Moby Dick - Herman Melville
I thought this would be the perfect book for me, with all the sea-faring qualities I loved from The Wager, combined with the literary adventure qualities I've come to love from books like Lonesome Dove. I pick up a classic now and then, and although this one is nearing 200 years old, I was initially sold. I found it pretty approachable and even entertaining, following the story of Ismael as he gets wrapped up in an epic revenge story. Eventually, though, i had to admit to myself that I was no longer enjoying or really even comprehending this story. I know it's dumb to review a DNF, but i spent dozens of hours over three months trying to finish this novel and developed a lot of opinions. I would say the chapters leading up to Ishmael boarding the Pequod are really good and easy to follow, but almost immediately after that it gets super literary and confusing.
A massive issue most casual readers have is that Melville will take huge detours from the story to talk about whales. Their history, their biology, their habits, their value in the market. It is insane and obviously not something that would ever happen in a modern novel, and to anyone who wants to read this book, I would probably say these chapters can be safely skipped.
The bigger issue is the jumping in-and-out of the story, getting multiple perspectives, dream sequences, prophecies, poetic flourishes, adding dozens of new characters at a time, jumping in times and locations. I really appreciate that Melville does this, making lots of unique and creative narrative choices, but i think this would be hard to follow in a novel written in modern English, let alone one you are essentially translating in real time. Sometimes I would look up chapter summaries to make sure I was on the right track, but this all became so burdensome and tiring. Had this novel been written in straightforward prose, it may have not been the celebrated novel it is today, but I think many of the powerful themes could still be present and nearly as effective.
I read the remaining plot on the novel's wiki, which for the record is pretty confusing on its own. But by the end, it really did make me wish I could have finished because it sounds like a story I would have loved. It's a unique tale and one that speaks to so many themes. The primary one, obsession, was especially powerful even in the summary and one that has made me think. This isn't a classic novel that I now have a low opinion of for being too dense and pretentious, but rather one I'm sad I didn't get to fully experience.
They need to try remaking this movie for the stupid, tik-tok-brained millennials like me. Lots to work with here.
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