This stupid book is kicking my ass. I’m no stranger to literature but I’m trying to go back and read some essentials that I never really got to. I’m having a hell of a time understanding what exactly Melville is trying to say sometimes.
Am I the only one? Am I actually an idiot? I’m surprised this bad boy is giving me trouble. Any tips? Should I skip it for now and come back to it later?
>doesn't post the name of the book
>being such a brainlet
Why do you even browse Veeky Forums?
s-sorry dad I'll try harder next time
Well it's a book about a big whale by Melville. Hopefully that will narrow it down a little
it's the old man and the sea
Maybe you should have paid attention in sunday school you dimwit.
>understanding what exactly Melville is trying to say sometimes
The metaphorical nature of this novel is overstated, it is the thematic overlay that Melville borrows so liberally from British high lit. Just read the book and watch what is happening.
I'm reading Mobi Dicc rn and quite like it, I don;t see the big issue, his bible references are not terribly obscure. Even if you don't have the book of Job or whatever memorized you should be able to understand
It’s not that I don’t understand the references. I don’t understand his prose.
Are you a retard?
This is pretty much impossible for me to comprehend. It is fairly clear 19th century American prose.
I don't understand you, do you have trouble with vocabulary?
You're asking me how a clock works. For now, let's just keep an eye on the time.
yeah this is really post-modern obscurantist prose right here.
...
Something something about Dicks
Possibly the vocabulary, yes. Just finished the the Cetology chapter, which was fine. But the chapters after that which have to do with chain of command, and then dining, I feel like he's giving some insight into the characters but I don't understand what he's saying about them.
I won't pretend to be well educated. I'm a 30 year old plumber. Haven't been to school since I was 18. I just want to get into literature as I feel it's my favorite way of learning and thinking about things that don't have anything to do with work.
See, this stuff is straight forward. It's when Ishmael starts blabbing and getting long winded. The "O! Ahab" dramatic stuff. It reads like Shakespeare which I never understood either.
I know the only way to get better at understanding what I'm reading, is to continue reading. Which is what I'm doing. I just hope it clicks eventually.
>he's actually not trolling
holy fucking shit
I’m just thankful he got in here right away and made my retarded post seems not as bad in comparison.
You sound like a really down to earth guy. Don’t let the faggots get you down. Melville was a brilliant writer and his prose is hard to parse out if you’re unfamiliar with very decorative language. It’s a bit of a tall order, but what might be best is muscling your way through each chapter and then reading it over again when you’ve finished. Once you’ve read it once, the second time through should be a bit easier. If it’s still too difficult, then perhaps read something that is similarly poised in its language. I’m currently reading The Sorrows of Young Werther, and it too has some decadent language. Maybe that would be good to read first?
t. Probably a brainlet as well.
Thanks for the help and kind words man. I’ll definitely check that out.
Listen to this while you read it.
Melville is hard. I've read Barnaby and it was like trying to parse poetry. I'm not ready for Moby Dick
Does this help?
so this is the power of Veeky Forums....
...
well, now im listening to the album.
im so ashamed i forgot about it
infinite jest
This is what lack of pretence looks like Veeky Forums.
Fuck you all for being snobs.
>I’m having a hell of a time understanding what exactly Melville is trying to say sometimes.
Then Melville was bad at explaining things and the work is bad art.
It’s Leviathan by Mastodon.
this would only be true if the prose in the novel under discussion was actually difficult
Tony Penis
Are you fucking kidding me?
*SPOILER*
It's about whales.
Don't feel bad, OP. Not everyone was born to read.
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Good for you, dude. Good literature will improve your life. Don't feel badly if there are realms of prose beyond you currently and maybe start with something more digestible. It's to be expected that a classic like Moby Dick (which has a reputation for difficulty, even among classics!) might give you pause. After all, you can't play a complex melody without learning individual chords first. But the effort is well worth it. Our minds themselves are formed by language and internalizing the themes and lessons and characters of great literature enables one to better understand both other people and their own path in life.
Thanks for the encouragement everybody.
I think my main problem is that most of my reading is usually done while distracted. During quick breaks at work and what not. When I finally sat down this morning to get some pages under my belt I was having a much easier time.
if you read a chapter and have no clue what is going on, you could always just read a summary of the chapter online, then read the chapter again. if you can't decipher something then it can just get more frustrating and boring if you keep trying without any external help
Holy...
... hm?
Oh no
user
I’ll go easy on you, OP.
Firstly, Moby-Dick is an intensely symbolic and metaphorical work which questions the nature of symbols and identity itself (Ahab has to “strike through the mask” to get to the truth of any matter). What Moby-Dick actually represents isn’t a single definable thing so much as a collection and amalgamation of forces beyond mans control which ultimately dictate his life (See the Prologue and The Whiteness of the Whale). At its core, Moby-Dick is about the vain pursuit of attaining knowledge and mastery over nature, both in ourselves and the world as a whole. Thus Moby-Dick represents A deistic and detached God, or rather nature or fate itself. As Ahab muses, “Is Ahab, Ahab? Is it I, God, or who, that lifts this arm? But if the great sun move not of himself; but is an errand-boy in heaven; nor one single star can revolve, but by some invisible power; how then can this one small heart beat; this one small brain think thoughts; unless God does that beating, does that thinking, does that living, and not I. By heaven man, we are turned round and round in this world, like yonder windlass, and fate is the hand spike”
Ahab is Heroic evil, his pursuit to attain knowledge and master over his own fate(i.e.-Slaying moby-dick) is noble, but the cost he and his crew pays is an evil result due to his selfish list for knowledge.
This is Moby-Dick 101. Hopefully that gives you a better idea of what you’re reading