ielerol's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
funny
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
4.0
I had long ago given up on Moby Dick as Not For Me. I tend to enjoy economy in storytelling, and this is not an economical story in any sense. The sentences are long, twisting, and full of obscure vocabulary. There are whole chapters of (dubiously true) whale facts and detailed accounts of the practices of whaling. Even in the middle of the narrative chapters that move the plot forward, Ishmael stops to explain more whale and whaling facts.
Everyone knows the first line of Moby Dick is "Call me Ishmael", but actually the beginning of this book is a compilation of the words for whale across many languages and an extensive list of quotations about whales from literature and folk songs, and it is absolutely a harbinger of things to come.
And yet, I heard from some people whose opinions I respect that Moby-Dick is a lot of fun to read out loud, and that it's especially good to listen to as an audiobook. So, I decided it try it as an audiobook. And it turns out I maybe love Moby-Dick? Everything that bothered me about trying to read it on paper turns out to be a delight to listen to. The long, twisty sentences have a beautiful rhythm that is clearly not a naturalistic depiction of ordinary speech and yet are also far more comprehensible to me as speech than on the page. The many, many, digressions and explanations, (like the chapter that's basically just a list of things that are white, or the several chapters critiquing depictions of whales in art through the ages) are just my wordy pal Ishmael eager to tell me about his Special Interest, whales and whaling, and then sometimes he remembers he was supposed to be telling me about his specific whaling voyage. Some of the most enjoyable language in the whole book is in those sections. It's also very, very funny, and I fully missed out on the humor when struggling through the few chapters I finished the various times I tried to read it before.
In fact, whaling itself was a brutal, environmentally devastating practice and I'm glad it's illegal now, and I probably enjoyed myself the least while reading about the "real plot" parts of the book where the crew is actually hunting whales, as intense and dramatic as they are. The depictions of non-white characters are also very...of their time, even if I do fully believe that Melville was deliberately trying to subvert some of the assumptions about the "natural" superiority of the white officers of the ship.
Possibly my favorite chapter in the book consists of a series of the ship's crew reacting in turn to a gold doubloon with an elaborate design on it. It's a whole essay on reader-response theory, and it is absolutely aimed at readers of Moby-Dick and telling us, you will all see something different here.
Everyone knows the first line of Moby Dick is "Call me Ishmael", but actually the beginning of this book is a compilation of the words for whale across many languages and an extensive list of quotations about whales from literature and folk songs, and it is absolutely a harbinger of things to come.
And yet, I heard from some people whose opinions I respect that Moby-Dick is a lot of fun to read out loud, and that it's especially good to listen to as an audiobook. So, I decided it try it as an audiobook. And it turns out I maybe love Moby-Dick? Everything that bothered me about trying to read it on paper turns out to be a delight to listen to. The long, twisty sentences have a beautiful rhythm that is clearly not a naturalistic depiction of ordinary speech and yet are also far more comprehensible to me as speech than on the page. The many, many, digressions and explanations, (like the chapter that's basically just a list of things that are white, or the several chapters critiquing depictions of whales in art through the ages) are just my wordy pal Ishmael eager to tell me about his Special Interest, whales and whaling, and then sometimes he remembers he was supposed to be telling me about his specific whaling voyage. Some of the most enjoyable language in the whole book is in those sections. It's also very, very funny, and I fully missed out on the humor when struggling through the few chapters I finished the various times I tried to read it before.
In fact, whaling itself was a brutal, environmentally devastating practice and I'm glad it's illegal now, and I probably enjoyed myself the least while reading about the "real plot" parts of the book where the crew is actually hunting whales, as intense and dramatic as they are. The depictions of non-white characters are also very...of their time, even if I do fully believe that Melville was deliberately trying to subvert some of the assumptions about the "natural" superiority of the white officers of the ship.
Possibly my favorite chapter in the book consists of a series of the ship's crew reacting in turn to a gold doubloon with an elaborate design on it. It's a whole essay on reader-response theory, and it is absolutely aimed at readers of Moby-Dick and telling us, you will all see something different here.
seapotatohowisitalrtaken's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, Mental illness, Animal death, Racism, Animal cruelty, Racial slurs, and Violence
Moderate: Gun violence and Murder
Minor: Alcohol
erebus53's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.75
This was a book club read, that is a classic that I wanted to take a look at for a while. I find it hard to review because it's a gigantic piece of work, it's written over a hundred years ago, and it's a complex mess of merits and flaws.
