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maurits's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Melville's writing style is amazing. However, because most of the book is spent telling facts about whales and whaling, I didn't really enjoy it that much. I wanted to read a novel, not an encyclopedia entry about whales.
blob99's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
mimikyoot's review against another edition
challenging
funny
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Whales is fish
happylilkt's review against another edition
5.0
First of all, I had read excerpts of Moby-Dick. I knew the closing imagery. I knew that it was about whaling. And obsession. And death.
"Now then, thought I... here goes for a cool, collected dive at death and destruction, and the devil fetch the hindmost." - Moby-Dick, chapter 49
But I had absolutely no idea that Moby-Dick was... oh dear, where to begin... a humorous work. A satirical work. A philosophical work. An irreverent work. A Homeric work. A Shakespearian work. A bawdy work.
"There might be quoted other lists of uncertain whales, blessed with all manner of uncouth names. But I omit them as altogether obsolete; and can hardly help suspecting them for mere sounds, full of Leviathanism, but signifying nothing." - Moby-Dick, chapter 32
I really do feel misled! I thought this would be a classic novel of the American Romantic movement. And there are some strong arguments for it, but while there are threads of the Romantic, I don't think that or any genre really can describe this. (It is absolutely shocking to me that it was written in 1850!)
I was led to expect that Melville's tangents would be analogous to those in Les Miserables or War and Peace, but, dear reader, they are not, not, not. Melville uses his tangents to jollify, skewer, satirize, condemn, and, oh yes, occasionally set the stage for his drama. I heard these tangents were boring, boring, boring, but truly they are the best part of the book!
I think this is probably a love or hate novel. A sink or swim one, if you will.
Looking forward to reading this again!
"From his mighty bulk the whale affords a most congenial theme whereon to enlarge, amplify, and generally expatiate. Would you, you could not compress him...One often hears of writers that rise and swell with their subject, though it may seem but an ordinary one. How, then, with me, writing of this Leviathan?" - Moby-Dick, chapter 104
"Now then, thought I... here goes for a cool, collected dive at death and destruction, and the devil fetch the hindmost." - Moby-Dick, chapter 49
But I had absolutely no idea that Moby-Dick was... oh dear, where to begin... a humorous work. A satirical work. A philosophical work. An irreverent work. A Homeric work. A Shakespearian work. A bawdy work.
"There might be quoted other lists of uncertain whales, blessed with all manner of uncouth names. But I omit them as altogether obsolete; and can hardly help suspecting them for mere sounds, full of Leviathanism, but signifying nothing." - Moby-Dick, chapter 32
I really do feel misled! I thought this would be a classic novel of the American Romantic movement. And there are some strong arguments for it, but while there are threads of the Romantic, I don't think that or any genre really can describe this. (It is absolutely shocking to me that it was written in 1850!)
I was led to expect that Melville's tangents would be analogous to those in Les Miserables or War and Peace, but, dear reader, they are not, not, not. Melville uses his tangents to jollify, skewer, satirize, condemn, and, oh yes, occasionally set the stage for his drama. I heard these tangents were boring, boring, boring, but truly they are the best part of the book!
I think this is probably a love or hate novel. A sink or swim one, if you will.
Looking forward to reading this again!
"From his mighty bulk the whale affords a most congenial theme whereon to enlarge, amplify, and generally expatiate. Would you, you could not compress him...One often hears of writers that rise and swell with their subject, though it may seem but an ordinary one. How, then, with me, writing of this Leviathan?" - Moby-Dick, chapter 104
bandthebooks's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
tense
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
4.0
eleonora_s's review against another edition
3.0
Wow this guys is realllllllyyyyy into whale slaughter.
michayla13's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This book was a total rollercoaster. The beginning was my favorite section by far, the middle was definitely not as good, and the end is probably going to stick with me for the rest of my life. I didn’t really jive with the writing style that much, it felt very wordy, but the story itself was really good. I know that this is blasphemous, but I really think that the Cetology (whale facts) sections should have been condensed, if it wasn’t for that, this would have been a 5 star read for me. I can definitely understand why this is a classic that’s very hit-or-miss for people, but I think that if you push yourself through it, it’s worth it. In my case, I found that it was a lot easier to take in when I read for 45mins+ at a time rather than taking it slow and only reading a chapter or two because it helped balance out the Cetology sections with the plot sections.
(Also why did no one tell me that this book was super gay???? Queequeg + Ishmael I just finished reading the book and I already miss reading about your love for each other)
(Also why did no one tell me that this book was super gay???? Queequeg + Ishmael I just finished reading the book and I already miss reading about your love for each other)
todd_bissell's review against another edition
3.0
I'm somewhere in the 3 to 3.5 star range for this one. I originally gave the extraneous verbiage a bit of a pass, since it was common back in the day for authors to publish via weekly submissions to the local paper (ala Victor Hugo, Leo Tolstoy, et al). The longer they dragged things out, the longer they could keep bread on the table and wine in the gut.
But.., Herman Melville doesn't have that going on here. He wrote the entire beast, and presented it to the publisher as-is, as one complete work from the get-go. That means the maddening overwrought passages -- including chapter-long minutiae-driven slogs on any and seemingly all things whale-related and whale-adjacent -- were all part of his design, and not just purple prose padding to pay the bills on a weekly basis like his French contemporaries.
Not that my to-read stack of books will ever be depleted, but I'm half tempted to one day to seek out a cheapo mass-produced abridged copy, just to see if a steamlined high-speed low-drag version of this would be a less arduous meal. On second thought..., nah, I'm good tks.
But.., Herman Melville doesn't have that going on here. He wrote the entire beast, and presented it to the publisher as-is, as one complete work from the get-go. That means the maddening overwrought passages -- including chapter-long minutiae-driven slogs on any and seemingly all things whale-related and whale-adjacent -- were all part of his design, and not just purple prose padding to pay the bills on a weekly basis like his French contemporaries.
Not that my to-read stack of books will ever be depleted, but I'm half tempted to one day to seek out a cheapo mass-produced abridged copy, just to see if a steamlined high-speed low-drag version of this would be a less arduous meal. On second thought..., nah, I'm good tks.