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A review by champers4days
Moby-Dick by Herman Melville
3.0
Reading Moby Dick was like running a marathon: you know for a fact it will be a long and painful endeavor, and for those who embark on said endeavor, there will be some not-insignificant mental blisters and exhaustion to accompany this character-building experience.
For me, I enjoyed the idea of reading a classic American novel written during a pivotal point in the country’s history, aka, the decade leading up to the Civil War. In practice, the process was much less agreeable. Melville’s writing was not only arcane, but needlessly loquacious with veritable dissertations on subjects from whale classification to the mechanics of sailing. Some judicious editing could cut three hundred pages easy and in no way alter the spirit of the novel. However, buried within several of these aforementioned expositions were shockingly insightful lines that no doubt made Moby Dick the deservedly well-known book that it is today.
Also, for the relatively high degree of cultural familiarity with Ahab and his white whale, the actual character of Ahab fulfilled what seemed like a rather minor role in the story. The sheer volume of plot digression and characters (who can distinguish the Pequot’s first mate from the second anyway??) effectively drowned out some crucial aspects of Melville’s tale.
And finally, everyone mentions the novel’s awkward pacing. Not to be a book reviewing writing lemming, but the novel’s pacing was incredibly awkward. Though I grant the ability to end a 704 page book on the final three pages is a skill in-and-of itself.
I suppose whether or not you pick up Moby Dick centers around the all important: to read a cultural-mainstay, at-times laborious book, or not - that is the question!!
For me, I enjoyed the idea of reading a classic American novel written during a pivotal point in the country’s history, aka, the decade leading up to the Civil War. In practice, the process was much less agreeable. Melville’s writing was not only arcane, but needlessly loquacious with veritable dissertations on subjects from whale classification to the mechanics of sailing. Some judicious editing could cut three hundred pages easy and in no way alter the spirit of the novel. However, buried within several of these aforementioned expositions were shockingly insightful lines that no doubt made Moby Dick the deservedly well-known book that it is today.
Also, for the relatively high degree of cultural familiarity with Ahab and his white whale, the actual character of Ahab fulfilled what seemed like a rather minor role in the story. The sheer volume of plot digression and characters (who can distinguish the Pequot’s first mate from the second anyway??) effectively drowned out some crucial aspects of Melville’s tale.
And finally, everyone mentions the novel’s awkward pacing. Not to be a book reviewing writing lemming, but the novel’s pacing was incredibly awkward. Though I grant the ability to end a 704 page book on the final three pages is a skill in-and-of itself.
I suppose whether or not you pick up Moby Dick centers around the all important: to read a cultural-mainstay, at-times laborious book, or not - that is the question!!