Take a photo of a barcode or cover
Well, this review is long overdue. For a book that people seem to decry as boring, [b:Moby-Dick or, the Whale|153747|Moby-Dick or, the Whale|Herman Melville|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327940656l/153747._SY75_.jpg|2409320] is actually superbly entertaining. Herman Melville is amazing at dry humor, sarcasm, and absurdist writing in general—so if you too like these elements in your classics then I most definitely recommend this book.
First and foremost, I will concede that for a book that takes place at sea, the narrative does really lean into the "dry" of dry humor. That said, in this sense the book is essentially Star Trek, except instead of the future it’s the 1850’s, and instead of space it’s the vast ocean. The similarities between these two properties do not end with mere tone—they are both episodic voyages, both feature a motley crew of folks from all walks of life, and they have really niche fanbases.
I do not know if this is the analogy that will convince the masses to read the book, but it is the most accurate one I can think of so far. It makes more sense to me than Ernest Hemingway’s [b:The Old Man and the Sea|2165|The Old Man and the Sea|Ernest Hemingway|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1329189714l/2165._SY75_.jpg|69741], which also takes place at sea, but stylistically could not be more different. Whereas Hemingway has a very direct and pragmatic approach to storytelling, Melville unfolds his narrative in a thoughtful yet meandering stream of consciousness. I find both to be of equal merit, but they ultimately have more differences than similarities.
Secondly, Melville’s prose is truly beautiful and breathtaking. While his segments on the biological anatomy of whales and sea life do not stand the test of time, his musings on humanity certainly do. After all, it really never was about the whale. Within the vastness at sea, Melville is able to access truth in the void of the human soul with remarkable acumen. Every person contains within them an ocean of being that ebbs and flows, that is both calm and unpredictable, endless and finite.
“Oh, grassy glades! oh, ever vernal endless landscapes in the soul; in ye,—though long parched by the dead drought of the earthly life,—in ye, men yet may roll, like young horses in new morning clover; and for some few fleeting moments, feel the cool dew of the life immortal on them. Would to God these blessed calms would last. But the mingled, mingling threads of life are woven by wrap and woof; calms crossed by storms, a storm for every calm. There is no steady unretracing progress in this life; we do not advance through fixed gradations, and at the last one pause:—through infancy’s unconscious spell, boyhood’s thoughtless faith, adolescence’ doubt (the common doom), then skepticism, then disbelief, resting at last in manhood’s pondering repose of If.” (504)
In all honesty, I chose to tackle this whale of a tale as a part of BBC Radio 4’s "The ten books we rarely get around to reading" challenge. And by challenge, I mean I read this list and realized I would probably never finish any of these books without the motivation of a self-inflicted challenge. That said, I’m super glad I did; Moby Dick is worth reading on any terms.
First and foremost, I will concede that for a book that takes place at sea, the narrative does really lean into the "dry" of dry humor. That said, in this sense the book is essentially Star Trek, except instead of the future it’s the 1850’s, and instead of space it’s the vast ocean. The similarities between these two properties do not end with mere tone—they are both episodic voyages, both feature a motley crew of folks from all walks of life, and they have really niche fanbases.
I do not know if this is the analogy that will convince the masses to read the book, but it is the most accurate one I can think of so far. It makes more sense to me than Ernest Hemingway’s [b:The Old Man and the Sea|2165|The Old Man and the Sea|Ernest Hemingway|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1329189714l/2165._SY75_.jpg|69741], which also takes place at sea, but stylistically could not be more different. Whereas Hemingway has a very direct and pragmatic approach to storytelling, Melville unfolds his narrative in a thoughtful yet meandering stream of consciousness. I find both to be of equal merit, but they ultimately have more differences than similarities.
Secondly, Melville’s prose is truly beautiful and breathtaking. While his segments on the biological anatomy of whales and sea life do not stand the test of time, his musings on humanity certainly do. After all, it really never was about the whale. Within the vastness at sea, Melville is able to access truth in the void of the human soul with remarkable acumen. Every person contains within them an ocean of being that ebbs and flows, that is both calm and unpredictable, endless and finite.
“Oh, grassy glades! oh, ever vernal endless landscapes in the soul; in ye,—though long parched by the dead drought of the earthly life,—in ye, men yet may roll, like young horses in new morning clover; and for some few fleeting moments, feel the cool dew of the life immortal on them. Would to God these blessed calms would last. But the mingled, mingling threads of life are woven by wrap and woof; calms crossed by storms, a storm for every calm. There is no steady unretracing progress in this life; we do not advance through fixed gradations, and at the last one pause:—through infancy’s unconscious spell, boyhood’s thoughtless faith, adolescence’ doubt (the common doom), then skepticism, then disbelief, resting at last in manhood’s pondering repose of If.” (504)
In all honesty, I chose to tackle this whale of a tale as a part of BBC Radio 4’s "The ten books we rarely get around to reading" challenge. And by challenge, I mean I read this list and realized I would probably never finish any of these books without the motivation of a self-inflicted challenge. That said, I’m super glad I did; Moby Dick is worth reading on any terms.