip the weird, technical stuff, you're missing out on a lot of the personality of the book, as well as the tension that is built by being dipped in and out of the plot repeatedly. So glad I finally reread this classic.
This book is a work of pure genius.
Take heart, take heart, O Bulkington! Bear thee grimly, demigod! Up from the spray of thy ocean-perishing--straight up, leaps thy apotheosis!
Take heart, take heart, O Bulkington! Bear thee grimly, demigod! Up from the spray of thy ocean-perishing--straight up, leaps thy apotheosis!
Con sommo dispiacere faccio parte di coloro che hanno trovato Moby Dick a tratti tremendamente noioso. Forse non era il momento giusto o forse, semplicemente, un trattato sulle balene e la loro caccia non farà mai al caso mio.
A dir poco splendida, immensa!, è la parte narrativa. Di una tale potenza da mettere i brividi. Una storia senza tempo, con molteplici livelli di lettura - ma questo lo sapete già.
La parte trattatistica del libro, invece, è stata per me in buona parte una lunga agonia.
Sono sopravvissuta alla parte centrale di questo romanzo-trattato-opera teatrale giungendo alla splendida fine solo perché a un certo punto ho deciso di ascoltarlo in audiolibro, il che mi aiutava ad andare avanti senza fermarmi ogni pochi paragrafi. È stato anche un po’ divertente perché ho potuto confrontare due diverse traduzioni del libro: questa più moderna della Mondadori, della quale possiedo la copia cartacea, e quella più datata di Pavese, ascoltata in audiolibro.
In realtà mi rendo ben conto che la magnificenza di Moby Dick risiede nel suo insieme ed è sciocco da parte mia dividere questo aspetto da quello. Ora che l’ho terminato e che la noia e i sonnellini col mattone che mi pesava sul petto sono solo un ricordo lontano posso dire che, sì, mi è piaciuto; sì, ne è valsa la pena. Ma lo rifarei? Assolutamente no.
Quantunque, in molti dei suoi aspetti, questo mondo visibile appaia formato nell’amore, le sfere invisibili furono fatte nella paura.
A dir poco splendida, immensa!, è la parte narrativa. Di una tale potenza da mettere i brividi. Una storia senza tempo, con molteplici livelli di lettura - ma questo lo sapete già.
La parte trattatistica del libro, invece, è stata per me in buona parte una lunga agonia.
Sono sopravvissuta alla parte centrale di questo romanzo-trattato-opera teatrale giungendo alla splendida fine solo perché a un certo punto ho deciso di ascoltarlo in audiolibro, il che mi aiutava ad andare avanti senza fermarmi ogni pochi paragrafi. È stato anche un po’ divertente perché ho potuto confrontare due diverse traduzioni del libro: questa più moderna della Mondadori, della quale possiedo la copia cartacea, e quella più datata di Pavese, ascoltata in audiolibro.
In realtà mi rendo ben conto che la magnificenza di Moby Dick risiede nel suo insieme ed è sciocco da parte mia dividere questo aspetto da quello. Ora che l’ho terminato e che la noia e i sonnellini col mattone che mi pesava sul petto sono solo un ricordo lontano posso dire che, sì, mi è piaciuto; sì, ne è valsa la pena. Ma lo rifarei? Assolutamente no.
Quantunque, in molti dei suoi aspetti, questo mondo visibile appaia formato nell’amore, le sfere invisibili furono fatte nella paura.
Reading this for the second time after 20 years – it’s quite a shock: it’s that good. I mean I remembered it being good but didn’t remember it being that good.
And it’s funny to read all those reviews written by people who were expecting an adventure story but instead of that were served with “boring” chapters about intricacies of whaling…
Is it really possible to miss the point of this novel so completely? These boring chapters are the core of Melville’s writing. And some of them catch you by surprise… Melville starts with some seemingly unimportant details about whales, then he segues to some political/philosophical allusions and suddenly he hits you with a series of questions that touch the deepest depths of yours soul and leave you wondering in awe for hours after you stop reading..
