I Read Moby Dick!

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Originally Posted by laymonite

Feeling the same, Transmodernism!

One thing to keep in mind when considering the swells and lulls of the novel: like most books of its time, Moby Dick was serialized initially. I think this accounts for some of the rigid shifts in narrative and whale explication--at times, Melville even begins new chapters with a short reiteration of the preceding chapter. Reading it as a whole, now, these reiterations can seem like Melville is needlessly reminding himself of where he is in the story since he just digressed into his encyclopedia; but, considering the serialization, he is reminding readers who may have read the previous chapter a week ago.

Just something to keep in mind.

Now, it's time for me to decide whether I want to re-read Moby Dick or dive into the short fiction of Kafka and Max Brod's biography of Kafka!

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If I am not mistaken, Moby was not serialized chapter by chapter.

'Moby Dick' was the second book I read. I was eight, I don't think I understood much of its themes (not that I knew what a theme was back then). Actually I just wanted action scenes and whales. I was pretty diappointed when I had to wait more than 200 pages until they at least 'spotted' (or smelled?) that 'land where there is no land' or whatever it was haha.

But it definitely beat the children's books I'd been reading before that, A4 format, huge font and little 'images' instead of nouns so it's easier to read.

You read it at age 8? Wow.

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Originally Posted by JCamilo

If I am not mistaken, Moby was not serialized chapter by chapter.

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Really? Hm. Must have made that up as a way to cope with his largely unnecessary reiterations! Oh, well. I'm still psyched to read this one again.

Well, it would be silly to serialize it one chapter at a time. Some chapters aren't even a page long, while others are large enough for their own serialized part. It probably was a chapter-by-chapter judgement, seeing as how the lengths vary so greatly.

:blush: