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3.4 AVERAGE
3.4 AVERAGE
I confess: much of it was a slog. But it was a glorious slog. Glorious.
Nunca me había topado con un libro tan difícil de calificar.
Melville nos ofrece, con su Moby dick, una aventura marítima que ha dejado una huella magnánima en la historia de la literatura. ¿Pero por qué? Tal vez por el carácter evocativo de la novela, porque el lector llega a sentirse a la deriva en ese barco, rodeado por hombres de distintas etnias bajo el yugo de un capitán que ha perdido la cabeza por su obsesión de cazar a la ballena que le arrancó la pierna. El autor sabe cómo sumergirte en las espesas aguas de su fatídica travesía.
El problema es, para mí, que dicha aventura no resulta ágil de leer. Y no por sus poco más de 700 páginas, no. He leído libros más extensos en incontables oportunidades que me han tenido entusiasmada, extasiada y sin percibir su extensión pero Moby dick es una novela que independientemente de su volumen SE SIENTE larga. Esto se debe fundamentalmente a que el autor interrumpe la historia con capítulos que bien podrían ser enciclopédicos o ensayos. Capítulos sobre el color blanco, la respetabilidad de la caza de ballenas, los tipos de ésta, etc etc. Texto que demuestra la profundidad del conocimiento de su autor pero que convierte al libro en una experiencia -al menos para mí- terriblemente tediosa.
En conclusión, ni es un mal libro ni mucho menos está mal escrito. Contiene grandes reflexiones acerca de la naturaleza, la obsesión, análisis metafóricos -a veces moralistas- acerca el bien y el mal, tiene un profundo despliegue de conocimiento marítimo e incluso astutas referencias bíblicas y pasajes poéticos. Pero no disfruté leerlo.
Melville nos ofrece, con su Moby dick, una aventura marítima que ha dejado una huella magnánima en la historia de la literatura. ¿Pero por qué? Tal vez por el carácter evocativo de la novela, porque el lector llega a sentirse a la deriva en ese barco, rodeado por hombres de distintas etnias bajo el yugo de un capitán que ha perdido la cabeza por su obsesión de cazar a la ballena que le arrancó la pierna. El autor sabe cómo sumergirte en las espesas aguas de su fatídica travesía.
El problema es, para mí, que dicha aventura no resulta ágil de leer. Y no por sus poco más de 700 páginas, no. He leído libros más extensos en incontables oportunidades que me han tenido entusiasmada, extasiada y sin percibir su extensión pero Moby dick es una novela que independientemente de su volumen SE SIENTE larga. Esto se debe fundamentalmente a que el autor interrumpe la historia con capítulos que bien podrían ser enciclopédicos o ensayos. Capítulos sobre el color blanco, la respetabilidad de la caza de ballenas, los tipos de ésta, etc etc. Texto que demuestra la profundidad del conocimiento de su autor pero que convierte al libro en una experiencia -al menos para mí- terriblemente tediosa.
En conclusión, ni es un mal libro ni mucho menos está mal escrito. Contiene grandes reflexiones acerca de la naturaleza, la obsesión, análisis metafóricos -a veces moralistas- acerca el bien y el mal, tiene un profundo despliegue de conocimiento marítimo e incluso astutas referencias bíblicas y pasajes poéticos. Pero no disfruté leerlo.
Oh what an amazingly complicated book. Even though I thought I'd be different from everyone else and be able to withstand the long and arduous description chapters of the particulars of whaling, I, too, succumbed to the boredom of them. However, the chapters that intermixed them were moving and charming and amusing and jaw dropping and silly and epic and educational and tense and sweet and hopeful and foreboding. The humour is absolutely fantastic and subtle, the not-so-subtle homoeroticism is provocative and greatly appreciated, and the philosophy of whaling and it applying to the general world was really fascinating to delve into. There are definitely many outlier chapters that I could read again and again, but the cream of the crop is definitely Chapter 36, where, almost completely out of nowhere, this prose book starts to tell its narrative in a wholly different medium.
P.S. The audiobook by Stewart Wills is definitely a must, his voices are divine. He's easily made Stubb my absolute favourite character.
P.S. The audiobook by Stewart Wills is definitely a must, his voices are divine. He's easily made Stubb my absolute favourite character.
adventurous
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
I thought this book would have a story... but it was literally about whales. All about whales. The types, their bodies, their skin, what they eat, their anatomy, their blow holes...
Not enjoyable.
And SPOILER ALERT:
they spend the whole freaking book hunting this whale (500 pages) and you finally meet the whale in the last 100 pages and THE WHALE LIVES AND THEY ALL DIE. WHAT THE FUCK.
Very well written but never again...
Not enjoyable.
And SPOILER ALERT:
they spend the whole freaking book hunting this whale (500 pages) and you finally meet the whale in the last 100 pages and THE WHALE LIVES AND THEY ALL DIE. WHAT THE FUCK.
Very well written but never again...
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
inspiring
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Could have done without all the details on processing whale blubber at sea otherwise excellent story.
A pretty amusing book, and holding itself together pretty well despite the age and specificity it clearly shows. The writing and technical knowledge it offers are the highs of this piece, our narrator taking several chapters to explain the world of sea and whales through a whaler's eyes. I can see why this can be annoying or boring, but I personally loved to be transported into the world of the past through them.
The character writing is fairly strong, and it clearly shines at the beginning, before the boarding of the Pequod, and at several convos Ahab has with its crew, but past this, the adventures lived are very hit or miss. The ending, especifically the epilogue, is kind of... meh. The ending feels rushed, which is a shame because the rest of the book is really good.
All in all, it was a strong book, which I wish was stronger, but I loved it nonetheless.
The character writing is fairly strong, and it clearly shines at the beginning, before the boarding of the Pequod, and at several convos Ahab has with its crew, but past this, the adventures lived are very hit or miss. The ending, especifically the epilogue, is kind of... meh. The ending feels rushed, which is a shame because the rest of the book is really good.
All in all, it was a strong book, which I wish was stronger, but I loved it nonetheless.