Melville, Herman. Moby-Dick: or The Whale. Oak Park, IL : Top Five Books 2026. (originally published 1851). Print.
Call
me Ismael. Some years ago -- never mind how long precisely -- having
little or no money in my purse, and nothing particular to interest me on
shore, I thought I would sail about a little and see the watery part of
the world. It is a way I have of driving off the spleen and regulating
the circulation. Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth;
whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul; whenever I find
myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses, and bringing up
the rear or every funeral I meet; and especially whenever my hypos get
such an upper hand of me, that it requires a strong moral principle to
prevent me from deliberately stepping into the street, and methodically
knocking people's hats off -- then, I account it high time to get to the
sea as soon as I can. This is my substitute for pistol and ball.
Description:
Please do not be afraid of taking on Herman Melville's Moby-Dick: or The Whale. I know, I know, there are many reasons to avoid this masterpiece of literature and history.
- Too long (600+ pages with 135 (short) chapters);
- Too much whale info (from species differences to killing to processing to the value/use of spermaciti);
- Too difficult a language (in 1850s style, why use one adjective and a short sentence when ten adjectives in a 50-word sentence works even better?);
- Too much symbolism (everything comes in three's, too religious, fate vs. free will, etc.);
- Too tragic (obsessive, vengeful doomed captain vs. maniacal, equally vengeful whale);
- I simply don't have the time and don't care about this book.
To
warm you up, I have included several more opening sentences above, more
than just the first words of this novel. After all, who doesn't know
"Call me Ishmael," probably one of the familiar opening three words in literature?
But
you need to notice and absorb the rest of these enticingly rich, revealing
opening sentences to get a sample of what lies ahead. What you are
presented with immediately are the evocative, highly-personal musings of
the narrator, Ishmael, as he contemplates his current lack of funds,
boredom with life, thoughts of death, the growing dominance of his
"hypos," along with a weakening "moral principal" which prevents him
from "knocking people's hats off," and his growing attraction to "pistol
and ball" to end his life.
To address his musings, Ishmael turns to his usual remedy: he takes to sea and impulsively joins the crew of the Pequod whaling ship.
Thus Melville introduces the character whose role is to observe and relate his tale to
any land-lubber readers unfamiliar with a seaman's life and whaling.
From his first musings and descriptions of the world and people around
him, Ismael reveals his serious eye for detail and contemplation, a masterful use of language, and even some
humor. He becomes an ordinary man on board a whaling ship in the 1850s
among a company of shipmates with distinctive personalities. In these first sentences, we are given a penetrating picture of this thoughtful character.
And his fellow Pequod crew
members are all under the leadership of captain Ahab who, Ishmael soon
discovers, only took on the captaincy of this whaling ship so
he could pursue and take vengeance on Moby Dick, the white whale that
chewed off Ahab's leg on a previous voyage. Collecting valuable
spermaieti from whales, the PequodI's investing owners' goal, would be only a
secondary task to Ahab and his crew.
Here are the main characters:
- Ishmael (narrator) - "A simple sailor";
- Quequeeg (harpooner) - A heavily tattooed Islander who could hit a spot of tar across the ship deck with his harpoon (which he shaves with), and a friend to Ishmael;
- Starbuck (First Mate) - Voice of reason who tries to convince Ahab to abandon his quest of vengeance;
- Stubb (Second Mate) - Happy-go-lucky, pipe-smoking officer who enjoys eating raw whale meat;
- Flask (Third Mate) - "A short, stout, ruddy young fellow...who somehow seemed to think that the great leviathans had personally and hereditarily affronted him";
- Fedallah (Ahab's harpooner) - Parsee (fire-worshiper) and predictor of the future;
- Ahab (Captain) - Glowering, facially scarred, peg-legged, tragically-driven, vengeful leader of the voyage and crew.
We all know the story of Moby Dick and
its tragic ending, so I won't re-tell it here. But beyond the plot,
what makes this book fantastic is the depth Melville explores in so many
areas. Whether describing the thoughts and actions of Ishmael's crew
mates, musing over the roles of Fate vs. Free Will in decision-making,
sharing the workings of a real whaling ship and voyage (a significant
industry to readers of 1851 when the book was published), and even the
cataloging of the different species of whales and harpoons, Melville is
the master of observation and encyclopedic knowledge. He intersperses references to Shakespeare and the Bible alongside the history
of whaling tools and the men who created and used them. All these
inclusions are to support Melville's broad survey of the importance and
reality of whaling in the 1850s.
