Niggers, I just finished Moby-Dick and holy fuck ... How much truth is there to Ishmael's story? The way he wrote was always heavily idealistic and self-confident, and now, he of all people, is the lone survivor in this tragedy?
I think one sentence fits the book quite well: "If you think this is going to have a happy ending, then you haven't been paying attention"
it doesnt have a (((happy ending))), it has a natural and appropriate ending
also, i believe it all except that he's obviously filling in gaps using his own creativity. all of the whaling info is information he actually researched and shit after the events of the book had ostensibly taken place. The only other fake shit is that he told this all to some guy in a bar in one night
also fyi this book is a direct response to defoe's crusoe: "His name was Ismael"
>defoe's crusoe
which was, as you may or may not know, a work of fiction that was passed off as real (much like the scarlet letter, or any 18th cen. french roman a clef, albeit defoe was on a whole nother level)
hopefully that informs your understanding of moby-dick
isn't that a game of thrones quote
>also fyi this book is a direct response to defoe's crusoe: "His name was Ismael"
Does that mean in order to fully appreciate Moby-Dick, I'd need to read Robinson Crusoe?
Why do you think the story he told in the bar was a fake one?
Yeah, and I thought to properly quote Ramsay Bolton, but I don't believe Martin came up with this sentence on his own. It sounds like rather something common, so I figure it was already written centuries or at least decades ago.
Only read a couple chapter so far.
Constantly having to look up words.
This is worse than a Nabokov or Henry Miller Novel.
Not native speaker is hard...
I thought his prose was actually very accessible for a non-native speaker. I was prepared for waaay worse, and I think I would only look up one word per chapter at most.
Don't even compare this to Nabokov's 10 words each paragraph
I tried reading it in English as well but after 130 pages I gave up on it. Until then, it was easy to follow, prose and syntax are accessible as mentioned, but it was around 120 pages where a lot of words come up and had to look up constantly - my flow was non-existent at this point, so I replaced it with a version in my mother tongue.
All in all, I recommend you doing the same and read through this novel, because the experience, for me at least, was worth it. I'm not a fan of Melville's digressions though, at least not in such a ridiculous amount. I appreciate the encyclopedic chapters, and in the whole work it makes sense to mention it, but estimated 30 % of them felt unnecessary.
In addition: I don't think it would have a happy ending per se, but that at least Ahab and some of his crew would survive, realizing what his patholical lust for revenge has caused and let him live with the guilt for the rest of his life. The last few chapters were completely shocking for me too; if you keep in mind the novel was, or rather Ishmael as a storyteller tended to draw things out to a sometimes ridiculous degree, and then in a few paragraphs the whole tension builds up and everyone except the narrator pay with their lives. And that in a truly merciless and horrific matter, considering how the tether bound around Ahab's neck and just pulled into the deep sea, and Tashtego hammering the flag onto the mast, until the bitter end, and takes the fucking seagull with him in the process.
Even hours after, I'm still dismayed, especially because of the rather lighthearted atmosphere Ishmael set throughout the narrative.
Don't let this thread fucking die. Can we discuss actual literature for a change instead of useless shitposts?
Yeah I fucking love this novel. Probably my favourite of all time. I've been opening it and randomly reading single chapters recently; the writing is utterly brilliant. When I first read it I was surprised at how funny it was and I still find it hilarious.
Is there any good book out there of interpretations/essays on Moby-Dick?
>I had to look up words constantly, even though the narrative is functionally accessible without them.
I can immediately spot the autists itt who bump their faces into walls. Not just in literature, not just in their own life, but in their relations and (god forbid) children, and just about everything they come into contact with as well. The references, allusions, and historical bits aren't as important as the story itself, and need not be focused on within a first read.
You people reek of failure. Stop getting hampered down by allusions like a pseud, and fucking focus on the narrative itself.
>Yeah I fucking love Invisible Cities. Probably my favourite of all time. I've been opening it and randomly reading single chapters recently; the writing is utterly brilliant. When I first read it I was surprised at how funny it was and I still find it hilarious.
>
>Is there any good book out there of interpretations/essays on Calvino?
Back to r-ddit.
>You people reek of failure. Stop getting hampered down by allusions like a pseud, and fucking focus on the narrative itself.
You forgot
>t. ad hominem pulling degenerate
Cuckchan needs to die already. There's nothing but the vile combination of 9gag, reddit and YouTube here you represent perfectly.
Sorry buddy has killed your dream
>>t. ad hominem pulling degenerate
When it comes to faggots who get stuck on fucking vocabulary of all things, it's more like ad homonem, amirite?
