Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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...

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 attention toward the book. It dragged on at the beginning when he meets Queqeg and spends the night with him. He created realistic characters who brave through tough times (meeting Moby Dick.) Though it over 410 pages to finally get to Moby Dick, it was a very adventurous story of a young sailor meeting the whale who took the leg of his captain.

I really liked this book even though it was slightly boring at first. I thought it would be like that all the way through, but it soon picked up pace and got exciting. I like his writing style but at times it was hard to understand what he was saying. He used alot of Old English, which was pretty cool. Overall, I think the book earns 2 thumbs up. Its a must read!

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 only a few are his peers. A single random paragraph from the book would be more enjoyable than any review I have ever read, let along written. I am not exaggerating. Melville is as much a master of the language as Shakespeare or Joyce, and unlike them is accessible and captivating from the first; you don't need to adapt yourself to the dialect or have a lot of background knowledge (although that can only make things better). I know of no one else who could spend twenty pages explaining how you strip the blubber from a whale, and still be intensely exciting. The first time I read this novel it demolished everything I thought I knew about good writing. Finishing the last page I could compare only to the mental equivalent of an orgasm.

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! My favorite character was Queequeg!! He was cool. I gave the book 4 stars and not 5 because I don't like violence or death, so it lost a star. Yeah, but it was a really cool and fun book to read!

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. His writing style is unique and fun to read. The story itself is full of poignant metaphors and hidden meanings. Even if you don't understand the philosophical undertones of the book, you will love the classic story of Ahab and his search for the great white whale.

Really, fiction doesn't get much better than this. If you haven't read Moby Dick, you are really missing out. Fascinating, exciting, entertaining and moving. This is a book that will never go out of style.

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 reputation, you are going to be dreadfully disappointed. For an adventure book there is frighteningly little adventure; for a philosophical book, there is amazingly little philosophy. What there is is information on how to hunt whales and tedious times between whale spottings.

If you want to read an old classic, go with something by Dickens instead. If you want a new classic, try my first novel, "Fate" by Mary Jane. Thanx for listening.

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 detours.

Despite all, the last three chapters brought all the piecese together and ended the story with a spectacular flurry. One man's defiance against the whale, sea, world, God... It reminded me a bit of Ayn Rand's philosophy, whatever that is called.

I think it would be a mistake for anybody not to read this book at least in part. At the same time, I want to spare them the countless hours of agony having to read through the unreadable chapters and pages. So 3-stars it is.

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. Throw out your Gravity's Rainbow, your Cormac McCarthy series, Underworld, and those awful books by Paul Auster. Pour yourself a glass of port(from Portugal of course) or a good sherry and enjoy. With all of the hip edgy stuff coming out in cinema and tv, I guess we are supposed to be smug and oh so knowing about a book written in the 19th century. They'll probably make some new version of it with Ethan Hawke or some British actors. When it's made and sooner or later it will be, don't think of going to it. Instead buy the book. This epic astounds me at every turn. I am glad I waited to read it as an adult. I doubt I will be able to get my so-called intellectual(post-modern enthusiasts) friends interested in reading it. Take my advice and pick this one up before you read anything else.