Moby-Dick is
not a page-turning thriller although there are many suspenseful situations. It also is
not a straightforward story that moves from Point A to Point B clearly
and succinctly. If you are looking for a quick distraction, this is not
the book for you.
Rather,
it's as if we, the readers, are placed at a table with a magnificent
gourmet feast in front of us. But before we can sample the food, the
chef enthusiastically explains the workings behind the meal: from the
growing of special crops and meat and their preparation; the people
who cultivated and cooked the ingredients; the kitchen layout and utensils
employed; the table setting; and even the atmosphere of the room.
While
this may sound tedious and frustrating ... "Just let me get on to the
food!" you might think ... these vital details reveal the complex world
behind the meal, a necessity to fully enhance for the novice diner the gourmet experience and
the food itself. Through this chef's concern about presenting these
details, we diners come to understand and appreciate the totality of this feast far beyond just the mere consumption of the food.
There are plenty of fast food or even sit-down eating experiences out there if you preger those. No judgment. But Moby-Dick is
a "meal" to be contemplated, savored slowly, and appreciated on a variety
of levels. If you want a quick bite, an action-based story with everyday characters, you'll not find these in Moby-Dick.
But there
is oh, so much more that turns this novel from a hunt for a whale into a
higher level that contemplates the battle between predestination,
tragic obsession, and commercial whaling. Melville's language is so rich
that it cannot be skimmed over. A reader must deliberately slow
him/herself down to savor the 19th century words, the layered phrasings,
and the concepts possibly unfamiliar to us living 175 years after Melville
wrote.
In
short, you need to commit yourself to 1850 and life in the whaling
industry to fully appreciate and identify with the characters and action
of this book just as you would slowly, appreciatively relish each bite
of a gourmet dining experience, even if there are courses that are not
to your initial liking. It is the entire experience that shines and will stay
with you long after the meal is over or the final pages are read.
As an elementary school kid I had repeatedly poured over my Classics Illustrated comic book version of Moby-Dick. (Note: Familiarity with the plots and characters in these 169 graphic interpretations of great novels, e.g. Silas Marner, Pitcarn's Island, Kidnapped,
etc., carried me through my English classes in high school, my college BA
and Masters in English). Later I had a wonderful high school teacher who
took one entire day on the opening sentence of this novel and taught me
how to appreciate its enormity.
This month, when I learned that there
was a re-release of a 1930 edition of Moby-Dick illustrated by Rockwell Kent,
one of my favorites artists (these are his illustrations), I decided it was time to give the novel
another, more adult look. Not a glance, not something to be quickly
skimmed, but something I really wanted to understand in-depth. And boy,
what I ever satisfied.
Maybe
the 600+ pages is daunting to many readers. Or the language too
unfamiliar. Or the diversions in whales, whaling, and the world of 1850
is too tiring to pursue when we have the internet, social media, and the
television to captivate us more quickly.
But I stand here today to
highly recommend Moby-Dick to everyone willing to at least
sample, even if only for 50 pages or so, what powerful writing, themes,
and stories can be. It will be time well spent, and, if nothing else,
something you can brag about to friends and family.
[P.S. Those who notice such things may wonder why there is a hyphen in the title, Moby-Dick,
but only the unhyphenated name "Moby Dick" is used in the book. No one knows
why this is, although the rumor is that Melville's brother changed the
proof in the title at the last minute because he liked hyphens, but
didn't have time to do so throughout the book. Melville himself used a
hyphen in his sea-faring adventure novel, White-Jacket, but really who knows (or cares)? It's still a fantastic book, with or without a hyphen.]
Of course, it gets my Highest Recommendation. Enjoy. And let ne know your thoughts if you do read it or decide to give it a pass. I'm interested.
[If this book interests you, be sure to check out:]
DeFoe, Daniel. Robinson Caruso
One man is shipwrecked on a deserted island and make his way along, contemplating the world, his fortune, and his survival until jhe discovers a companion.
Happy reading.
Fred
[P.S. Click here to browse over 500 more book recommendations by subject or title and read the introduction to The First Sentence Reader.]
