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Title: Moby-Dick : or, The Whale by ELIZABETH HARDWICK, ROCKWELL KENT, HERMAN MELVILLE ISBN: 0-679-78327-X Publisher: Modern Library Pub. Date: 10 October, 2000 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $11.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 5 (2 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: A Challenging Read But Worth It; Loaded With Symbolism
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 thing 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"). 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. Melville drew a clear picture of life on a whaling vessel of that era.
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 great version of this classic!
Comment: I'm still reading the book, but this version is quite helpful because in the back it has explanations for Melville's sometimes confusing allusions.
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Title: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, Jack Lemmon ISBN: 0743506332 Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio Pub. Date: 01 June, 2000 List Price(USD): $20.00 |
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Title: King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table (Great Illustrated Classics) by Howard Pyle, Joshua E. Hanft, Pablo Marcos Studio ISBN: 1577656911 Publisher: Abdo & Daughters Pub. Date: January, 2002 List Price(USD): $21.35 |
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Title: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain, John Seelye ISBN: 0140390839 Publisher: Puffin Pub. Date: October, 1987 List Price(USD): $7.00 |
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Title: The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas, Malvina G. Vogel, Pablo Marcos Studio ISBN: 1577658035 Publisher: Abdo & Daughters Pub. Date: January, 2002 List Price(USD): $21.35 |
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Title: Adventures of Robinson Crusoe (Great Illustrated Classics) by Daniel Defoe, Malvina G. Vogel ISBN: 1577656776 Publisher: Abdo & Daughters Pub. Date: January, 2002 List Price(USD): $21.35 |
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