Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: Moby-Dick by Herman Melville, Nathaniel Philbrick ISBN: 0-14-200008-6 Publisher: Penguin Books Pub. Date: 04 September, 2001 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.5 (26 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Difficult But Worthwhile
Comment: The Story: The title refers to the name given to an enormous albino sperm whale who is being hunted by Captain Ahab, the ruthless, single-minded, driven master of a whaling ship. Ahab hunts Moby Dick because, in a previous hunt, Moby Dick amputated Ahab's leg in a failed attempt by Ahab to catch the white whale. The story is told in retrospect by a crewman, Ishmael, of the ship, who was a young, somewhat naive man at the time.
This is not a novel for everyone; it takes a patient and persistent reader to tackle the rich but complicated writing style of Melville, as well as the author's penchant for going off on detailed, descriptive tangents. However, the writing style almost becomes poetic at times, and symbolism and metaphor abound. The closest things to Melville's style I've found amongst contemporary writers is Gene Wolfe ("The Book of the New Sun", "The Book of the Short Sun", "The Book of the Long Sun"), or John Bly's "Iron John". Wolfe also borrowed from Melville the device of telling the story from the viewpoint of young, naive observers, who report what they see with little bias or editorializing, which leaves the reader to interpret the story on his/her own.
To me, this story is a detailed and adventurous tale of obsession verging on insanity. Ahab is so focused on catching and killing Moby Dick that he loses sight of his own welfare and the welfare of his men. He never questions his own motives; he is out after revenge for losing his leg, as well as out to redress the insult of a simple beast not accepting the dominion of Man. Moby Dick's defiance of Mankind's superiority and sovereignty is seen as an outrage, a matter of honor for Captain Ahab to resolve. But, why did Moby Dick bite off Ahab's leg in the first place? Ahab sees it as an act of war by the whale, a refusal to bow down to the Master of the Earth (Mankind). Might it not just as easily be an animal naturally defending itself against a predator (Mankind) invading his (Moby Dick's) domain?
Jay Nussbaum wrote a book called "Blue Road to Atlantis" which is a gem of a story that retells Hemingway's "The Old Man and the Sea" from the fish's point of view. Mr. Nussbaum could make quite a story out of Moby Dick's point of view of this puny maniac who keeps harassing him and trying to kill him.
Rating: 5
Summary: A Definite Masterpiece
Comment: Recently, I just finished a copy of the book, Moby Dick . I had picked it up in search of a truly challenging work. I have to admit, I haven't ever read anything like Melville's works in my life, and it was a pleasant surprise to have chosen such an amazing piece of classic literature to read.
Initially, I was startled, and almost discouraged by the high level of vocabulary used; much less the large list of sailing terms used within it. At the beginning, it takes a while to acclimate to the phrasing and sentence structure that Melville uses, unless one is used to reading older works. Once acclimated, it becomes easy to understand the piece.
Concerning the plot, I found it enjoyable, however, at times confusing. I know that many have heard the traditional yarn of the insane Captain Ahab, seeking the whale that crippled him; but reading the actual tale presents a whole new aspect. I found that the incessant interruptions of information on cetology became somewhat of a nuisance; however, very informative and worthwhile reading, as it gives the reader a better understanding of the book. After having finished the book, I went on to read another book on cetology, and found it quite interesting comparing modern day whaling to 19th century whaling. Unfortunately, in the elongated sections about the anatomy of a sperm whale, one feels as if the majority of this book is an encyclopedia of miscellaneous information. Without this factual information, it seems as if it would be nothing but a mere short story.
Despite my complaints, I would recommend this book to all who are seeking a thoroughly challenging literary work. I enjoyed being able to read one of the great all time American novels, and read it in its raw form. I would have to rate this book as being one of the best I have ever read.
Rating: 5
Summary: A great American Novel
Comment: It has been more than two months since I finished this book which is certainly not among the easiest to review. Just like Hugo tried in "les miserables" and Tolstoy did successfully in "war and peace" Melville clearly wanted to go beyond the boundaries of the novel and put the story of Ahab's crusade in the broader context of life. The result of this hybrid between a classic novel and a whaling encyclopedia lacks the sophisticated integration of Tolstoy's classic, but clearly showed new ways in approaching the American novel that still resonate in the works of writers like Pynchon and Foster Wallace.
Melville was a master story teller and immediately pulls you in with his introductory chapters. Ahab is "brewing" in the background, while the novel starts on its first of many excursions. These encyclopedia chapters that in total make up at least half of the book have clear pros and cons. The pros first. All the details about whaling, whales, whalers and boats provide a lot of context that adds depth to the story. Taking them out of the main story line worked well for me. While I was not fond at all of Patrick O'Brien's overly lauded Master and Commander, where the story line suffers from permanent indigestion due to overloading on small shipping details, Melville's approach is far more effective. Another pro is the effect of the timing of the significant events throughout the novel. Based on his own experience Melville tries to evoke the time span of a journey (almost) around the world. A flipside con of course is that the sense of urgency of Ahab's quest gets interrupted continuously and that the novel repeatedly looses steam and requires perseverance from its readers.
Yet, this book deserves its place among the must reads of the world literature. It has loads of humanity, philosophy and humor. Ahab is among the most famous characters in literature and with good reason and is the perfect archetype of those leaders that don't think twice about demanding the ultimate sacrifice from their subordinates.
 |
Title: Moby-Dick (Cliffs Notes) by Stanley P. Baldwin ISBN: 0764586645 Publisher: Cliffs Notes Pub. Date: 06 November, 2000 List Price(USD): $5.99 |
 |
Title: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, Guy Cardwell, John D. Seelye ISBN: 0142437174 Publisher: Penguin Books Pub. Date: 01 January, 2003 List Price(USD): $6.00 |
 |
Title: The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne ISBN: 0553210092 Publisher: Bantam Classics Pub. Date: 01 March, 1981 List Price(USD): $3.95 |
 |
Title: Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy, Mona Simpson ISBN: 067978330X Publisher: Modern Library Pub. Date: 10 October, 2000 List Price(USD): $9.95 |
 |
Title: OLD MAN AND THE SEA by Ernest Hemingway ISBN: 0684801221 Publisher: Scribner Book Company Pub. Date: 05 May, 1995 List Price(USD): $10.00 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
