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kerrimcbooknerd 's review for:
Moby-Dick: Or, the Whale
by Herman Melville
I struggled with how many stars I should give this book. It was long, it was tedious, and it taught me more about whaling than I ever wanted to know. Seriously. Did not need all of that information.
But! Herman Melville wrote beautifully. I actually found myself chuckling here and there and there were a few passages I thoroughly enjoyed. There was a lot of quotable stuff (which I'm not looking up because I'm tired and lazy) and, when he wasn't rambling on about the exact process of beheading a whale or some such thing, the action was truly exciting.
The problem, though, is that there was a LOT of rambling. A lot. I could probably man a whaling vessel myself with all the detail Mr. Melville gave me about whaling. Never would because whaling is awful... but you get what I'm trying to say. No one needs that much information about whaling unless they are, in fact, about to man a whaling vessel. I like detail in a story, don't get me wrong, but there is a fine line between just enough and too much and Herman went WAY over that line.
In the end, I get why this is a classic, but it's really not my cup of tea.
But! Herman Melville wrote beautifully. I actually found myself chuckling here and there and there were a few passages I thoroughly enjoyed. There was a lot of quotable stuff (which I'm not looking up because I'm tired and lazy) and, when he wasn't rambling on about the exact process of beheading a whale or some such thing, the action was truly exciting.
The problem, though, is that there was a LOT of rambling. A lot. I could probably man a whaling vessel myself with all the detail Mr. Melville gave me about whaling. Never would because whaling is awful... but you get what I'm trying to say. No one needs that much information about whaling unless they are, in fact, about to man a whaling vessel. I like detail in a story, don't get me wrong, but there is a fine line between just enough and too much and Herman went WAY over that line.
In the end, I get why this is a classic, but it's really not my cup of tea.