Moby-Dick: or, The Whale (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition) [Paperback]

 

 

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Moby dick is a classic adventure novel about killing a white whale. The plot of the novel is a review of the whaling industries terrible points told in a sardonic manner. It also looks at the resons for revenge and how revenge is an endless cycle and thus it is completely pointless. The book has a way of telling people things so that the point reveals things to a mind predisposed to think well of whaling by being only a simple adventure book but tells a story much deeper to someone coming with an open mind; that is the reader feels touch of distant harm.
The book is spattered with numerous characters that combine to make the one good thing about whaling because it brings people together. The main character, Ishmael, is a wandering intellectual sailor that has decided to join a crew for the specific purpose of seeing how to be a whaler. He goes on to describe that the noble art of whaling practised by numerous heroes all of whom exist only in ancient myths. Another important character is Ishmael's friend Queeque a savage idoler who becomes an instant favourite with Ishmael after they spend a night in the same bed. This large harpooner acts as an old hand bound for his home after seeing with disgust the christians. The final character is Ahab a moody old captain obsessed with the killing of a white whale ever since that same whale took away his leg. For this ultimate revenge against all whales Ahab swear the crew to this quest risking the ship and the lives of all those aboard.
The author utilizes both wit and stark realistic examples to convey his point. With these tools alone Melville irrevocably scratches his point in the mind of his reader. There is very little else that is utilized but the style also has a seemingly pointless chapters which actually lull the reader into a sense of false agreement with whaling, so that Melville's point becomes all the more real and shocking in the eyes of the reader.
This book is perfect for anyone that enjoys an adventure novel in which there are many points that make people think. People who enjoy novels by Jack London and orson scott Card will find this book particularily enjoyable. Because of both the adventure and the statements on the nature of human beings. The book also makes an interesting read for someone who enjoyed the three musketteers.
The Book the most like this one is Jack London's white Fang. However instead of being told from an animals perspective of humans different ways. Moby Dick tells the story of mans legacy from a lowly man seeing things from the inside of a society that rules over animals with iron Javalins. Another difference is that while white fang focuses on the goodness of man; Moby Dick is based primarily on revenge, and other of mens darker things with only a faint spatterring of light.
The Whale Differs from most books because it tells a story that is full of two meaning depending on what the reader already thinks about the book. Melville uses this book to try and make people realise the good and bad things of whaling and how in this time it was nessecary to sweep away the feelling of bad ways that the idolers had to untie a few people to tell the truth against ancient prejudices.
I feel That this is a great book that should be read by everyone. however in spots it becomes exceedingly dull and makes the reader want to fall asleep, but these spots are few that thave no importance to the rest of the novel. In short this book can be slow, but those who persevere there is a great novel waiting to be told. I caution all however to not supect that it is just about Moby Dick.

Moby Dick is a challenge to the most patient and insightful of readers. It is, I believe, well worth the effort.

You need to look for the humor in the book to get through it. The situations Melville describes are quite often ludicrous! Visualize! Imagine! Ishmael had the dimensions of a whale tatooed on his forearm!

You also need to remember that the whale is treated--even if ironically--as God. Thus, the scholasticism surrounding the treatment in the book. It's funny if you read something like chapter 32 as a theological treatise. It also gives you permission to skim or bipass these chapters.

Good luck! I know you can do it.

of the depth of American creativity.

Readers of Melville, just like readers of Shakespeare, Joyce, Tolstoy, and all the other great ones, will argue about his meanings and intentions for the rest of Time.

Read Moby Dick and join in on the fun...

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4.0 out of 5 stars An awesome book
Moby Dick is a very long, difficult book to read with Herman Melvilles unique writing style. His descriptions of places and people are pages long, it takes alot of patience and... Read more

Published on Jan 9 2003 by Heather

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant
It is hard to find the words to do this novel justice. Not least because it is hard to name a single American novelist who is a clearly better prose stylist than Melville; and... Read more

Published on Dec 27 2002

4.0 out of 5 stars Good book
I really enjoyed this book. I didn't understand like almost all of those big and descriptive words they used, but hey, thats what dictionaries are for! Read more

Published on Nov 13 2002

5.0 out of 5 stars A Timeless Classic
What more need be said about this classic of American literature?

Melville's classic tale of Moby Dick is so fantastic on so many levels. Read more

Published on Sep 8 2002 by William Hefner

2.0 out of 5 stars Before You Finish, You're Cheering for the Whale...
If you are interested in learning how to be a Whaler, then this is certainly the book for you. If, on the other hand, you innocently pick up this book because of it's outsized... Read more

Published on Aug 20 2002 by Kyle G. Roesler

3.0 out of 5 stars Unbearable Heaviness of Reading
At the risk of sounding ignorant, I found the book unbearable. I understand the symbolism in it. However, I didnt have the tenacity to follow it through all the tedious... Read more

Published on Aug 6 2002 by soomin

5.0 out of 5 stars A Wonderful Surprise
I am thirty-five and I had never read Moby Dick. Well, I have just finished it, and I have to say that it is very good. Read more

Published on Aug 5 2002

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Book I Ever Read
You are not a fully educated person until you have read this book. Of course you won't fully appreciate it until you are fifty. But try anyway. It's well worth it.

Published on Aug 2 2002 by reader from California

5.0 out of 5 stars The American Classic
No doubt the basic story of Moby Dick is familiar to the majority of western civilization. Whether a lack of interest or intimidation by it's size or 19th century linguistics, the... Read more

Published on July 20 2002 by Andrew

5.0 out of 5 stars STILL the one and only GREAT AMERICAN NOVEL
Let anyone who dares try to surpass it, Melville's Moby Dick remains and probably will remain forever untouched as THE American masterpiece. Read more

Published on July 8 2002 by Penelope Schmitt

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