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Moby-Dick or, The Whale

Herman Melville

Start date: January 1, 2018

Finish date: January 31, 2018

Discussion: Moby Dick

Why we're reading this: January 2017 Group classic selection.
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Showing 2 of 9 topics — 717 comments total

Moby Dick

* Moby Dick - Chapters 106-Epilogue
By Dianne · 48 posts · 39 views

last updated Mar 10, 2018 10:49AM

* Moby Dick - Chapters 82-105
By Dianne · 31 posts · 24 views

last updated Mar 08, 2018 01:56PM

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What Members Thought

Feb 17, 2017 Hugh rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mookse-madness, classics, read-2018

I am writing this review on the phone which is a good incentive to keep it short. In any case it is difficult to find anything new to say about such an established classic.

This is very much a book of its time - at times it is very readable but at others the sense of purpose struggles to surface through the numerous asides and digressions. Melville succeeds in describing the experience of being on a whaling ship very effectively, but not entirely without exaggeration.

An interesting and entertaini ...more

42 likes · Like · see review

Feb 03, 2018 Biblio Curious rated it really liked it

Shelves: classics-western

I read it too fast, this is a book that could benefit from the element of time and even place. The next time I go on vacation near water, this book's coming with me. I wish I knew about it for my 4 day boat ride a few years ago. Having this book on a trip like that would surely spark incredible conversations. It's a book that just fires up conversation because of the vast scope of topics it covers.

It does cover whale biography, whaling careers, whaling ships and whale culture. In short, yes it' ...more

11 likes · Like · see review

Feb 09, 2015 Greg rated it liked it

Shelves: 19th-century, reviewed, 3rd-read, 1001-books-to-read, queer-porn-of-yesteryear, 101-to-reread

Update: Third read finished. Three stars from me, up from two. Ishmael (who you just know changes his name whenever the mood strikes) disappears about a quarter of the way in and Melville talks about whaling for half the book. Ishmael reappears in a vat of sperm and narrates the final fourth of the novel. One can literally read the first, great 24 chapters then skip to chapter 94 and finish the novel from there (and yes the end is awesome and perfect). Five stars for the first and fourth quarter ...more

10 likes · Like · see review

Feb 03, 2018 Pamela rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: guardian-1000-read, boxall-1001-read, favorites

Why did I put off reading 'Moby Dick' for so long? Maybe I was put off by the preconception that it was boring, 600 pages of men on a ship, hunting for a whale that proves elusive till the last few pages. Well, that was wrong. Although there are many digressions to talk about whaling and the anatomy of whales, at its heart is a powerful allegory about obsession and life itself, filled with memorable characters. Chief among these is Ahab, a figure cut from Shakespearean tragedy, with the key to h ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Aug 13, 2023 Jess Penhallow rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: own-ebook, boxall-s

I really should have dnf'd this book. I knew a few hours into this 25 hour audiobook that this wasn't for me but I persevered because of its status as a classic and my desire to get immersed in a long book. The positive aspects of the book were the sea setting which was very vivid and some of the colourful characters (although even they overstayed their welcome).

The book is far too long and goes on too many tangents that I had no interest in. I understand the themes of man vs nature and the dan ...more

1 like · Like · see review