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laurenreadsoccasionally's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I almost gave up on my first attempt at reading Moby Dick - I'm not sure why but the chapter about the whiteness of the whale felt impossible to me - after which the book sat on my shelf for a few months before, in a decision driven by stubbornness more than anything else, I decided to pick it back up, refusing to be bested by it (appropriately enough).
I didn't get everything out of this book that there is to get; many of the references eluded me as I am neither a scholar of classic literature nor particularly familiar with biblical stories, the language is difficult to follow at times requiring a careful read or re-read of phrases (and perhaps once or twice giving up on any hope of understanding the offending sentence), and I frequently had to look up various terms specific to ships or the whaling industry.
All that said: I was surprised to realize that I really enjoyed this book. Yes it was a challenging read, but there was incredibly vivid imagery and artistic prose. Yes the format is a little strange with the inclusion of explanatory chapters about cetology and the whaling industry, but through those I learned interesting things about 19th century whaling that I never would have sought out. And interspersed between all that are scenes which are genuinely funny, heartfelt, exciting, and contemplative. I'm happy to have finally finished this book but I'm also happy to have read it.
I didn't get everything out of this book that there is to get; many of the references eluded me as I am neither a scholar of classic literature nor particularly familiar with biblical stories, the language is difficult to follow at times requiring a careful read or re-read of phrases (and perhaps once or twice giving up on any hope of understanding the offending sentence), and I frequently had to look up various terms specific to ships or the whaling industry.
All that said: I was surprised to realize that I really enjoyed this book. Yes it was a challenging read, but there was incredibly vivid imagery and artistic prose. Yes the format is a little strange with the inclusion of explanatory chapters about cetology and the whaling industry, but through those I learned interesting things about 19th century whaling that I never would have sought out. And interspersed between all that are scenes which are genuinely funny, heartfelt, exciting, and contemplative. I'm happy to have finally finished this book but I'm also happy to have read it.
peeled_grape's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
mcnallyswife's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
abomine's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Racism, Animal cruelty, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, and Animal death
freex's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
dunnadam's review against another edition
3.0
11 days to read, pretty good.
The book starts off very good, the first 25% has humour and an interesting story and location as a whaling man heads to a sea-side town and prepares to leave for a three year trip. At one point the inn keeper hears one of the guests may have committed suicide and says:
"Betty, go to Snarles the Painter, and tell him to paint me a sign, with--"No suicides permitted here, and no smoking in the parlor;"--might as well kill both birds at once."
Good story, easy to follow. At 30% we finally meet Ahab, the captain, and things go south from here. Instead of showing us the story Ishmael begins telling us, telling us that Ahab is mad with revenge for example, rather than showing us and letting us work it out for ourselves. Also around this time the side-tangents start and Melville is merciless with the side tangents. I read them all but I really wish I hadn't. Someone needs to release a condensed version of this book that takes all this crap out. You begin to not be able to see the forest, the story of the whale, for the trees, all this extra talk on the history of whaling, the science of whaling, drawings of whales, etc. It goes on forever, all hopelessly out of date. Melville refers to all the books available in 1850 that have photos of whales and comments on each photo; no relevance whatsoever to today's world. Even when talking about the science of whales, or parts of whaling boats, or parts of parts of whaling boats, it's all underscored by whales being referred to as fish, an assumption already disproven in Melville's own time. None of it matters and none of it is interesting. Even the chapter named after the whale's penis is so cloaked in Victorian language I wasn't aware it was about a penis until I consulted a modern study guide.
This language problem between classic and modern, not at all an issue at the start of the book, comes up again at the end with the "thou" and "thoust"'s hindering comprehension at the height of the action. For example the fact that the fellow's dead body was stuck to the side of the whale at the very end I didn't get, again until I read the study guide.
Finally I re-read the last chapter to see what happens to Moby Dick, if I missed it somehow, and I don't think I did. Does he live? He just kind of disappears, which I suppose reinforces his use as a metaphor rather than an actuality but doesn't give much closure.
I liked the start. A gay man goes to gay pride in a whaling village, finds a native to go slumming with and has a honeymoon with him as a last hurrah to civilian life. The homoerotic references after that skipped me, with the guide referring to the men hanging out together and grabbing handfuls of sperm as a notable moment, but one I missed. My mom asked me how a book this homoerotic got published in 1850 and I think it was that Melville was trying to show the shipmates were really close, and equating this with a marriage relationship, and that people of that time wouldn't have thought he meant they were screwing. Still I read this for the gay content, for the classic story, to see what the metaphors were about, and I got most of that, just with a lot of trash in the middle. I must say, Moby Dick himself doesn't show up until 95% of the book is done. One could read to 25% and then skip to 95% and in my opinion not miss much.
