Moby Dick

[Wansworth]

Just waded througha penguin edition.....if there had been a whale hand I would have thrown it at it!

 

[MoodySabre]

I very much enjoyed the book "Ahab's Wife".

 

[Prasutigus]

The most fascinating, exciting and thought-provoking book which has ever been written.

It works on umpteen levels, from a hardcore adventure thriller story, via history, politics, dry humour and wet, philosophy, square rig, crew management, to biology and meteorology via geography.

Melville actually worked on a stinking New Bedford whaler, as a harpoonist! So apart from being a great author, he also had cojones the size of melons..

 

[Wansworth]

That’s as maybe!

 

[Corribee72]

I love American books written by those that actually know the subject, Jack London and Ernest Hemmingway spring to mind and those two iconic novels, The Old Man and the Sea and The Call of the Wild.

 

[Prasutigus]

I love American books written by those that actually know the subject, Jack London and Ernest Hemmingway spring to mind and those two iconic novels, The Old Man and the Sea and The Call of the Wild.

Yes, 'For Whom the Bell Tolls', ' The Grapes of Wrath' still have the power to send a shiver down the spine..
Both best read in a camp or cave by candlelight as a cub...

 

[jordanbasset]

Just waded througha penguin edition.....if there had been a whale hand I would have thrown it at it!

You managed to finish it, all credit, still wonder how they managed to produce such a good film from such a plodding overly wordy book

 

[Prasutigus]

You managed to finish it, all credit, still wonder how they managed to produce such a good film from such a plodding overly wordy book

What is an 'overly wordy book' exactly?

 

[LittleSister]

What is an 'overly wordy book' exactly?

 

[paulieraw]

Very good point, well presented

 

[jordanbasset]

What is an 'overly wordy book' exactly?

For example

'“And, as for me, if, by any possibility, there be any as yet undiscovered prime thing in me; if I shall ever deserve any real repute in that small but high hushed world which I might not be unreasonably ambitious of; if hereafter I shall do anything that, upon the whole, a man might rather have done than to have undone; if, at my death, my executors, or more properly my creditors, find any precious MSS. in my desk, then here I prospectively ascribe all the honor and the glory to whaling; for a whale ship was my Yale College and my Harvard.”

Could have been written
'I owe all that I achieved and will achieve due to my time on a whaling ship'

But why use 18 words when you can use a 100

 

[paulieraw]

For example

'But why use 18 words when you can use a 100

It would have been a pamphlet with that approach :'

 

[Wansworth]

His reading public found Melvilles early works readable and he made a fortune but Moby Dick was a flop......no wonder!

 

[paulieraw]

Some good in it though.
Probably the best first line in a book “ Call Me Ishmael “

Or Ahabs justifications "Talk not to me of blasphemy, man; I'd strike the sun if it insulted me."

Or his final hunt "Towards thee I roll, thou all-destroying but unconquering whale; to the last I grapple with thee; from hell’s heart I stab at thee; for hate’s sake I spit my last breath at thee."

all good stuff

 

[jordanbasset]

It would have been a pamphlet with that approach :'

At least I would have finished it

 

[paulieraw]

T

At least I would have finished it

:encouragement:

 

[oldmanofthehills]

Longwinded in parts but I have variable-speed scanning eyes and passed over the choppy stuff quickly and enjoyed the rest of the cruise

 

[Wansworth]

Mine was quite a thick book but most of it was an explanation of the text and comments on Melvilles life