WeBuzz
Reader discussion: Moby Dick; Or, The Whale
Public reader discussion about Moby Dick; Or, The Whale in the WeRead Catalog by Herman Melville.
Is this a generally well known theory?
By Panther7
Pretty new to this too. I finished Moby Dick for the first time about two weeks ago, maybe a little more, and I was honestly amazed by it. I barely knew anything going in besides a few character names and a tiny bit of how it ends. Really incredible book.
I poked around some and saw one idea that all the long, ordinary-sounding chapters about whaling, whales, the sea, and stuff like that are Ishmael putting off the part where he has to deal with the thing that traumatized him after getting thrown off Ahab’s boat and watching all his crew die right in front of him.
Is that a common reading? What do you all think? I kind of love it and feel like it makes the book even better. It makes the whole thing feel way sadder to me.
FUN! 1981 Herman Melville Moby Dick; Or, The Whale University of California Press 1 of 750 Arion Press Facsimile (more in comments)
By cosmiccat4595
This was basically my white whale too. I’ll never be able to get the original $20,000 one, and honestly I probably wouldn’t even want to use it. I’m buying gloves, and yeah, I’m going to read this thing all the way through. =)
It was a birthday present, and I kinda figured I could mention it here because nobody I know would care or even really get why this book matters so much to me. Why I love it, and why it still feels relevant:
Melville really did write the Great American Novel with Moby-Dick; or, The Whale… it’s about capitalism, oil, this wild selfish one-track obsession that puts everybody else at risk… basically the ultimate revenge story where a person gets completely untethered from reality and turns into a slave to passion. Moby-Dick probably feels even more relevant now than ever, with madness, death, fate vs free will, and accountability vs consequence.
It starts with 1) a close-up video, 2) a few minutes of me talking, and then 3) finally some close-up photos I took pretty fast.
** If anyone actually wants it, I can post a much more detailed, better quality, more polished, better edited version later (I just found editing software), at least covering the illustrations, which are gorgeous! **
[Arion Press Facsimile] Moby-Dick; or the Whale
Melville, Herman
illustrated by Barry Moser
Published by University of California Press, Berkeley, 1981
FUN! 1981 Herman Melville Moby Dick; Or, The Whale University of California Press 1 of 750 Arion Press Facsimile (more in comments)
By Strange_Parcel
This was my impossible book to get! I’m never gonna have the original $20,000 one, and honestly I probably wouldn’t even want to use it. I’m getting gloves, and I’m going through this thing cover to cover. =)
It was a birthday present, and I thought I might as well post it here since literally nobody I know would care or even really get why this matters. Why I like this book, and why it still feels important:
Melville basically wrote the Great American Novel with Moby-Dick; or, The Whale… it’s about capitalism, oil, this totally reckless, entitled, selfish obsession that puts everyone else at risk. It’s like the ultimate revenge story, where a person gets so far gone they’re not really living in reality anymore and just become a slave to their own passion. Moby-Dick feels more relevant now than ever, honestly, with all the stuff about madness, death, fate vs free will, and accountability vs consequences.
It begins with 1) a close-up video, 2) a few minutes of me talking, and then 3) finally some close-up photos I snapped kind of quickly.
** If anyone’s actually interested, I can post a way more detailed, better quality, more professional, and better edited (I just found editing software) look at it, at least the illustrations, which are beautiful! **
[Arion Press Facsimile] Moby-Dick; or the Whale
Melville, Herman
illustrated by Barry Moser
Published by University of California Press, Berkeley, 1981