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Moby Dick, did anyone actually enjoy it?

  • 27-01-2015 10:44pm
    #1
    GLaDOS
    Moderators, Regional East Moderators Posts: 23,228 Mod ✭✭✭✭


    Inspired by this thread over in After Hours, I'm curious to hear how many have read Moby Dick and enjoyed it. Certainly a lot of people in the thread mentioned seemed to struggle through it and repeated a complaint I'd already heard several times, that it at times turns into a whaling manual, which sounds pretty boring.

    It's a book I've always had in the back of my mind to read, partially due to legacy, partially due to sounding like a kickass story, partially due to enjoying Edgar Allen Poe's "The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket" (supposedly an inspiration for Moby Dick) and partially due to certain heavy metal bands' cracking concept albums based on the book.

    However I've always been put off based on the complaints I've heard. So I put to you: did you Read Moby Dick? Did you Enjoy it? Would you recommend it?

    Cake, and grief counseling, will be available at the conclusion of the test



Comments

  • #2
    Aenaes
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,677 ✭✭✭Aenaes


    I haven't read it yet. It has always been on my list. I always figured it was considered a classic and imagined like yourself, it would be a kickass story. After reading The Old Man And The Sea I reckoned it would be similiar although bigger in scale.

    Very disappointed to read such bad reviews on this forum but I shall try it myself sometime.


  • #3
    indough
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,857 ✭✭✭indough


    I really didn't like it, but I can't leave a book unfinished for some stupid reason. And I must admit I felt like an idiot for not 'getting it', and I suppose, in its favour, it is very ambitious and 'epic', for want of a better word.

    The Old Man And The Sea is a much better read in my opinion.


  • #4
    Carawaystick
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,779 ✭✭✭Carawaystick


    read it 3 times, and have the podcast version where each chapter is read by a different person

    I loved the asides into the mechanics of whaling, the clean break works better than the usual exposition methods

    The old man and the sea is really just a (very very good) short story. you won't read moby dick in an evening...


  • #5
    Uncle Ben
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,843 ✭✭✭Uncle Ben


    Call me Ismael.Excellent book.


  • #6
    GLaDOS
    Moderators, Regional East Moderators Posts: 23,228 Mod ✭✭✭✭GLaDOS


    Glad to hear some positivity! Maybe there's hope for me reading it yet :)

    Cake, and grief counseling, will be available at the conclusion of the test



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  • #7
    Arsemageddon
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,129 ✭✭✭Arsemageddon


    Years since I read Moby Dick, it was hard to get into at first because of the obtuse language but once I got over that and I did enjoy it.

    What bands had concept albums about it?


  • #8
    Day Lewin
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,688 ✭✭✭Day Lewin


    My father swore by this as one of the world's great books: and I did read it.
    Although very long, the individual chapters are quite short, on their separate little topics. You could think of them as wavelets on the ocean theme - the swell gathers slowly and menacingly. Lots of off-topic and humorous sidelines, too.
    You certainly wouldn't read this book in an evening but there's plenty to enjoy and also the themes are tragic and universal.


  • #9
    Xander81
    Registered Users Posts: 15 ✭Xander81


    Uncle Ben wrote: »
    Call me Ismael.Excellent book.

    Gonna check it out. Thanks.


  • #10
    GLaDOS
    Moderators, Regional East Moderators Posts: 23,228 Mod ✭✭✭✭GLaDOS


    katemarch wrote: »
    My father swore by this as one of the world's great books: and I did read it.
    Although very long, the individual chapters are quite short, on their separate little topics. You could think of them as wavelets on the ocean theme - the swell gathers slowly and menacingly. Lots of off-topic and humorous sidelines, too.
    You certainly wouldn't read this book in an evening but there's plenty to enjoy and also the themes are tragic and universal.

    Good to hear! The Chapters sound a little like The Count of Monte Cristo, a almighty lump of a book broken into a lot of small chapters.
    Arsemageddon wrote: »
    Years since I read Moby Dick, it was hard to get into at first because of the obtuse language but once I got over that and I did enjoy it.

    What bands had concept albums about it?

