Moby-Dick is one of the great epics in all of literature. Captain Ahab’s hunt for the white whale drives the narrative at a relentless pace, while Ishmael’s meditations on whales and whaling, on the sublime indifference of nature, and on the grimy physical details of the extraction of oil provide a reflective counterpoint to the headlong idolatrous quest. Sometimes read as a terrifying study of … of monomania or as a critical inquiry into the effects of reducing life to symbols, Moby-Dick also offers colorful and often comic glimpses of life aboard a whaling ship.
For the first time, the authoritative editions of works by American novelists, poets, scholars, and essayists collected in the hardcover volumes of The Library of America are being published singly in a series of handsome paperback books. A distinguished writer has contributed an introduction for each volume, which also includes a chronology of the author’s life an essay on the text, and notes.
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A long, challenging and thought-provoking masterpiece. This epic classic combines Shakespearean like tragedy, Cetology (the study of whales), and thorough education of whaling ships and the thriving whaling industry of the time. Ahab’s fanatical pursuit of the whale is part revenge for the loss of his leg at an earlier time, and an allegorical search for the meaning of existence. The White Whale is the faceless inscrutable God whose intentions are not knowable. A remarkable excerpt here, “What is it, what nameless, inscrutable, unearthly thing is it; what cozening, hidden lord and master, and cruel, remorseless emperor commands me; that against all natural lovings and longings, I so keep pushing, and crowding, and jamming myself on all the time; recklessly making me ready to do what in my own proper, natural heart, I durst not so much as dare? Is Ahab, Ahab? Is it I, God, or who, that lifts this arm? But if the great sun move not of himself; but is as an errand-boy in heaven; nor one single star can revolve, but by some invisible power; how then can this one small heart beat; this one small brain think thoughts; unless God does that beating, does that thinking, does that living, and not I. By heaven, man, we are turned round and round in this world, like yonder windlass, and Fate is the handspike.”
I highly recommend reading Moby Dick and suggest reading All Things Shining: Reading the Western Classics to Find Meaning in a Secular Age, by Hubert Dreyfus and Sean Dorrance Kelly alongside it.
I have to give the book 5 Stars, simply due to its place in history, and due to its unquestionable value as a work of classic literature. To the modern reader, however: I’d give it 1 Star. Admire it from afar, but don’t try to read it.
I think the basic plot is well established enough in popular culture to avoid spoilers here. Captain Ahab loses his leg to the white whale, and then loses his soul in pursuit of revenge at the expense of all else. That, in itself, is a very compelling narrative. The problem with the book is everything else you have to slog through to get to the story.
Melville, for whatever reason, seemed extremely preoccupied with setting straight all sorts of contemporary misconceptions regarding the whaling industry in his day. The first time I read this book, fully twenty-five years ago, I bought into the idea that all of the endless asides referring to cataloging whale species and artistic missteps of whale portraits and uses of whale oil and on and on and on were, in fact, essential to the overall theme of Moby Dick. Namely, that no matter how thoroughly Man attempts to control (and document) nature, nature is ultimately a thing untamable, and nature will always sink your ship–if you persist in your arrogance long enough to force her hand. I believed that then; now I think all of those chapters are like bad commercials interrupting an otherwise riveting TV show. Perhaps the least believable aspect of the whole story is the idea that Ishmael, having endured so much suffering, is somehow still concerned about the specific errors contained within a particular artist’s whale engraving. Who cares! And as for Ishmael (if he is to be subdivided from Melville himself), what he brings to scientific discussion is distracting laughable: Whales are indeed fish, just fish that happen to have lungs and warm blood; no “fish” in the sea is bigger than the sperm whale, etc. It’s all such a beating!
In truth, what would really help would be if the plot proper were contained in one volume, and all of these asides were relegated to a different book altogether. Then such could be ignored, and Moby Dick could yet be read. As for myself, twice was more than enough. I’ll never open the cover again. I still revere Moby Dick as a work of art for the ages! But I certainly don’t consider it a Must Read for anyone other than those engaged in academic pursuits. 726 pages, 300 of which are still enjoyable. I’m out, Hermy. Sorry.
As a side note: Chalk it up to living with electricity for so many generations, but I cannot get my head around the fact that this industry was born simply to collect burnable oil to fuel household lamps. A three-year voyage? Pursuing whales to near extinction just for lamps? And with all the dangers involved? While other oils could do the job (albeit less efficiently)? Nope. Don’t get it.
The Great American Novel? Done.