From the Bookshelf of Never too Late to Read Classics…

Moby-Dick or, The Whale

Herman Melville

Start date: October 1, 2022

Finish date: October 31, 2022

Discussion: Lesser Know/Wilderness Classics

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Lesser Know/Wilderness Classics

* 2025 Must Read Lesser Known Classics: Scheduled Reads
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last updated Sep 06, 2025 07:14AM

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What Members Thought

Feb 07, 2012 midnightfaerie rated it it was ok

Shelves: rory-gilmore, classics

Moby Dick by Herman Melville has long been considered a classic, I'm just not sure I agree. The writing was very good, and the few characters that he takes the time to embellish are really brought to life for you. I try not to take the storyline into too much consideration since there are so many other aspects of a book to look at but while reading this, have often wondered what about it has drawn so many literary praises? It's about a guy who goes whaling on a ship and ends up picking the one s ...more

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Oct 05, 2023 Shirley (stampartiste) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: read-classics, read-date-unknown, published-1899-and-earlier, classics-500-plus-pages, to-read-in-2023

Moby-Dick or, The Whale was one of those big-book classics that I promised myself to read again one day (I read it in my high school American Literature class before time began, and I remember hating it). A few years ago, it moved up my TBR ladder a couple of steps when I discovered Herman Melville’s short story, Bartleby the Scrivener. Melville’s humor completely caught me off guard, and I thoroughly enjoyed that story. In looking over my potential reads in 2023, I thought it was time to go ahe Moby-Dick or, The Whale was one of those big-book classics that I promised myself to read again one day (I read it in my high school American Literature class before time began, and I remember hating it). A few years ago, it moved up my TBR ladder a couple of steps when I discovered Herman Melville’s short story, Bartleby the Scrivener. Melville’s humor completely caught me off guard, and I thoroughly enjoyed that story. In looking over my potential reads in 2023, I thought it was time to go ahead and get on with Moby Dick.

As I wrote in another review, reading Nathaniel Philbrick’s Why Read Moby-Dick? greatly enhanced my interest in reading Moby Dick. So I went into Moby Dick with a completely different mindset. And I’m glad I did.

This time around, I thoroughly enjoyed Moby Dick. As readers know, Melville left no stone (or whale) unturned in writing this encyclopedic novel about whales, and particularly about the sperm whale. After reading Melville’s never-ending digressions, there is nothing a reader could not tell you about whales, the whaling industry, whale men, whale ships, whale habitats, whale oil and whale oil extraction, processing and storage, etc. etc. etc. Even though that may all sound so boring, it actually wasn’t. Melville’s highly developed sense of humor prevented that. I had to chuckle to myself when he went off on another tangent. I felt like I was there for the ride, and I was ready to go where he would lead.

As to the characters, I thoroughly enjoyed the developing relationship between the American narrator Ishmael and the Polynesian harpooner, Queequeg. So I was disappointed that Queequeg became a minor character once he went aboard the whaling ship Pequod. The forces of good versus evil to me were exemplified by Starbuck, the Quaker first mate of the Pequod, and Captain Ahab whose obsession for revenge against the white sperm whale doomed the voyage from the start. Starbuck was a good man, with no power to change Ahab or the destiny of the men on the ship.

Moby Dick was a gripping story and is a great reminder of the hard, dirty work and determination that many men were willing to do to earn a living. Life was uncertain, and death a constant companion. It made me appreciate those who went before me and whose endeavors made my life so much easier. ...more

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Feb 12, 2019 Jannah mohamed rated it did not like it

I couldn't finish the book, because I hated reading this book. Especially because the book kept on going off the story and talking about other things. Most people probably enjoyed reading the book, but even through kept on trying to finish the book. but I just couldn't bring myself to finish it. ...more

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May 12, 2019 Jill rated it did not like it · review of another edition

This book is the emperor's new clothes. Didn't like it, but that could have something to do with the alacrity with which I read it for a required class. ...more

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