Scan barcode
byubones123's review against another edition
5.0
It's been years since I read it, and I never wrote a review despite it's deserving one. I was afraid I'd never do my feelings justice, and never sum up the greatness of this story. I still have paltry and inadequate words to describe what this book is, but beating within me is a strong desire to write what I think. That may be the best context for jotting down my thoughts about Moby Dick. At the very least, for posterity or whatever other sake might exist on the web some future day, I think it's worth stating: Moby Dick is a masterwork of fiction and human endeavor.
Transcendent, transporting, illuminating--pick your preferred apotheosis. Moby Dick achieves what every writer wants their story to be. Engaging, informative, provocative, and profoundly reflective, it will change what you think of books entirely and likely change you. But you're not interested in old ideas or learning about whaling? That's fine, this story only purports to describe such things (even when it does so at length, and you'll probably still enjoy it). Despite being crusted with age and the detritus of history it's still as fresh and engaging as it was when it climbed from the ocean almost 200 years ago.
The truth is, Moby Dick isn't about the old world. It says a great deal about history, but it's really about the new, and where we're going and what matters. In fact, I think Moby Dick is more relevant now than when it was written. Maybe it's more relevancy will only grow as humanity piles on the years. But in a world overwhelmed by opinion and counterpoint and obsessed with conflict, Moby Dick stands as the ultimate quest to define the spirit of humanity. No naive adventures here, as fun or illuminating as escapism can be. This is the adventure of the ages--the depth of mortal experience and what it might mean.
Wherever you are, whoever you may be, if you have any interest in reading then take the time to read Moby Dick. It deserves it's notoriety, and is my favorite "classic" I've ever read. I've known some with no interest in history tomes who've declined to read sailing adventures and they join me heartily in praise for Melville's work. It is an experience unlike any other.
Transcendent, transporting, illuminating--pick your preferred apotheosis. Moby Dick achieves what every writer wants their story to be. Engaging, informative, provocative, and profoundly reflective, it will change what you think of books entirely and likely change you. But you're not interested in old ideas or learning about whaling? That's fine, this story only purports to describe such things (even when it does so at length, and you'll probably still enjoy it). Despite being crusted with age and the detritus of history it's still as fresh and engaging as it was when it climbed from the ocean almost 200 years ago.
The truth is, Moby Dick isn't about the old world. It says a great deal about history, but it's really about the new, and where we're going and what matters. In fact, I think Moby Dick is more relevant now than when it was written. Maybe it's more relevancy will only grow as humanity piles on the years. But in a world overwhelmed by opinion and counterpoint and obsessed with conflict, Moby Dick stands as the ultimate quest to define the spirit of humanity. No naive adventures here, as fun or illuminating as escapism can be. This is the adventure of the ages--the depth of mortal experience and what it might mean.
Wherever you are, whoever you may be, if you have any interest in reading then take the time to read Moby Dick. It deserves it's notoriety, and is my favorite "classic" I've ever read. I've known some with no interest in history tomes who've declined to read sailing adventures and they join me heartily in praise for Melville's work. It is an experience unlike any other.
kru22's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
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
3.0
tryonosaurus's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
So, about 75% of this book is straight up factual text about whaling. Which, while interesting, didn't exactly enthrall me. The last part of the book, where Ahab is finally spiraling into madness, is really fucking interesting. So is the very beginning, where Ishmael is talking endlessly about how in love with Queequeg he is. Those parts are dope.
chrismichaels's review against another edition
5.0
A timeless book. Literally everyone and their mother knows Moby Dick. But honestly, I was not prepared for how good this book actually is. The book is like massive, and only 20% of it is actual plot. The rest is just history of whaling, whale biology, whaling ship architecture, and everything pertaining to whale hunting. I got so immersed in all of that I stopped even caring about the plot, the plot is lowkey boring by comparison. I never even realized how important sperm whale oil was to the global economy in the olden days. Anyways, that’s my review. Come for the plot, stay for the history.
kelilajo's review against another edition
4.0
I don’t know any child of the 80’s who grew up “saving the whales” who loves this book. I had no interest in reading it and never would have bothered with it at all without the context and interpretation offered by Jed McKenna in the book “Spiritually Incorrect Enlightenment.” In that context, it is extraordinarily powerful. I was also surprised by the humor in it, which was an unexpected delight.
ahotdogbun's review against another edition
5.0
no need to review the book itself--it's a heater, we all know that--but I do feel more or less ambivalent about reading the NCE. footnotes ran a broad gamut of revelatory to banal: more often than I would have liked I was pulled from the beauty of the text to be explained a biblical allusion (snore!). but when the footnotes elucidated nautical history, sailor slang, the intricacies of a whaling vessel--boy howdy, that's some good shit! appendices ranged a similar spectrum. perhaps some would find the exhaustive contemporary reviews interesting, but I skipped almost all of these. ditto for the 20th century literary criticism. loved, loved, loved the appendices about whaling vessels, the robust glossary of nautical terms, and the incredible textual work Melville scholars have undertaken to emend Moby-Dick into its truest form. Jonathan Lethem has a fun, personal essay near the end, and there are some nice pieces which elaborate on Moby-Dick's massive influence on popular culture in the late 20th- and early 21st-centuries.
if you are going to read Moby-Dick for the first time, I would not recommend this edition. great for those looking to deepen their understanding of the novel, though, and of the milieu in which Melville was raised, worked, and wrote.
if you are going to read Moby-Dick for the first time, I would not recommend this edition. great for those looking to deepen their understanding of the novel, though, and of the milieu in which Melville was raised, worked, and wrote.
brimace's review against another edition
4.0
Esoteric nautical and whaling terms and extensive exposition made reading this a bit of a slog, but I cannot say one bit of it was "unnecessary". I was slowly sucked into the world of 19th century whaling. Thank goodness for the glossary and helpful illustrations of the Penguin Classics edition. By the final chapters, everything I learned was put to use as Melville beautifully and precisely conveyed the fateful, concluding action of the story.
Overall, a clear classic. An American myth of obsession and arrogance.
Overall, a clear classic. An American myth of obsession and arrogance.
liquidopal's review against another edition
1.0
Another one of those books I had to read in high school....this one I couldn't even finish the first time. The story might have been more tolerable if all the chapters filled with useless whaling facts were removed...but I doubt it.