From the chapter “Fast-Fish and Loose-Fish”:
"I. A Fast-Fish belongs to the party fast to it.
II. A Loose-Fish is fair game for anybody who can soonest catch it.
(…)
But if the doctrine of Fast-Fish be pretty generally applicable, the kindred doctrine of Loose-Fish is still more widely so. That is internationally and universally applicable.
What was America in 1492 but a Loose-Fish, in which Columbus struck the Spanish standard by way of wailing it for his royal master and mistress? What was Poland to the Czar? What Greece to the Turk? What India to England? What at last will Mexico be to the United States? All Loose-Fish.
What are the Rights of Man and the Liberties of the World but Loose-Fish? What all men's minds and opinions but Loose-Fish? What is the principle of religious belief in them but a Loose-Fish? What to the ostentatious smuggling verbalists are the thoughts of thinkers but Loose-Fish? What is the great globe itself but a Loose-Fish? And what are you, reader, but a Loose-Fish and a Fast-Fish, too?"
And it’s funny to read all those reviews written by people who were expecting an adventure story but instead of that were served with “boring” chapters about intricacies of whaling…
Is it really possible to miss the point of this novel so completely? These boring chapters are the core of Melville’s writing. And some of them catch you by surprise… Melville starts with some seemingly unimportant details about whales, then he segues to some political/philosophical allusions and suddenly he hits you with a series of questions that touch the deepest depths of yours soul and leave you wondering in awe for hours after you stop reading..
From the chapter “Fast-Fish and Loose-Fish”:
"I. A Fast-Fish belongs to the party fast to it.
II. A Loose-Fish is fair game for anybody who can soonest catch it.
(…)
But if the doctrine of Fast-Fish be pretty generally applicable, the kindred doctrine of Loose-Fish is still more widely so. That is internationally and universally applicable.
What was America in 1492 but a Loose-Fish, in which Columbus struck the Spanish standard by way of wailing it for his royal master and mistress? What was Poland to the Czar? What Greece to the Turk? What India to England? What at last will Mexico be to the United States? All Loose-Fish.
What are the Rights of Man and the Liberties of the World but Loose-Fish? What all men's minds and opinions but Loose-Fish? What is the principle of religious belief in them but a Loose-Fish? What to the ostentatious smuggling verbalists are the thoughts of thinkers but Loose-Fish? What is the great globe itself but a Loose-Fish? And what are you, reader, but a Loose-Fish and a Fast-Fish, too?"
Let me say thank God for audiobooks. I'm not sure I would have stayed the course on my own. The audio helped me to stay on board the Pequod although I thought about jumping off a few times like Pip!
Glad to be back ashore so I can pick up my next read.
2.5 -
Glad to be back ashore so I can pick up my next read.
2.5 -
Just one of the best books I've ever read. It reminds me a lot of Ulysses. And now I’ll not sure which book I think is best. Like Ulysses, Moby Dick is funny, referential, dark, existential, sexual, highly literate, humane, and beautiful. I think Moby Dick is more optimistic than Ulysses and more gay.
I really really recommend listening to the audio book narrated by Frank Muller.
I really really recommend listening to the audio book narrated by Frank Muller.
I had to read this book for school, and I wasn’t very keen on the idea, seeing as it has an enormous reputation for being very boring.
However, it wasn’t as horrible as I thought it was going to be, and I have another favorite character (the first mate, Starbuck) now, so that’s … good. except *SPOILER* *cries*
The whole revenge aspect and sinister prophecies kept me interested until the end. There are some strange spiritual elements, in regards to different characters’ beliefs, so just be warned.
Some of Melville’s chapters remind me of Victor Hugo’s writing style, where he goes of on a tangent and talks about something that doesn’t have a huge bearing on the story. Melville tends to keep them short, though, so that’s nice. All of the chapters are short, actually, some less than a page long.
