I'm going to read it and nothing is going to stop me. I've heard the horror stories from those who have read it, saying it's a terrible read. But im going to do it

better men then you have tried and failed.


What makes you think you're special, punk?

Because I feel I understand Ahab's obsession

Understanding Ahab is one thing, but I'll never be able to understand how Melville managed to write 900 pages and make it feel like 9000. How can a book that takes place ENTIRELY ON THE SEA be so fucking dry?

I only read the first few pages as a sample and i can tell it delves into the most pointless descriptions, but I don't care, I'm just going to read for the story.

Oh, you have no idea what you're in for. You are the Luke to my Yoda in empire.






I somehow managed to make it through The Fellowship of the Ring, even after page upon page of Tolkien describing how fucking green the trees in the shire are. How I made it through Chapter 42 of Moby Dick will haunt me the rest of my days. It's titled "the Whiteness of the Whale", and that's exactly what you learn about in it. The ENTIRE CHAPTER is description of the motherfucking whiteness of the motherfucking whale. And the whiteness of other white things unrelated to the story.

I finished the book, but find myself questioning if it was worth the cost. Bragging rights won't get me that time back.

In all honesty, best of luck to you. If nothing else, you'll come away with more knowledge about the 19th century whaling industry than you'd ever thought possible.

Reading the whole book is totally worth it. And contrary to what people tell you, every chapter is related to the overall story. And Chapter 42 is actually one of the more important ones. I am actually itching to read the novel again; I'm probably taking a Melville class this fall. I have extremely detailed notes somewhere on nearly every page, so if you need help with anything you can send me a PM and I'll try to give some assistance.

I found this comment interesting, care to elaborate on why it is important?

Sure.

A big thing to watch for in the novel is pairing; you should always be looking for foils. But it's not always one-to-one; Ahab isn't a perfect foil to Starbuck but there are things to look for, same with Ishmael and Queequeg, Ishmael and Ahab, Queequg and Fedallah. Chapters are also paired in the novel a lot, and Chapters 41 and 42 are a great example. Chapter 41 is called "Moby Dick" and is a description of the whale and its myth. It even goes into the story of when he took Ahab's leg. In essence, it gives the reasons for the captain's quest for "audacious, immitigable, and supernatural revenge." Ishmael admits, however, that he doesn't understand why the crew responds to Ahab's monomania or why the story is so convincing. To uncover this would be "to dive deeper than Ishmael can go."

Chapter 42 opens with Ishmael stating, "What the white whale was to Ahab, has been hinted; what, at times, he was to me, as yet remains unsaid," reminding us that these two chapters need to be paired. The whiteness of the whale appalls Ishmael because usually that color isn't associated with such an ugly creature. Whiteness is beauty, whiteness is purity; or, at least, it had been before his experience with the whale. When something so terrible is white, it is the shocking color which "makes them the transcendent horrors they are." Ishmael is on the outskirts of a great epiphany, which is that appearance has absolutely nothing to do with essence in the reality of our world. Colors are arbitrary, that is why whiteness can grace the skin of the whale and "the butterfly cheeks of young girls" and bring about feelings of horror and sweetness (or perhaps innocence or sexual attraction) in each respective case. The meanings associated with color are "subtile deceits, not actually inherent in substances, but only laid on from without."

When Ishmael comes to this conclusion, it leaves the door open for him to imagine a world in which everything is arbitrary and nothing is designed. Ishmael closes the chapter by asking, "Wonder ye then at the fiery hunt?" He hunts Moby Dick to try and answer his questions about meaning; he is actually searching, while Ahab is simply imposing meanings upon the world. Ahab is confident that there is a force behind everything, that everything can be explained. Ishmael is not so sure. These chapters are important to the rest of the novel because they help explain the reasons for the different worldviews expressed in Ahab's monomania and Ishmael's hypos.

Hope that helps. I won't claim to be an expert on the book, I wrote that up using my old notes and a quick re-reading of the two chapters. But the novel did alter my perception on the whole of American and world literature, and I will go to bat for it over and over and still place it within my top five American novels of all time.

That's probably the reason I will never read it. If I have to read notes about the book while I'm reading it just to understand it then I don't think that would be a very fun read.

I read 1984 and although I actually enjoyed the book, there were chapters that tested my patience. If I remember right there were like two chapters in a row where the dude was just reading that manual thing.

I took the notes while reading and when I was in class; they're my personal notes, not ones that helped me get through it.

I understand your frustration, though. One book I desperately want to read is "Ulysses," I even have my own copy. But I've tried to start it twice and feel like I'll need one of those guides to the book to get anything out of it, and going back and forth between them would hurt the experience for me. But "Moby-Dick" is very readable, trust me, though it certainly is a challenge.

I'd rather dig my eyeballs out with a spork than read this book again.

Even the Cliff's Notes of this book are slow and boring and go nowhere (interesting).

it's not THAT bad. the middle sucked, but I enjoyed the beginning and the ending few chapters. there's some interesting stuff, but I'll be damned it I would have never got it without the class discussion

This was my dad's favorite book. I haven't given it a read yet, but I plan on doing it one day.

As much as I make fun of it, Moby Dick was enjoyable on at least some level, once I got through it. Ulysses, though? I didn't even feel like I'd accomplished anything at the end of the two years I read it off and on. The 'episodic' way it's divided certainly helps for a long term reading plan.


Joyce's sparse use of punctuation, particularly in the last episode, always felt like reading something by an AOL kiddie with a very good vocabulary.

Like the song better than the book.

so, was it worth it? I'm dove in a few hours ago.

i read about 100 pgs and never finished it. Not that it wasn't good, just tedious. I'll get around to it though.

oooohhhh....'embarassing bump'....my favorite kind.