    Ahab's (who are very find of the book obviously) Call of the Wretched Sea and Mastodon's Leviathan are both based on Moby Dick. Ahab actually credit Melville with writing credits for some of the songs. The latter inspired this comic which has been floating around the web for a while.

    Cake, and grief counseling, will be available at the conclusion of the test



  • #11
    wreade1872
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 362 ✭✭wreade1872


    I gave it 3 out of 5 :). Its decent as long as your not expecting a story. I mean one of the best bits is a chapter entirely about the significance of the color White, an entire chapter just about the color white!
    For me it really seems like a patchwork of different things some of the them good, some bad so it averages out.

    You know there are two unofficial sequels to 'Pym' you could check out instead of Moby Dick, if you like that sort of thing.
    An Antarctic Mystery by Jules Verne and
    A Strange Discovery by Charles Romyn Dake.

    Reviews of all 4 items are in my reading log http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057074266 .


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  • #12
    tricky D
    Closed Accounts Posts: 9,700 ✭✭✭tricky D


    Downloaded a text version a few years ago on a Saturday morning. I thought I'd just have a quick read of the first few chapters. Nope, I got well harpooned by it and next thing it was Sunday morning and I'd finished it.


  • #13
    GLaDOS
    Moderators, Regional East Moderators Posts: 23,228 Mod ✭✭✭✭GLaDOS


    wreade1872 wrote: »
    I gave it 3 out of 5 :). Its decent as long as your not expecting a story. I mean one of the best bits is a chapter entirely about the significance of the color White, an entire chapter just about the color white!

    That sounds rather American Psycho-ish :D
    You know there are two unofficial sequels to 'Pym' you could check out instead of Moby Dick, if you like that sort of thing.
    An Antarctic Mystery by Jules Verne and
    A Strange Discovery by Charles Romyn Dake.
    Never heard of them, thanks :)

    Cake, and grief counseling, will be available at the conclusion of the test



  • #14
    nc6000
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,338 ✭✭✭nc6000


    I spotted this thread so downloaded it to my Kindle to give it a go. I'm enjoying it so far.


  • #15
    Carawaystick
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,779 ✭✭✭Carawaystick


    Don't forget there's the Coffee link too
    your (favorite/least favourite) cafe chain....


  • #16
    GLaDOS
    Moderators, Regional East Moderators Posts: 23,228 Mod ✭✭✭✭GLaDOS


    Bump :D

    Finished Moby Dick this morning, and happy to say I really enjoyed it.

    The random chapters on 19th century whaling and other asides, while interesting at first, got a bit tedious after a while, but I can't say they really affected my enjoyment of the book.

    Thanks for the feedback which finally encouraged me to read it :)

    Cake, and grief counseling, will be available at the conclusion of the test



  • #17
    MagicMarker
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 32,865 ✭✭✭✭MagicMarker


    I was enjoying it up until the point they got on the boat. :)


  • #18
    nc6000
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,338 ✭✭✭nc6000


    I enjoyed it although it was a bit slow at times. It was left wide open for a sequel if you ask me. ;)


  • #19
    GLaDOS
    Moderators, Regional East Moderators Posts: 23,228 Mod ✭✭✭✭GLaDOS


    nc6000 wrote: »
    I enjoyed it although it was a bit slow at times. It was left wide open for a sequel if you ask me. ;)

    Dick 2: Whale Harder

    Cake, and grief counseling, will be available at the conclusion of the test



  • #20
    kidfromkibbly
    Registered Users Posts: 34 ✭kidfromkibbly


    Hope it's ok to resurrect. I've made it about half way through and enjoying it more than not. Read the reader reviews for 'Why Read Moby Dick?' by Nathaniel Philbrick and this raised some points which I'll be interested to keep in mind as I continue reading:

    - The pedagogical and pedantic chapters are reflective of the obsessional nature of Ahab, as well whalers in general (of making a fortune through hunting)
    - The long stretches of uneventfulness, punctuated by the flurry of activity (such as the first lowering of boats) reflect the experience of being on a whaling ship - mostly uneventful and mundane.

    Looking forward to finishing it, first novel in a long while I've managed to make time for.


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