So, next to nothig done this summer, but the White Whale. So, some praise for an old lover. Q was such a big literary person, and she has had - and still does - a hold on my reading tastes still. Or @ least, the last little bits of her influence. She was the one who put Moby Dick into my mind with the simple phrase 'some think it the best bet as the great american novel. That statement once heard, Moby Dick had to be conquered by me.
Good book. There are many many digressions on a vast amount of things about whales - there are chapters devoted to describing the different sorts of whales - and there are even chapters devoted to describing pictures of whales. So, there is a lot of.....encloypedia time involved.
And it is Ahab who rules this book. Not perfect - Bloom is still my favourite made up person - but each time he takes the stage, it is like Mick or Morrissey out there. His crazyness is divine. His sweltering need to kill Moby Dick is what sets him apart. There are many times where thi gs would be better for the ship and crew if Ahab's obsession was not followed - but followed it was.
I won't ruin the ending fer ya, although I already knew. I'd seen the movie when I was but tyke, and I had the plot. That scene in the movie - it wasn't in the book.
There is great sadness in the book as well. The whalers are trying to kill alive beings, so it is really heartbreaking when the go throught and describe the hunt of the whales and their killing. Very sad. But a good book.
Good book. There are many many digressions on a vast amount of things about whales - there are chapters devoted to describing the different sorts of whales - and there are even chapters devoted to describing pictures of whales. So, there is a lot of.....encloypedia time involved.
And it is Ahab who rules this book. Not perfect - Bloom is still my favourite made up person - but each time he takes the stage, it is like Mick or Morrissey out there. His crazyness is divine. His sweltering need to kill Moby Dick is what sets him apart. There are many times where thi gs would be better for the ship and crew if Ahab's obsession was not followed - but followed it was.
I won't ruin the ending fer ya, although I already knew. I'd seen the movie when I was but tyke, and I had the plot. That scene in the movie - it wasn't in the book.
There is great sadness in the book as well. The whalers are trying to kill alive beings, so it is really heartbreaking when the go throught and describe the hunt of the whales and their killing. Very sad. But a good book.
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