Yeah, he killed my dream of Veeky Forums's Veeky Forums ever being a viable discussion board again. Too many anons are assholes just out of principle, not because they - and that's what they always think - have some sort of highground.
But I read through the book anyways. So, what's your point, you illiterate degenerate?
>Yeah, he killed my dream of Veeky Forums's Veeky Forums ever being a viable discussion board again.
If you want discussion, first read the book and offer some salient questions or scene description, in an open and friendly manner. This should persuade other anons to review what they've read, form their opinions and observances, and respond in kind, toward the objective of a good thread.
>Can we discuss actual literature for a change instead of useless shitposts?
Maybe you should start them. There's also another, bigger Moby Dick thread, so that might explain the lack of good posts.
Oh yeah, I'll just do exactly as you please. Do you also want to be fed? Get your ass wiped maybe?
You mean this piece of shit thread? There's almost only shitposts and, as always, only shallow commentary on booktuber level.
Pretty please with sugar on top, just off yourself already.
Also:
>friendly
>kind
You're a role model, my lad.
why would you think id take this bait?
I'm on page 200 (about chapter 40) and i like it so far. Some really memorable chapters were 1,2, the Jonah sermon, the Queehag/Ishmael friendship, Ahab's first big speech, and the Moby Dick chapter talking about the origins of Ahab's feud.
however, I hear it really sucks from this point until the final 100 pages so I'm cautious. I didn't mind the infamous Cetology chapter (I thought it aligned with the whole obsession theme.)
am I gonna make it? or am I in for a rough 300 pages?
I think you'll be good. Keep in mind for the next 250 pages the novel digresses more frequently than before. Melville is about to get into heavy detail in regards to whaling, certain crew members on the ship. Let's say when the beginning had a normal story pace (let's define it with 1) then it's going to be 0.5 and on occasion 0.25. The last 50 pages though will be over very quick due to the sheer tension, so it's about 2 up to 3 times faster to read than the beginning.
Are the digressions worthwhile, and if so, why? How do they assist what Melville is trying to communicate? Which are the most noteworthy among them?
Sorry if all the questions seem a bit much.
>Are the digressions worthwhile, and if so, why? How do they assist what Melville is trying to communicate?
They are, because (1st) they give you a deep understanding of whaling, and these given informations are crucial in order to understand why things happen as they do in the chapters where whales are hunted. And (2nd) the chapters about crew members, and Ishmael's characteristic writing show the contrast how insignificant all this is in the face of chaos/challenging God/fate. And lastly, even when a chapter is, for example, just about ropes, Mevilles manages to share meaningful and relatable analogies - even when it seems to be just about ropes, through Ishmaels Melville takes paragraph(s) of philiosophical analogies, which can put certain matters into perspective.
>Which are the most noteworthy among them?
I haven't really saved some noteworthy ones into my memory, but, especially after finishing Moby-Dick yesterday, it is the sum of Ishmael's compulsive digressions, becoming as obsessed as Ahab about whales and everything related to them; considering it was his first voyage and has been only on merchant ships before, you can see how Ishmael inherited this very obsession of Ahab.
Actually, (but do you really want to get spoiled?) the chapter about the tremendous scale of a sperm whale's skeleton, and Ishmael having all relevant measurements tattooed on his right arm speaks volumes to me. For one, that the huge scale and mass of a sperm whale is equatable to its divine strength, which was incredibly underestimated in the last chapters. And for another, the tragic picture of Ishmael becoming another victim of obsession (for probably revenge).
I don't get why everybody fusses over the 'encyclopedic' chapters. I actually feel they're vital to the book and make you develop a huge amount of respect for the physiological peculiarities and vastness of the whales which are encountered later in the book. They also help you understand the different viewpoints of the characters as some see the whales they're hunting with reverence while others are there to conquer.
The parts on whaling feel like an initiation into the profession and build the atmosphere for the latter chapters. With your new knowledge you feel that you're there on the Pequod by the end, staring down the massive brute.
We also see that Ishmael has been infected by his own kind of monomania since his perilous voyage on the Pequod. He has tirelessly researched and traveled the world to know everything there is to know about whales. Whales have this incredible significance to him now. Gone are the days of the start of the book where he's bored with his life and looking for adventure. His days are now consumed by the whale as Ahab's were, not out of revenge but out of meaning.
These are very generous posts, some of the best I've seen recently. Thanks a ton!
See, you stupid faggots? You wanted discussion? Your betters got it for you. Was that so hard?
...
Besides your faggotery you didn't deliver anything useful. Get off your high horse, faggot.