The book is a whale of a tome. It's much more heavy on information, philosophy, history, and poetic prose than it is in plot. It takes a long time for anything to happen and we first have to wade through treatises on whales in art, whales in myth, the art of whaling, the cetology and nomenclature, how to live in boats, the status of whalers, the uses of whale bodies and the reliance of society on those resources, the runnings of ship-board politics, the phrenology of whales, legal precedent in the matters of whale ownership, and the gorier bits of how whales are processed after their demise. More than half the book is the "kernel of truth" around which the story is told, interwoven to make it seem realistic (we could use the word "verisimilitude" - Melville did; in fact it's best to bring a dictionary on your voyage with the Piquod).
As a historical classic (published in 1851) this entire account is peppered with things that I found affronting. The most personable character in the book is a Polynesian from an un-named archipelago, whose name is Queequeg. (Right there that breaks my belief in the narrative because there's no way that's a Polynesian name.) When we first encounter him he is selling desiccated Māori heads. This is distressing to me, as my family is descended from White seal and whale boat people in New Zealand / Aotearoa, so this depiction of brutality against the indigenous Māori, the indifference to selling sacred parts of the body to people in other countries, is a somber affair. This is obviously part of a portrayal to make Queequeg seem, dichotomously, the barbaric, cannibal heathen, but also an affectionate, devout and gracefully capable man. All the characters in the tale seem similarly profiled, and caricatures of Race and age. The labels used are all indicative of the prevailing attitude of White people, and of a sense of racial superiority. It's "a sign of it's time".. and it's horrible.
There are musings on mono-mania and infatuation.. or what today we would call obsession, compulsivity, hyper-focus.. and prepossessing passion. This book could aptly be described as an exploration of the madness of whalers. I can't help but correspond this single-mindedness of purpose with that of the author who pens an 800-page adventure novel about whaling. The tale of obsession is clearly allegorical, being an extreme to which most men wouldn't go (going to sea for 3 years at a stint to hunt giant sea-game, in a high-risk high-reward endeavour), that hyperbolically illustrates the bravery, and folly, of being prepared to go to great lengths in pursuit of a goal (while leaving your women and children to their own matters). Cowardice and the desire to remove oneself from shame are also portrayed by way of dark comedy. The description of phantom-limb experiences in amputees is interesting and one of the more relevant observations I noticed, as are the accommodations made for those with missing limbs on a ship.
Whales. *deep sigh* Just..
I found some of the narrative about the hunting of whales to be very distressing. Melville states that he does not consider whales to be anything but big fish, and he denies that the actions of whalers are diminishing whale populations, saying that they just move on, and always have more places to hide; that seeing fewer of them just means that they escaped that area. The ignorance makes me angry, but he didn't have the facts. I think that some of the narrative is designed to be very unsettling; there are poetic musings about how the fat of whales is used as fuel for the ovens that render the fat, or cook whale flesh; that whales are used to consume themselves. Likewise, there is no scruple when recounting the hunting of nursing mother whales, or utilising the skin of a whale's dork to make a butcher's coat. Rather, these musings are incorporated into darkly humorous stories, but I am not sold on this humour. It's clever, but vile.
The cutest parts of the book are dialogues that are written in the form of plays. These allow the characters to be developed and fluff around with some interesting wordplay. It provides some levity and gravity that might be otherwise lost in between rants. I feel like it also humanised characters who otherwise would not be fleshed out. I don't know that the characters are particularly loveable, but you at least get to know them a bit as people.
In all, I feel somewhat whelmed by the sheer scope of the book. It's huge, and wordy and uses archaic turns of phrase. I can see why reading this is an ordeal that people sometimes brag about, but at the same time, I didn't find it entertaining. The "science" as it was has been surpassed wholly, and so this is entirely a historical snapshot of the understanding of whales in times gone by. It calls into stark detail my position in the world.. as the Privileged daughter of a conquering culture. It informs my understanding of the importance of fossil fuels in replacing oils that were once acquired by hazardous oceanic hunting. All in all, it leaves me feeling a little sick.
The book is a whale of a tome. It's much more heavy on information, philosophy, history, and poetic prose than it is in plot. It takes a long time for anything to happen and we first have to wade through treatises on whales in art, whales in myth, the art of whaling, the cetology and nomenclature, how to live in boats, the status of whalers, the uses of whale bodies and the reliance of society on those resources, the runnings of ship-board politics, the phrenology of whales, legal precedent in the matters of whale ownership, and the gorier bits of how whales are processed after their demise. More than half the book is the "kernel of truth" around which the story is told, interwoven to make it seem realistic (we could use the word "verisimilitude" - Melville did; in fact it's best to bring a dictionary on your voyage with the Piquod).
