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A review by dn_horizon22
Moby-Dick: Or, the Whale by Herman Melville
4.0
It is very easy to understand how this book has become a classic. The skill behind the writing is crazy, and I can only hope I ever manage to channel my inner Melville if I ever write a story of similar format.
I took away a star simply because for a modern reader, this story would not sit well with most. it is very slowly drawn out, and frankly a good 2/3 of the book could be taken out and not ruin the story. Melville spends a great deal of time describing whales and their anatomy and what is or is not known about whales in 1850.
Unless the reader is very critical and enjoys analyzing cultural and psychological standpoints, the story would most likely be skipped by a modern day audience.
However, since i do enjoy analyzing the deeper meaning to a novel aside from just what is given at a face value, I found myself enjoying the pacing of the novel, and therefore it earns 4 stars as oppsed to being an average 3 star book.
Unless the reader is prepared to trudge through some tedious fact picking for the better part of two hundred pages, I would not reccomend the book. However, if someone I knew was very into the cultural perspective and the psychological growth of the characters, which is a large part of the motivation in the story, then I would definitely suggest they read it.
It comes down to whether or not you think you can handle reading through the facts in order to get the glimpses of action, though in my opinion the action is well worth the learning done beforehand.
I took away a star simply because for a modern reader, this story would not sit well with most. it is very slowly drawn out, and frankly a good 2/3 of the book could be taken out and not ruin the story. Melville spends a great deal of time describing whales and their anatomy and what is or is not known about whales in 1850.
Unless the reader is very critical and enjoys analyzing cultural and psychological standpoints, the story would most likely be skipped by a modern day audience.
However, since i do enjoy analyzing the deeper meaning to a novel aside from just what is given at a face value, I found myself enjoying the pacing of the novel, and therefore it earns 4 stars as oppsed to being an average 3 star book.
Unless the reader is prepared to trudge through some tedious fact picking for the better part of two hundred pages, I would not reccomend the book. However, if someone I knew was very into the cultural perspective and the psychological growth of the characters, which is a large part of the motivation in the story, then I would definitely suggest they read it.
It comes down to whether or not you think you can handle reading through the facts in order to get the glimpses of action, though in my opinion the action is well worth the learning done beforehand.