One more critique, and that’s the dialogue. Some of the characters talk quite formally and others talk more like sailors, and both are about equally hard to understand. And sometimes it’s hard to tell of someone is talking to themselves or to someone else nearby.
Overall, I enjoyed Moby Dick more than I thought I would. It teaches important lessons about revenge and what kinds of decisions you make. and I love Starbuck.
However, it wasn’t as horrible as I thought it was going to be, and I have another favorite character (the first mate, Starbuck) now, so that’s … good. except *SPOILER* *cries*
The whole revenge aspect and sinister prophecies kept me interested until the end. There are some strange spiritual elements, in regards to different characters’ beliefs, so just be warned.
Some of Melville’s chapters remind me of Victor Hugo’s writing style, where he goes of on a tangent and talks about something that doesn’t have a huge bearing on the story. Melville tends to keep them short, though, so that’s nice. All of the chapters are short, actually, some less than a page long.
One more critique, and that’s the dialogue. Some of the characters talk quite formally and others talk more like sailors, and both are about equally hard to understand. And sometimes it’s hard to tell of someone is talking to themselves or to someone else nearby.
Overall, I enjoyed Moby Dick more than I thought I would. It teaches important lessons about revenge and what kinds of decisions you make. and I love Starbuck.
Let me start off by saying something I never thought I'd say: it is OK to skip most of this book.
It sounds shocking, I know, but I promise you it's fine. When I started reading I did some research about the book as one does and I've stumbled upon a lot of people saying things like ''Read the abridged version'' or ''You can skip most of the book'' but I didn't really think much about it because why would I do that? It didn't make any sense to skip so much of the book.
However.
I started reading. And don't get me wrong, I was enjoying it a lot. But at some point I started understanding what all those people were saying. So I did some more research and I am here to tell you once again that it is absolutely fine to skip a lot of the chapters in this book. What Melville wanted to do was to realistically show the life of a whaling crew across some months. He wanted to tell his readers all about whaling in the 19th century and all about the anatomy of whales. And he was very successful in that part. But that part ended up taking up most of his book and it is very very repetitive and tedious and not at all relevant to the story. If you want to read that, no one's stopping you; I'll probably read it in its entirety some day but this time I just wanted to read the story.
With that out of the way, I can tell you that the story is amazing and I loved it very much. The prose is beautiful and every scene is so skilfully described I could see it so clearly in my mind's eye. I'm not surprised exactly because I know it's a well loved book but it was slightly unexpected to like it this much. I also didn't expect LGBTQ+ representation in a book from 19th century but here we are!
If anyone's interested, I have a list of chapters to read as well as a link to a very high quality audiobook so feel free to ask :)
It sounds shocking, I know, but I promise you it's fine. When I started reading I did some research about the book as one does and I've stumbled upon a lot of people saying things like ''Read the abridged version'' or ''You can skip most of the book'' but I didn't really think much about it because why would I do that? It didn't make any sense to skip so much of the book.
However.
I started reading. And don't get me wrong, I was enjoying it a lot. But at some point I started understanding what all those people were saying. So I did some more research and I am here to tell you once again that it is absolutely fine to skip a lot of the chapters in this book. What Melville wanted to do was to realistically show the life of a whaling crew across some months. He wanted to tell his readers all about whaling in the 19th century and all about the anatomy of whales. And he was very successful in that part. But that part ended up taking up most of his book and it is very very repetitive and tedious and not at all relevant to the story. If you want to read that, no one's stopping you; I'll probably read it in its entirety some day but this time I just wanted to read the story.
With that out of the way, I can tell you that the story is amazing and I loved it very much. The prose is beautiful and every scene is so skilfully described I could see it so clearly in my mind's eye. I'm not surprised exactly because I know it's a well loved book but it was slightly unexpected to like it this much. I also didn't expect LGBTQ+ representation in a book from 19th century but here we are!
If anyone's interested, I have a list of chapters to read as well as a link to a very high quality audiobook so feel free to ask :)
adventurous
challenging
informative
slow-paced