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nostalgia_reader 's review for:
Moby-Dick
by Herman Melville
3.5 stars, rounded up to 4 because the first 100 or so pages are just so beautiful...
But then it sort of goes down hill from there, and only partially redeems itself in the end.
I never thought I'd say this, but I probably would have enjoyed this a thousand times more if it had been written by Shakespeare.
Yeah, I know, I can't believe I said it either.
As I said, the beginning is BEAUTIFULLY WRITTEN, OMG YOU GUYS. And the chapters that do actually pertain to the plot are also well-written, although sometimes confusing. But just as the plot chapters are getting really good, then you're struck with the infamous whale facts chapters.
Now, I did not mind these chapters. I like natural and marine history, and these chapters were interesting. However, they were obsessive. It wasn't just a basic history and some fun facts for two chapters, then back to the action. No, it was trying to fit every single bit of information EVER written about whales/whaling into these intermission chapters. A few of them were definitely helpful and important to foreshadowing the plot. But most of them.... Melville easily could have cut them completely out, made this half as long, and focused more on actually developing, you know, the STORY and CHARACTERS?? I know that he could have done it, based on the skillz shown in the beginning of the book... so why didn't he embrace that more?? I wanted to know more about the characters and get a really definitive picture of them and their lives and instead that was mostly abandoned. Ahab did get his characterization limelight of course, but even that seemed rushed and all crammed into a few chapters total.
If I do reread this (which I hope to), I now know that most of the factual chapters can be legitimately skipped--not skimmed, but completely just not read--and I'd get the same story... perhaps with even more enjoyment.
But then it sort of goes down hill from there, and only partially redeems itself in the end.
I never thought I'd say this, but I probably would have enjoyed this a thousand times more if it had been written by Shakespeare.
Yeah, I know, I can't believe I said it either.
As I said, the beginning is BEAUTIFULLY WRITTEN, OMG YOU GUYS. And the chapters that do actually pertain to the plot are also well-written, although sometimes confusing. But just as the plot chapters are getting really good, then you're struck with the infamous whale facts chapters.
Now, I did not mind these chapters. I like natural and marine history, and these chapters were interesting. However, they were obsessive. It wasn't just a basic history and some fun facts for two chapters, then back to the action. No, it was trying to fit every single bit of information EVER written about whales/whaling into these intermission chapters. A few of them were definitely helpful and important to foreshadowing the plot. But most of them.... Melville easily could have cut them completely out, made this half as long, and focused more on actually developing, you know, the STORY and CHARACTERS?? I know that he could have done it, based on the skillz shown in the beginning of the book... so why didn't he embrace that more?? I wanted to know more about the characters and get a really definitive picture of them and their lives and instead that was mostly abandoned. Ahab did get his characterization limelight of course, but even that seemed rushed and all crammed into a few chapters total.
If I do reread this (which I hope to), I now know that most of the factual chapters can be legitimately skipped--not skimmed, but completely just not read--and I'd get the same story... perhaps with even more enjoyment.