I will not purport to write a review of Herman Melville’s book, Moby Dick or The Whale. For me to do so would be pretentious beyond measure. What I am attempting to do is proselytize for the book. For some reason I missed reading this American classic until now. Truth is I probably would not have appreciated the book when I was younger.
I do have a confession to make though. I did not read the book, but listened to the audio-book which was a several day affair. I spend so much time driving and at times my job is rote, I have found audio-books a wonderful way to fill the time.
What I knew of the book was the story of the obsessed Ahab and his hunt for the malevolent white whale, Moby Dick. To me the book was a documentary with the story of Ahab’s hunt a vehicle for driving the narration forward and keeping the reader engaged. Don’t misunderstand me, Ahab’s story is wonderful and there is much to be learned therein, but it is only part of the book.
The book is in large part a documentary on the Nantucket whaling industry of the 1800s, The Deadliest Catch of its day. It is also the natural history of the cetaceans as was known in 1850. There is chilling passage in the book Continue reading “Herman Melville’s Moby Dick”