"There is no folly of the beast of the earth which is not infinitely outdone by the madness of men."
The book starts off very good, the first 25% has humour and an interesting story and location as a whaling man heads to a sea-side town and prepares to leave for a three year trip. At one point the inn keeper hears one of the guests may have committed suicide and says:
"Betty, go to Snarles the Painter, and tell him to paint me a sign, with--"No suicides permitted here, and no smoking in the parlor;"--might as well kill both birds at once."
Good story, easy to follow. At 30% we finally meet Ahab, the captain, and things go south from here. Instead of showing us the story Ishmael begins telling us, telling us that Ahab is mad with revenge for example, rather than showing us and letting us work it out for ourselves. Also around this time the side-tangents start and Melville is merciless with the side tangents. I read them all but I really wish I hadn't. Someone needs to release a condensed version of this book that takes all this crap out. You begin to not be able to see the forest, the story of the whale, for the trees, all this extra talk on the history of whaling, the science of whaling, drawings of whales, etc. It goes on forever, all hopelessly out of date. Melville refers to all the books available in 1850 that have photos of whales and comments on each photo; no relevance whatsoever to today's world. Even when talking about the science of whales, or parts of whaling boats, or parts of parts of whaling boats, it's all underscored by whales being referred to as fish, an assumption already disproven in Melville's own time. None of it matters and none of it is interesting. Even the chapter named after the whale's penis is so cloaked in Victorian language I wasn't aware it was about a penis until I consulted a modern study guide.
This language problem between classic and modern, not at all an issue at the start of the book, comes up again at the end with the "thou" and "thoust"'s hindering comprehension at the height of the action. For example the fact that the fellow's dead body was stuck to the side of the whale at the very end I didn't get, again until I read the study guide.
Finally I re-read the last chapter to see what happens to Moby Dick, if I missed it somehow, and I don't think I did. Does he live? He just kind of disappears, which I suppose reinforces his use as a metaphor rather than an actuality but doesn't give much closure.
I liked the start. A gay man goes to gay pride in a whaling village, finds a native to go slumming with and has a honeymoon with him as a last hurrah to civilian life. The homoerotic references after that skipped me, with the guide referring to the men hanging out together and grabbing handfuls of sperm as a notable moment, but one I missed. My mom asked me how a book this homoerotic got published in 1850 and I think it was that Melville was trying to show the shipmates were really close, and equating this with a marriage relationship, and that people of that time wouldn't have thought he meant they were screwing. Still I read this for the gay content, for the classic story, to see what the metaphors were about, and I got most of that, just with a lot of trash in the middle. I must say, Moby Dick himself doesn't show up until 95% of the book is done. One could read to 25% and then skip to 95% and in my opinion not miss much.
"There is no folly of the beast of the earth which is not infinitely outdone by the madness of men."
marinalikeaboatyard's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
funny
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
MOBY DICK DID NOTHING WRONG 👊🏻
well, turns out “moby dick” is indeed a really really good book. I know, it’s hard to admit.
I don’t think a casual reader can tackle this and truly appreciate the adventure, the tension, the characters, and the subtle humor - you have to have the right conditions, mindset, time commitment, and focus.
FOR ME, personally, I got dumped and was like, you know what would rock? reading a book that will take hours and hours of consecutive concentration for multiple days…because then I can’t think about how miserable I am! and it worked! I finally tackled my own white whale.
So yeah, everyone is right. It’s really really good and now easily one of my favorite books of all time!
well, turns out “moby dick” is indeed a really really good book. I know, it’s hard to admit.
I don’t think a casual reader can tackle this and truly appreciate the adventure, the tension, the characters, and the subtle humor - you have to have the right conditions, mindset, time commitment, and focus.
FOR ME, personally, I got dumped and was like, you know what would rock? reading a book that will take hours and hours of consecutive concentration for multiple days…because then I can’t think about how miserable I am! and it worked! I finally tackled my own white whale.
So yeah, everyone is right. It’s really really good and now easily one of my favorite books of all time!
dnandrews797's review against another edition
3.0
A pleasure to read, especially at the beach. The whole novel felt like a journal of a sailor at sea. The whale deaths were a little too gruesome and their was a bit of period typical racist language, but overall it really painted a picture of life on a boat for months on end and transported me to that time in place. By the time I finished it, I was ready to go hope on a boat and set sail into the sunset.