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A review by willowbiblio
Moby-Dick: Or, the Whale by Herman Melville
challenging
dark
informative
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
"Starbuck saw the old man; saw him, how he heavily leaned over the sides; and he seemed to hear in his own true heart the measureless sobbing that stole out of the center of the serenity around."
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This started out really strong for me, but fairly soon after our cast set sail on the Pequod it became really boring. I enjoyed the exploration of friendship between Ishmael and Queequog. To me that was the most interesting part of the book. 80-90% of this was hyper-specific information dumps about whaling and whaleboats, which I have zero interest in. Had this been more character driven maybe I would have enjoyed it more.
The narrative itself kind of went nowhere, which was ironic given that they were literally out at sea. Nothing much was said or explored other than Ahab's continual comparison to the devil and weird monologues saying nothing from him and others.
I was reminded of Ulysses when the POV shifted from Ishmael, because Melville adopted a sort of playwright style similar to the complete shift that occurred in Ulysses. That was actually quite entertaining.
The butchering and death wasn't for me. Maybe I just didn't "get" this.
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This started out really strong for me, but fairly soon after our cast set sail on the Pequod it became really boring. I enjoyed the exploration of friendship between Ishmael and Queequog. To me that was the most interesting part of the book. 80-90% of this was hyper-specific information dumps about whaling and whaleboats, which I have zero interest in. Had this been more character driven maybe I would have enjoyed it more.
The narrative itself kind of went nowhere, which was ironic given that they were literally out at sea. Nothing much was said or explored other than Ahab's continual comparison to the devil and weird monologues saying nothing from him and others.
I was reminded of Ulysses when the POV shifted from Ishmael, because Melville adopted a sort of playwright style similar to the complete shift that occurred in Ulysses. That was actually quite entertaining.
The butchering and death wasn't for me. Maybe I just didn't "get" this.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty and Animal death