Justin's review of Moby Dick
Moby Dick by Herman Melville
** spoiler alert **
I finally finished Moby Dick. It is 550 pages long, and about 100 pages of it are good. The rest is a huge apologetic essay on the whaling industry - boooring. A few bits were cool: there is a great chapter on the horrific nature of the sea (very Lovecraftian), some cool stuff about whales and a great bit in which Melville explains how it is impossible for man to hunt whales to extinction. Other than that, the non-narrative chapters (3/4 of the book) are extremely tedious. However, the 100 pages of narrative are awesome. Captain Ahab is thoroughly mad, and knows it, and loves it and hates it at the same time. He has a great moment in which he acknowledges his self-destructive behavior but claims to be unable to break away from it. Ahab says to his First Mate Starbuck (the original Starbuck):
"This whole act's immutably decreed. 'Twas rehearsed by thee and me a billion years before this ocean rolled. Fool! I am the Fates' lieutenant; I act under orders." (pg 539)
Ahab gi...more
"This whole act's immutably decreed. 'Twas rehearsed by thee and me a billion years before this ocean rolled. Fool! I am the Fates' lieutenant; I act under orders." (pg 539)
Ahab gi...more
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Uh...um...Okay confession time. I was an English teacher who never read Moby Dick. Once again, a period piece about the sea. Nope. But I did watch the movie. Yawn. Nice commentary on obsessive compulsion but I felt myself rooting for the whale...even against Ishmael. Can't a big fish have a little privacy? Come on!
