Reviews

Moby-Dick by Herman Melville

Only show reviews with written explanations

rumbledethumps's review against another edition

5.0

An absolute masterpiece. There are far too many themes (Man v Nature, Ahab v Starbuck, Ahab and Pip, The 9 Gams, The Unknowable, Melville v Shakespeare, etc etc etc) to be properly encompassed in a single, brief Goodreads review.

Instead, my experience in reading it: The first third drove me along, and I thought I had found my new favorite book. The humor, the language, the setting, the story were all such that I could not put it down, could not stop thinking about it in off moments. The second third, however, is where it gets its reputation for being a difficult book. For every chapter that advances the plot, there are two that anchor it down in academic asides about whales and the whaling industry. But once one clears these windless waters, the final third sails along to its inevitable conclusion, and I again could not put it down.

This book has earned a spot on my permanent shelf. I may never read it from cover-to-cover again, but I will definitely pick it up now and again to re-read favorite passages, and will be reading about it for the rest of my life.

shawnwich's review against another edition

Go to review page

5.0

Finally. It should be noted that whale in question appears on page 622 out of 654.

jango102's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging emotional funny informative inspiring lighthearted reflective 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

5.0

The great American novel. The product of a sustained years-long manic phase, which was understood in its time only by the intellectual love of the author's life. A novel in love with the world and its inhabitants. The most striking image, which will never leave me, is that of the "lake" at the center of the grand armada, where nursing baby whales are compared to human infants who "gaze fixedly away from the breast" as if in another world. The utterance of one who truly saw.