Most Helpful Customer Reviews
|
|
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
ARGUABLY THE GREATEST NOVEL EVER WRITTEN, February 16, 2006
Call me Horseman. Some years ago I took a job managing a group of editors at a corporation. In order to make a point and to check out my qualifications to manage him, half seriously - half jokingly, one of these individuals asked whether I had ever read MOBY DICK by Herman Melville. Surprised by the question and what it had to do with my qualifications, I forthrightly answered in the negative. Very quickly the editor said, "Well, get back to me when you have and we'll talk." I went out that very day, bought the book and discovered what I have come to believe is, arguably, the greatest novel ever written. I just completed another reading of this wonderful book and found it as intriguing and enchanting as ever.
But what is so great about a book about whales? Aren't some of Melville's statements and observations dead wrong according to modern whale experts?
Doesn't it drag on and on in boring writing that has no appeal today?
Remember that most of us usually encounter MOBY DICK as students in high school or early in college. As such it's difficult to remain truly objective in our views. The major mistake that most readers of MOBY DICK make is looking at the book as some sort of a scientific or zoological treatise on whales. Yes, Melville based much of the book on actual personal experience and on the accounts of others. But the beauty of this book lies almost totally in its wordsmithing. Melville is the master of putting together sentences, paragraphs and chapters that beautifully and eloquently draw the reader into his world. The author employs an extensive palette of words to paint a picture and to express a message about life. In the latter there is no greater allegory of life than Melville's masterwork.
And isn't that what reading a book like this is supposed to be about? One does not read LES MISERABLE to get an engineer's view of the network of Paris' sewers; neither does he read A TALE OF TWO CITIES to learn about the mechanics of the guillotine.
MOBY DICK, then, is more than a story about whales and whalemen. It is, in the end, a statement about the destructiveness of out-of-control obsessions and of vengeance run amok. It is a masterpiece that speaks to every man or woman in whatever walk of life they might pursue. Indeed, every one of us has chased or is chasing our own white whale or whales. And the truths taught here haven't changed much in over 150 years. As such MOBY DICK is as applicable to today's society and its concerns as it must have been to Melville's antebellum nineteenth century America.
In short, if you're looking for a quick, entertaining read, try one of the Harry Potter books. But if you're looking for an experience or statement...
THE HORSEMAN
|
|
|
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I may be biased but..., March 3, 2006
Readers say it's far too long, the cetacean history is tedious, who the heck cares how to best prep a harpoon line? Well if you're one of those folks who likes a good harpoon-prep scene, you're in for a treat. If not, you might learn something, and, failing that, the singular dexterity with which the author lays the words on the page will not only awe you but carry you into the very whale boat. You will feel in your guts the rush of the sleigh ride, you will breathe the sea air and taste the mist, you will feel the salt hardening on your hands and face. Don't like any of that? Unless there's no place you'd rather be than your rocker, this is escapism as good as it comes. And don't even get me started on timeless themes, unforgettable characters and a plot as fine as they come....
|
|
|
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Moby Dick, March 3, 2006
A Kid's Review
Moby Dick
Moby Dick is a life-taking story. Moby Dick is an exciting adventure story about a man named Ishmael who wants to go out to sea. He's a very poor man and he finds this hotel and he shares a room with a hooper. Hoopers are people who kill whales. Ishmael becomes friends with the hooper. One day the two friends found a boat owner and they asked if they could go to sea with the captain of the ship. The owner said, "why should I let you go?" Then the hooper showed the owner a target and used a rock to show how he could aim. The owner was so amazed at how good the hooper's aim was that he told them they could come on the ship. He said they should be there the next day. Later that day a man came up to them and he told them that the captain only wanted to kill one thing - Moby Dick.
In another part of the book, the crew killed a whale and they made oil from the whale's blubber, or fat. Another time Ahab, the captain, and his crew saw another boat that had no oil and they lended them some oil. Captain Ahab asked the captain of the other crew if he had seen the great white... The other captain said she had not seen anything. Another time, Ahab's crew saw another boat and Ahab asked them the same question. The captain of the other crew said that he had seen him in the east. Ahab told the crew to head eastward.
This book was one of the most exciting books I have ever read. Before I read this book, I didn't really like reading at all. After I read this book, I totally changed my mind about reading. This book should be a great book if you like adventure and the sea. This book keeps you very interested and you always want to know about Moby Dick or Ahab's crew.
This book is similar to other books that tell adventure stories. Some of these are written by the same author who wrote Moby Dick. Some of the books are Treasure Island, Ten Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, and Peter Pan.
If you read this book, you will learn a lot about Moby Dick, Ishmael, the hooper, and Ahab. You will also learn what you do when you go out to sea and are hunting whales and living on a boat with your crew. I suggest this book for young and old readers of any ages. They might find the book interesting or find it a little boring. To me, I would think they wouldn't find it boring. It was a very exciting story.
|
|
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews
|
by Harper Lee
by Mark Twain
by Ernest Hemingway
by Stanley P. Baldwin
by F. Scott Fitzgerald
See all 100 books citing this book
