Moby-Dick: A Review

[emily655321]

Originally posted by tadpole
And, hey, it's filled with lots of wild homoerotic images that make for great discussion.

"Of steeples, how few are domed like St. Peter's." (I may be paraphrasing.)

That's one of the only things I specifically recall from MD. Oddly enough, none of them are the Plot. That kind of got lost amid the freaking HALF-PAGE-LONG SENTENCES. I'm a fan of 19th c. literature. It's over-the-top, wordy, and a self-indulgent joy to read. But this is just plain bad writing. The characters were two-dimensional mimics of Hawthorne's, the Noble Savage model was followed like a shopping list of character traits, and even for the times the cetology was bizarrely ignorant (in the Cetology chapter, explaining why whales and dolphins are fish; and in the more extensive chapter on carcass-mutilation, stating that whales obviously have no souls because they don't have a face. Not to mention a couple dozen other major "WTF??!" moments.) The story of the Essex is fascinating and dramatic, but I can only assume that any newspaper account of the day must have been ten times more gripping than Melville's version.

I also agree with R.E.L that many of Melville's tangents smack of paranoid schizophrenia, though I don't propose any possible explanation. For example, one of the several times he seemed to go completely insane during his initial description of Moby Dick, and began to expound on that "universal horror of the color white." Why, he asks, does the sight of the Albatross inspire such fear, as it glides along in the middle of the ocean like a silent spectre? Well, because it's white, of course. So too, according to the author, is the most fearful aspect of Moby Dick's appearance. Uhhm.... all righty. Whatever you say, Herman.

By the time I finally reached the end, and the back cover was about to be ripped off in my hand by the bulk of the preceding B.S., I couldn't help feeling like my intelligence had been insulted. It was like an impersonation of literature; verbose for verbosity's sake.

But as a post script, what's all this about trying to introduce a discussion of Russian authors, Zeno?? Start a new thread, for God's sake. I don't see the connection.

Okay, have I insulted everyone? That's all for me, then.

[ucdawg12]

wow I never made that connection with Starbucks Coffee and Starbuck lol he was one of my favorite characters too.

[Sancho]

Yep, that's were they got it. Not sure were they got the mermaid logo though.

[Zooey]

I haven't read Moby Dick (it's just never appealed to me), but after recently reading some of his short stories and Billy Budd, I think Melville's biggest problem is that he "tells," doesn't "show." He just talks and talks and talks, and I think that's why he is rather uninteresting to read.

I agree with Emily, his good friend Hawthorne's writing is far superior in both style and content.

[Sancho]

“Billy Budd,” I think is just sea story. “Benito Cereno” on the other hand is literature. It is also one of the first attempts by any author in the new world to deal with racial tensions and slavery from a societal standpoint.

The story, if you’re not familiar, is told from the perspective of Amasa Delano, captain of an American sailing ship. Delano comes upon a Spanish Ship that is dead in the water and sends a launch to lend assistance. We find out that the Spanish Ship is a slave ship and crewed by Blacks and captained by a sort of aristocratic fancy-pants fellow by the name of Bentino Cereno. Delano knows something is amiss on the ship but he can’t quite put his finger on it. He suspects Spanish treachery. It’s not until he is leaving and Cereno makes a break for it, that he realizes the slaves have mutinied the ship. Melville brilliantly takes you through the discovery process. Delano, through his own prejudices and low opinion of Blacks, can not see what is plainly in front of his eyes until he is basically beaten over the head with it. I thought it was a fabulous story.

[Dexter]

Arg - news - Moby Dick (all caps) is boring. Know thyself. We live in an age of speed boats - not sailing ships. Try a sail boat sometime instead of a ski boat. Stop and smell the flowers. What's the hurry? The 19th century didn't care about speed. the writers were more interested in having their readers enjoy the trip as finding out who done it. They expected their readers to be able and willling to enjoy a well turned sentence.

The best way to enjoy Melville (indeed, any highly respected writer) is to read them aloud. Nothing shows up a second rate writer sooner (or even a student writer) than reading aloud. You can really hear the difference. Savor a writer like a fine wine - don't chug them down.

I too wondered about Cytology the first time, but Melville was creating a world - the world of the ship in which cytology was very important and the knowledge might even determine the success or failure of the two year voyage.

plus Ishmael is an incredible witness - like a good reporter he stands back and largely keeps out of the action. Or the symbolism - not just the whale, but the sperm whale (named for a reason) blubber that is rendered down with the men stirring the liquid with their hands - very sexual if you haven't noticed.

Enough pedantry - can't help it, I'm a pedant. Just don't expect Melville to write like Hemingway - meet him half way.

[emily655321]

Hehe. If Melville had written like Hemingway I wouldn't even have bothered to get half way through.

[Sancho]

AAhhrrr - Well put Dex. This weird because I never read aloud unless I’m trying to antagonize the wife but I found myself reading several passages of “Moby Dick” aloud just to hear the language. In particular, some of Starbuck’s 19th century sailor language was fun to speak. Not too sure about that rendering business though –yuk.

Em on E.H. Shocking! Em, I can’t believe that you dislike Hemingway’s Manly-Man, He-Man-Woman-Hater, World-Class Misogynist Prose. I know that he is out of favor right now with the academy and I’m willing to bet that not too many non-tenured professors would even teach Hemingway for fear of their careers (what the hell do they know?) but I’m also willing to bet that E.H. makes a come back sometime.

If you are really interested, there may be one text by Hemingway that’ll appeal to you. Try “A Moveable Feast.” It’s Paris in the Twenties for Twenty year olds. The “Feast” part is the experience of Paris in your twenties. The “Moveable” part is, once you’ve experienced Paris in your Twenties you will carry it with you for the rest of your life.

Cheers

[amuse]

E.H.'s "The Short Happy Life of Francis Mc(mac?)Comber" was good, read it in high school; we talked about whether it was best to live long and do naught, or live fast and bright. he was a dud until the day he spoiler!!!

died, at which point he suddenly revved up and became alive - oops for him to go then.
*didn't respond to the thread about it because it's been forever since have read it.

[IWilKikU]

The only Hemingway that I've read is The Old Man in the Sea or is it The Old Man AND the Sea ? *Feels silly*

[ucdawg12]

I have to read aloud for some reason or I will forget what I had just read in the last paragraph... for literature that is