As a historical classic (published in 1851) this entire account is peppered with things that I found affronting. The most personable character in the book is a Polynesian from an un-named archipelago, whose name is Queequeg. (Right there that breaks my belief in the narrative because there's no way that's a Polynesian name.) When we first encounter him he is selling desiccated Māori heads. This is distressing to me, as my family is descended from White seal and whale boat people in New Zealand / Aotearoa, so this depiction of brutality against the indigenous Māori, the indifference to selling sacred parts of the body to people in other countries, is a somber affair. This is obviously part of a portrayal to make Queequeg seem, dichotomously, the barbaric, cannibal heathen, but also an affectionate, devout and gracefully capable man. All the characters in the tale seem similarly profiled, and caricatures of Race and age. The labels used are all indicative of the prevailing attitude of White people, and of a sense of racial superiority. It's "a sign of it's time".. and it's horrible.
There are musings on mono-mania and infatuation.. or what today we would call obsession, compulsivity, hyper-focus.. and prepossessing passion. This book could aptly be described as an exploration of the madness of whalers. I can't help but correspond this single-mindedness of purpose with that of the author who pens an 800-page adventure novel about whaling. The tale of obsession is clearly allegorical, being an extreme to which most men wouldn't go (going to sea for 3 years at a stint to hunt giant sea-game, in a high-risk high-reward endeavour), that hyperbolically illustrates the bravery, and folly, of being prepared to go to great lengths in pursuit of a goal (while leaving your women and children to their own matters). Cowardice and the desire to remove oneself from shame are also portrayed by way of dark comedy. The description of phantom-limb experiences in amputees is interesting and one of the more relevant observations I noticed, as are the accommodations made for those with missing limbs on a ship.
Whales. *deep sigh* Just..
I found some of the narrative about the hunting of whales to be very distressing. Melville states that he does not consider whales to be anything but big fish, and he denies that the actions of whalers are diminishing whale populations, saying that they just move on, and always have more places to hide; that seeing fewer of them just means that they escaped that area. The ignorance makes me angry, but he didn't have the facts. I think that some of the narrative is designed to be very unsettling; there are poetic musings about how the fat of whales is used as fuel for the ovens that render the fat, or cook whale flesh; that whales are used to consume themselves. Likewise, there is no scruple when recounting the hunting of nursing mother whales, or utilising the skin of a whale's dork to make a butcher's coat. Rather, these musings are incorporated into darkly humorous stories, but I am not sold on this humour. It's clever, but vile.
The cutest parts of the book are dialogues that are written in the form of plays. These allow the characters to be developed and fluff around with some interesting wordplay. It provides some levity and gravity that might be otherwise lost in between rants. I feel like it also humanised characters who otherwise would not be fleshed out. I don't know that the characters are particularly loveable, but you at least get to know them a bit as people.
In all, I feel somewhat whelmed by the sheer scope of the book. It's huge, and wordy and uses archaic turns of phrase. I can see why reading this is an ordeal that people sometimes brag about, but at the same time, I didn't find it entertaining. The "science" as it was has been surpassed wholly, and so this is entirely a historical snapshot of the understanding of whales in times gone by. It calls into stark detail my position in the world.. as the Privileged daughter of a conquering culture. It informs my understanding of the importance of fossil fuels in replacing oils that were once acquired by hazardous oceanic hunting. All in all, it leaves me feeling a little sick.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Dysphoria, Racial slurs, Medical content, Mental illness, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Blood, Bullying, Racism, Death, Confinement, Violence, Classism, Ableism, and Gore
Moderate: Cursing, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, and Cannibalism
Minor: Child death and Religious bigotry
mexicanwine's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
lauramoon_'s review against another edition
3.0
3.5
The middle mart dragged to no end, and. let's be honest here, I thought about dnfing this one several times.
was it worth it? I'd like to think so.
The middle mart dragged to no end, and. let's be honest here, I thought about dnfing this one several times.
was it worth it? I'd like to think so.
waitenathan's review against another edition
5.0
What do you say about Moby-Dick? Quite simply, it explores the meaning of everything.
writermattphillips's review against another edition
5.0
Amazing novel... So many forms used. You have to read the whole thing... The ending––pure thriller.
_maren_'s review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
informative
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0