Moby-Dick is the story of Captain Ahab's quest to avenge the
whale that 'reaped' his leg. The quest is an obsession and the novel is a
diabolical study of how a man becomes a fanatic. But it is also a hymn to democracy.
Bent as the crew is on Ahab s appalling crusade, it is equally the image of a
co-operative community at work: all hands dependent on all hands, each
individual responsible for the security of each. Among the crew is Ishmael, the
novel's narrator, ordinary sailor, and extraordinary reader. Digressive,
allusive, vulgar, transcendent, the story Ishmael tells is above all an
education: in the practice of whaling, in the art of writing.
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Another classic this is quite book, while being thick enough to stop a bullet, it is still interesting and engaging, being made even more so by having read the abridged version and the real event it was based on.
ReplyDeleteI've heard from other people who read this book that it seemed kind of ridiculous because it is about revenge on a whale. have you noticed this?
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