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Summary: Moby Dick: A Whale of a Book
Review: WARNING: SPOILERS INCLUDEDThis book opens with one of the most famous introductory sentences in the whole of maritime literature. Much like The Old Man and the Sea, The Middle Passage, and other tales on heroism on the high seas, this book is soaked with pirates and scurvy dogs. There is buried treasure at the end, too, when we learned that the great white whale is in fact highly symbolic.
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Summary: A Whale of a Tale!
Review: Aside from a lengthy digression on whale types, this is epic novel writing at its very best. The real theme here is that of obsession and how it can destroy people. The bitter Captain Ahab is a tragic Shakespearean character who instead of destroying the great whale, he self-destructs due to his blind obsessional pursuit. Despite being of prodigious length, the book is well-paced and moves along nicely except for the odd insertion mentioned above. More than 150 years since its first publication, this work is as alive and entertaining to readers now as it was then. Few works truly deserve the label 'classic', however this is one....Call me f____n' Ishmael!
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Summary: powerful for the patient
Review: This book surprised me. I mean, I knew it was a classic, but it isn't structured like any other book I've read. It starts out as a conventional story about this guy names Ishmael, it turns into a recasting of the whole whaling tradition in terms of American enthusiasm and resourcefullness, and then finishes as pure drama. Yes, there are some slow parts, but they seem real. As if Ismael/Melville is trying to convince the reader, a landlocked American in 1851, that being a whaler is interesting, understandable, and as stark a struggle with nature as the life of any frontiersman or explorer.
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Summary: Rich, Difficult, Complicated, and Rewarding
Review: The Story: The title refers to the name given to an enormous albino sperm whale who is being hunted by Captain Ahab, the ruthless, single-minded, driven master of a whaling ship. Ahab hunts Moby Dick because, in a previous hunt, Moby Dick amputated Ahab's leg in a failed attempt by Ahab to catch the white whale. The story is told in retrospect by a crewman, Ishmael, of the ship, who was a young, somewhat naive man at the time. This is not a novel for everyone; it takes a patient and persistent reader to tackle the rich but complicated writing style of Melville, as well as the author's penchant for going off on detailed, descriptive tangents. However, the writing style almost becomes poetic at times, and symbolism and metaphor abound. The closest thing to Melville's style I've found amongst contemporary writers is Gene Wolfe ("The Book of the New Sun", "The Book of the Short Sun", "The Book of the Long Sun"). Wolfe also borrowed from Melville the device of telling the story from the viewpoint of young, naive observers, who report what they see with little bias or editorializing, which leaves the reader to interpret the story on his/her own. To me, this story is a detailed and adventurous tale of obsession verging on insanity. Ahab is so focused on catching and killing Moby Dick that he loses sight of his own welfare and the welfare of his men. He never questions his own motives; he is out after revenge for losing his leg, as well as out to redress the insult of a simple beast not accepting the dominion of Man. Moby Dick's defiance of Mankind's superiority and sovereignty is seen as an outrage, a matter of honor for Captain Ahab to resolve. But, why did Moby Dick bite off Ahab's leg in the first place? Ahab sees it as an act of war by the whale, a refusal to bow down to the Master of the Earth (Mankind). Might it not just as easily be an animal naturally defending itself against a predator (Mankind) invading his (Moby Dick's) domain? Jay Nussbaum wrote a book called "Blue Road to Atlantis" which is a gem of a story that retells Hemingway's "The Old Man and the Sea" from the fish's point of view. Mr. Nussbaum could make quite a story out of Moby Dick's point of view of this puny maniac who keeps harassing him and trying to kill him.
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Summary: Philosophy on Whales
Review: Moby-Dick... thought it would be a good whaling book with adventure and perhaps some suspense. How dissapointed was I when I finished reading this book. First of all, Melville just loves to start discussing whales and sea and then somehow jump to an absolutely irrelevant subject, such as ponds and paintings. Secondly, if you are looking for adventure and suspense there may be some. However, what little there is of it, it is killed off by the very boring narration. I thought there were some good points. It had strong symbolism, quite a good description of the life at the time and the life of the sailors. Must admit that the characters are masterfully created, especially Ahab with the solemn mystery of his life.
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Summary: Amazing
Review: Moby Dick may seem daunting at the outset - a huge, rather difficult read - but it is an amazing novel. Stick with it and you will be truly rewarded with a riviting, deeply psychological, and suprising story.
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Summary: The greatest novel ever written.
Review: This is, without question, the greatest American novel. Through the eyes of a young sailor named Ishmael, we witness the decent of a once great man, Captain Ahab. This is an adventure novel, but it is so much more than that. It is about pride and obsession and futility. After the loss of his leg, Ahab spends years chasing after the whale that dismasted him. But if you think about it, what the hell is he doing this for? Even if he kills the whale, what's the point? All he's done is waste his life, his very soul, hunting after something that is worth nothing. All the while his wife and son are waiting for him at home, wondering if they will ever see him again. This book makes us question our goals and our desires, and to appreciate what is truly important in life. If you have never read it, you are missing something spectacular.
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Summary: LIFE CHECK POINT: READ 'MOBY DICK'
Review: I must admit, somewhere after the 400th page, I was getting mighty impatient for the great whale to rear its ugly head. Majestically descriptive as to give life to planks of wood and historically fascinating, "Moby Dick" is god-like in its ingenius narrative of man and whales and sometimes tiresome in its detailed descriptions of everything under the sun and aboard the whaling vessel, The Pequod. More than being a great book, I came away with a hunger to learn more of its fascinating author who remains a marvel of history and literary wizardry.
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Summary: A tired old tale - Save the damn whales already!!!
Review: This book is HORRIBLE! Classic, my eye! I would love to know what's so great about this book. I have seen better writing in a Hallmark card! Boring! Give me a good ole copy of Elvis and Me! A true story that really tugs at your heart strings! I sleep with that one under my pillow! Keep Moby Dick away from my bed!
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Summary: Simply, one of the best ever
Review: Why review Moby Dick? Hasn't enough been said? If you've not read this novel yet, then obviously not. Don't miss it. The average reader today will be put off by what seems to be a laborious 19th Century style. Long words are assembled into long sentences, there's not always a lot of dialogue, and not a single glib pop culture reference. Surely a dated work. Here are a few secrets -- you won't find these heavily discussed -- to help you read this novel: 1) It's the first modernist work. Yes, though it looks old-fashioned, "Moby Dick" is anything but. The whole novel is conscious of the fact that it's a novel -- Melville assembles bits of other works (real or imagined) and plays with form in a way we normally think of as the contribution of later writers. 2) It's got rhythm. The book moves from action piece to digression back to action in a regular pattern. The tempo of the novel itself suggests the motion of a ship on the sea. So when you're reading one of the long digressive passages, remember that it's just there to rest you up. 3) It's funny. Why doesn't anyone mention this? It's true the book concerns some serious themes -- it's not just a whaling novel -- but Melville has a sense of humor. The whole of the novel is over the top with solemnity and scholarliness. If you think he's entirely serious, you're being far too literal minded. So take your time, don't be put off. Melville has an odd style, but once you recognize that it's deliberate, you'll see he has a sense of playfulness. Enjoy.
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