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taniathunder 's review for:
Moby-Dick: Or, the Whale
by Herman Melville
I had to read this book for school, and I wasn’t very keen on the idea, seeing as it has an enormous reputation for being very boring.
However, it wasn’t as horrible as I thought it was going to be, and I have another favorite character (the first mate, Starbuck) now, so that’s … good. except *SPOILER* *cries*
The whole revenge aspect and sinister prophecies kept me interested until the end. There are some strange spiritual elements, in regards to different characters’ beliefs, so just be warned.
Some of Melville’s chapters remind me of Victor Hugo’s writing style, where he goes of on a tangent and talks about something that doesn’t have a huge bearing on the story. Melville tends to keep them short, though, so that’s nice. All of the chapters are short, actually, some less than a page long.
One more critique, and that’s the dialogue. Some of the characters talk quite formally and others talk more like sailors, and both are about equally hard to understand. And sometimes it’s hard to tell of someone is talking to themselves or to someone else nearby.
Overall, I enjoyed Moby Dick more than I thought I would. It teaches important lessons about revenge and what kinds of decisions you make. and I love Starbuck.
However, it wasn’t as horrible as I thought it was going to be, and I have another favorite character (the first mate, Starbuck) now, so that’s … good. except *SPOILER* *cries*
The whole revenge aspect and sinister prophecies kept me interested until the end. There are some strange spiritual elements, in regards to different characters’ beliefs, so just be warned.
Some of Melville’s chapters remind me of Victor Hugo’s writing style, where he goes of on a tangent and talks about something that doesn’t have a huge bearing on the story. Melville tends to keep them short, though, so that’s nice. All of the chapters are short, actually, some less than a page long.
One more critique, and that’s the dialogue. Some of the characters talk quite formally and others talk more like sailors, and both are about equally hard to understand. And sometimes it’s hard to tell of someone is talking to themselves or to someone else nearby.
Overall, I enjoyed Moby Dick more than I thought I would. It teaches important lessons about revenge and what kinds of decisions you make. and I love Starbuck.