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A review by comfy_cozy_bliss
Moby-Dick: Or, the Whale by Herman Melville
4.0
4.5 five stars.
Where to begin? This book is a homage to American Whaling. If you ever wanted to know about Nantucket, whales, whaling and all the subtopics therein, this is the book to start with. I was impressed with the scope of this book. Melville has managed to make whaling a metaphor for life, love, spirit, and happiness. I was at times in an adventure novel and at others a reference book. But wait, now its a tragedy and a turn of the page makes it a poem of epic proportions! What a whirlwind of a read. I cried, I laughed, I nodded in agreement and then I shook my head in disbelief.
It started slow for me. I've tried numerous times to pick up this book and read without success. I finally turned it on in Audio and was soon lost in the words of Melville. I think it helped to listen to it being read versus trying to slog through the jargon and prose myself.
What I found most interesting is that the actual story of Moby Dick, the white whale is probably only about 1/3 of the book. The rest is instruction and information as well as a lot of philosophizing. As you listen to Ishmael's yarn you get chapters worth of Nantucket life, the different types of whales, the parts and uses of the ship, the parts and habits of the whale, etc. And then you jump back to the story for a short while with all this wonderful new information to make the journey that much richer.
I can see why it has been debated as possibly the greatest American novel.
Where to begin? This book is a homage to American Whaling. If you ever wanted to know about Nantucket, whales, whaling and all the subtopics therein, this is the book to start with. I was impressed with the scope of this book. Melville has managed to make whaling a metaphor for life, love, spirit, and happiness. I was at times in an adventure novel and at others a reference book. But wait, now its a tragedy and a turn of the page makes it a poem of epic proportions! What a whirlwind of a read. I cried, I laughed, I nodded in agreement and then I shook my head in disbelief.
It started slow for me. I've tried numerous times to pick up this book and read without success. I finally turned it on in Audio and was soon lost in the words of Melville. I think it helped to listen to it being read versus trying to slog through the jargon and prose myself.
What I found most interesting is that the actual story of Moby Dick, the white whale is probably only about 1/3 of the book. The rest is instruction and information as well as a lot of philosophizing. As you listen to Ishmael's yarn you get chapters worth of Nantucket life, the different types of whales, the parts and uses of the ship, the parts and habits of the whale, etc. And then you jump back to the story for a short while with all this wonderful new information to make the journey that much richer.
I can see why it has been debated as possibly the greatest American novel.