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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.
[close] 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 12, 2023 Verena added it

I had fun with this book! Loved all the tangents on whale "facts" (just roll with it) and the day-to-day life on the ship. Enamoured with the over-the-top narrative style. Switched to the audio book whenever I cared a little less about Ishmael's tangents. Everyone who recommends reading abridged plot-only versions of this book are so wrong though. Loved the occasional fourth wall breaks. Greatly enjoyed the stylistic switches (you're in a stage play now!). Love thinking about the effect the trau ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

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

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

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