/lit/ - Literature

>I-It's just autism!
The cetology portions are largely done from Ishmael's perspective. They help us understand the epistemological value of the whale hunt, as well as the unique and absurd nature of whales in general, while also strengthening the scientific and religious aspects of the novel. That not everything Ishmael says and understands is correct is part of this. No matter how much we study, no matter how far we advance science, true understanding of the world is just out of our grasp. That Ishmael continues his quest for gnosis despite this, that Ahab does as well, that all humanity is endlessly search for who we are and what this world really is, is the very essence of moby dick as a novel
The cetology portions are also very funny and serve as a good time capsule for the early days of scientific research

When you're reading Henry James, you're reading Nabokov made safe for a middlebrow audience

Of the last 4 Pulitzer Prize winners:
>The Night Watchman
>The Netanyahus: An Account of a Minor and Ultimately Even Negligible Episode in the History of a Very Famous Family
>Trust
>Demon Copperhead
Did you read any of them? Did you like them? Did you hate them? Why?

I read Ulysses only having read Joyce's prior works and most of Shakespeare's plays
And I enjoyed it
That's right
I didn't even brush up on my Plato
Didn't bother with Joyce's letters
Didn't try out his poetry
Didn't even read Shakespeare's Sonnets
Didn't crack open a bible
Not even a lick of Spinoza
Didn't even reread the Odyssey
And I came away loving the book
In fact I'm going to do it again after I'm done with Don Quixote(didn't read Orlando Furioso before it btw)
There's nothing you can do to stop me