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/lit/ - Literature

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9960778 No.9960778 [Reply] [Original]

I almost started Moby Dick today.

what would I have been in for if I had?

>> No.9960783

The greatest piece of American literature ever put to paper

>> No.9960788
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9960788

>>9960783
>American
>literature

>> No.9960790

>>9960788
What is the purpose of this post?

>> No.9960860

>>9960783
That's not Huck Finn

>> No.9960878

>>9960860
That's true: it's NOT Leaves of Grass

>> No.9960897

>>9960860
Huck Finn tackles complex issues of race and inequality. Moby Dick is just about some loser white whale(male).

>> No.9960956

>>9960788
>American
>reading

>> No.9960994

>>9960778
Honestly, it took me a month to read it and was very dense, but by the end I was absolutely blown away. It's a beautifully written and profound book. I'm not the most well read person, but I've read probably 20 of the big meme books, and it was probably the best I've ever read.

>> No.9961102
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9961102

>>9960778
Why didn't you start it, OP? It's worth the time to read it.

> beautiful, scripture-like prose
> an admirable, humble and well-informed narrator carries us through the narrative
> a protagonist in Captain Ahab who is both equally admirable as well as tragic and disturbed
> Ishmael and Queequeg's friendship is pure joy
> the sermon
> the chapters detailing the understanding of whales, whale anatomy, history, whaling methods, etc - although not necessarily accurate at times, it provides a useful context for the next narrative-driven chapter as well as authentic world-building
> tragedy in spades to match Shakespeare
> the book is surprisingly funny at times

Genuinely one of my favourites and I can't wait to re-read it again soon. OP, if this is a meme thread or not, still do yourself the favour of investing time into reading this beautiful book.

>> No.9961108

>>9960897
It's 2017, the white whale(female) can be anything xir wants to be

>> No.9961273
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9961273

"Better sleep with a sober cannibal than a drunken Christian" - what did he mean by this?

>> No.9961913

>>9961273
That judging people by their background before you even meet them if fucking ludicrous. Ishmael learns through his friendship with Queequeg that people are people regardless of where they are from, and a 'savage' can be just as noble and moral as any Christian.

A strong moral message, ahead of its time, and yet it's just a tiny part of the greatness that is Moby Dick, which has a hell of a lot more to teach us than that.

>> No.9961926

>>9960778
>what would I have been in for if I had?
A 19th century fantasy novel that's great fun.

>> No.9961940

>>9961913
> That judging people by their background before you even meet them if fucking ludicrous.
How true! You've convinced me to go drinking with recidivist felons while wearing expensive jewelry and flashing wads of cash! Can't hold their background against the poor career criminals, after all!

>> No.9961945

>>9961273
He meant that alcohol is the grease that enables grievous crime.

>> No.9961978

>>9961940
There's a difference between being open to understanding people and being a fucking idiot and you know it.

As far as Ishmael understood, Queequeg was a savage cannibal. He learned through meeting him that he was a good person, despite his behaviours being somewhat queer. That's hardly comparable to getting drunk with convicted felons. It's about dropping unnecessary prejudice.

>> No.9961984

Also, yeah, it's about the evils of booze too.

>> No.9962021

>>9961978
>That's hardly comparable to getting drunk with convicted felons.
Really? Getting drunk with career cannibals is incomparable with getting drunk with career criminals, because illogical unexplainable reasons? Very convincing, bro!

>> No.9962051

>>9962021
For one thing you missed the part where Queequeg was sober.

Being a criminal in a civilised society is not the same thing as being a cannibal in a society where everyone is a cannibal. He had been in Nantucket for a while, the owner of the Inn had vouched for him. If you're not getting that the Ishmael/Queequeg friendship is at least in part about prejudice you may need to read the book again, because god knows what else you missed.

>> No.9962110

>>9960783
Um hello what about The Invincible Man?

>> No.9962150

>>9961940
Did you actually read the book or are you just sperging for the sake of it?

>> No.9962175

>>9960778
A whale of a time

>> No.9962701

Moby Dick is good as fuck.

An unrelated but similar book 'The Sea Wolf'. Both really reminded me of my time in the military and the very deep true nuance of how shitty people are when you have to work with them.

>> No.9962903

Are we still doing the reading group? I remember a lot of hype before summer. I'm around page 200 or so myself.

Possibly stupid question but the whale doesn't exist, right?

>> No.9963003

>>9962903
Nope, this is a fictional story.

>> No.9963064

Has anyone really thought that the shape of America is like a whale and it's like America is the whale and shieeet

>> No.9963510

>>9962903
It does within the context of the story, but it's clearly meant to be read metaphorically as well.

>> No.9963523

>>9961273
>mfw christians are also cannibals because they eat the body of Christus

>> No.9963850

>>9960788
>Anon
>Frogposting

Really Makes you think.

>> No.9964541

>>9960778
The whale talks too? Goddamn what was Melville thinking?

>> No.9964561

>>9964541

- IMPRESSIVE

>> No.9964814

>>9960994
>>9961102
Yes. This was the first big boy book I think ever read and it blew my mind. I need to reread it with the annotations to explain all the biblical references and such.