Astrid Hawk
Hundreds (thousands?) of tomes, papers, and annotations have been written about this work, many by far more learned scholars, better experts in literature and language, than I - so this is less a review and more a summary of my experience.
I'm not sure why I was never introduced to this book in the course of my schooling - but whatever the reason, I missed it (and many other commonly read classics as well), and felt I should rectify the situation. I went into this story with few preconceptions - I knew the broad strokes of the plot, and I knew some character names that have been enshrined in literary cultural memory. If anything, I was negatively predisposed to the book, since most people I know talk about it with a groan, implying that it's a slog and full of direness and dread.
I was pleasantly surprised that the first 100-150 pages were anything but a slog. Ishmael (our narrator) is certainly wordy, but every scene was hilarious, filled with puns, witty dialog, and absurdist humor. The theatrical and hyperbolic tone continued through the novel, preventing the mood from ever becoming particularly dark despite scenes of illness, death, moral dilemmas, and racism (and there is certainly a lot of racism - it may be that Ishmael is the original "but I'm not racist" racist? Or one of the first?).
Things started to drag for me after the first whale hunt, or maybe just before, when the author/narrator gives long lectures on whale taxonomy, whaling procedures, whale anatomy, and sometimes musings on human nature and culture. All is told very unscientifically and pompously, making frequent references to religion and myth, particularly Christian and Greek myths, and often strings together several metaphors into one long rambling chain such that it becomes difficult to picture what the author is trying to say. Combine that with the nearly Shakespearean writing style, and the antiquated and arcane use of English vocabulary - I imagine this book would be nearly impenetrable for a non-native English speaker, or even native English speakers who haven't had a literary or linguistic education.
The tedious bits were punctuated by small plot vignettes - the Pequod meets various other whaling ships, providing an opportunity for the narrator to relay to us the tall tale(s) provided by the other crews, and there are various events on board that allow the introduction of various characters and the development of Ahab's and the mates' characters. All the vignettes and plot points are highly absurdist. Some are laugh-out-loud, and some are more head-scratchers - told in a metaphorical style that makes the reader wonder if what is being spelled out on the page is actually happening in the story, or if it is just the narrator's imagination.
It made me wonder whether this book would even make any sense were it to be rewritten in a modern style with straightforward language and tone, but keeping the deadpan presentation of events. I suspect it would be a sort of Catch-22 but set on a whaling ship.
Hundreds (thousands?) of tomes, papers, and annotations have been written about this work, many by far more learned scholars, better experts in literature and language, than I - so this is less a review and more a summary of my experience.
I'm not sure why I was never introduced to this book in the course of my schooling - but whatever the reason, I missed it (and many other commonly read classics as well), and felt I should rectify the situation. I went into this story with few preconceptions - I knew the broad strokes of the plot, and I knew some character names that have been enshrined in literary cultural memory. If anything, I was negatively predisposed to the book, since most people I know talk about it with a groan, implying that it's a slog and full of direness and dread.
I was pleasantly surprised that the first 100-150 pages were anything but a slog. Ishmael (our narrator) is certainly wordy, but every scene was hilarious, filled with puns, witty dialog, and absurdist humor. The theatrical and hyperbolic tone continued through the novel, preventing the mood from ever becoming particularly dark despite scenes of illness, death, moral dilemmas, and racism (and there is certainly a lot of racism - it may be that Ishmael is the original "but I'm not racist" racist? Or one of the first?).
Things started to drag for me after the first whale hunt, or maybe just before, when the author/narrator gives long lectures on whale taxonomy, whaling procedures, whale anatomy, and sometimes musings on human nature and culture. All is told very unscientifically and pompously, making frequent references to religion and myth, particularly Christian and Greek myths, and often strings together several metaphors into one long rambling chain such that it becomes difficult to picture what the author is trying to say. Combine that with the nearly Shakespearean writing style, and the antiquated and arcane use of English vocabulary - I imagine this book would be nearly impenetrable for a non-native English speaker, or even native English speakers who haven't had a literary or linguistic education.
The tedious bits were punctuated by small plot vignettes - the Pequod meets various other whaling ships, providing an opportunity for the narrator to relay to us the tall tale(s) provided by the other crews, and there are various events on board that allow the introduction of various characters and the development of Ahab's and the mates' characters. All the vignettes and plot points are highly absurdist. Some are laugh-out-loud, and some are more head-scratchers - told in a metaphorical style that makes the reader wonder if what is being spelled out on the page is actually happening in the story, or if it is just the narrator's imagination.
It made me wonder whether this book would even make any sense were it to be rewritten in a modern style with straightforward language and tone, but keeping the deadpan presentation of events. I suspect it would be a sort of Catch-22 but set on a whaling ship.