itry's review against another edition
It's impossible to ignore the racism (despite the historical context) when it's shoved in your face every other paragraph ;__;
Graphic: Religious bigotry, Cannibalism, Racism, Xenophobia, Violence, Injury/injury detail, and Colonisation
Moderate: Slavery
seanml's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
informative
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
In some circles this has been referred to as the greatest of American novels. I wanted to know the basis for this, because surely there must be some merit if it is still brought up today. What did I find? I found that Moby Dick is, in a way, two separate books. First, there is a book of whale anatomy. Our narrator Ishmael, being a member of the crew, has many things to say about the process and subject of the whaling industry. Dozens of chapters will go by that are more educational than narrative, and that is why the book is so vilified: This educational content is like 80% of the book. Or at least it feels that way. The second part of this book is the story of our ship, the Pequod, and Captain Ahab’s relentless search for the malicious white whale. And this, surprisingly, was everything it was said to be. The sea is described like the primordial all-encompassing force that it is, and Melville through Ishmael taps into the innate fear of such an alien place, making this book scarier than many books in the horror genre. And within this void is Moby Dick himself, who comes and goes like a cosmic horror of the great deep, presaged by strange omens and otherworldly harbingers. So I recommend the narrative portion of the book, despite it being the minority of the page count. So why might this be called the greatest American novel? There are two possibilities. One, it is, but this is unlikely. Or two, this book was written in the mid-1850s, and there were like two books back then, so it was either this or Uncle Tom’s Cabin, and this one is pretty cool. 8/10.
Graphic: Animal death, Racism, and Animal cruelty
Moderate: Injury/injury detail, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Xenophobia, and Racial slurs
Minor: Alcohol, Child death, Colonisation, Death, Sexism, Slavery, and Cannibalism
thetatteredowl's review against another edition
I'm not going to be the person that's like 'classic book bad actually'. This book was very difficult to get into, but once I was settled I found it was enjoyable, albeit very slow. Gave up once I realised I was reading it for the sake of reading it, instead of reading it because I liked it
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Cultural appropriation, and Animal death
Minor: Racism and Xenophobia
yavin_iv's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
informative
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Blood, Death, Gore, Racism, Xenophobia, and Mental illness
Moderate: Racial slurs and Medical trauma
Minor: Antisemitism and Cannibalism
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