A review by kirsten0929
Moby-Dick; or, The Whale by Herman Melville

4.0

[1851] Five stars for literary merit - I get it, I see why it has endured. Two-stars for me and my failure to get all the deeper meaning. Two-stars for character development and interpersonal relationships - surprisingly little, not nearly enough for me. Four stars for setting - bold move going with only ocean for eight-hundred plus pages but he made it work. Three-stars for plot - one, long, overarching plot point, doesn’t pretend to be anything more than that, which is actually fine with me. Four-stars for learning more about whales and whaling than I ever thought I’d want to know. Five-stars for writing - there were sections that I flat out didn’t understand no matter how many times I read them, but then I just let the words wash over me and got the gist, kind of like reading poetry that I don’t understand but still find beautiful. I think the writing is why I was never bored. Five-stars for William Hootkins, the audiobook narrator who read along with me while I read the text. And finally, five-stars for this gorgeous song that I had going through my head the entire time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIt2yZUT9P8 . I don’t know how all that averages out but based on my overall impressions, my personal reading experience, it’s probably a three-and-a-half-star but I’m comfortable rounding up to a four; it certainly earned the benefit of the doubt.