Moby Dick

The nice thing about reviewing a classic is that it needs to introduction. Most people are familiar with Ahab, with "Call me Ishmael", with the fact that Moby Dick is "the White Whale", with the Pequod as the name of the ship, with Queequeg and his harpoon, among other plot points. (Actually, those are probably all the plot points I was familiar with, prior to reading.)

Perhaps what I was most apprehensive about when I started this book was that I'd heard there were long passages concerning the execution of some of the more mundane tasks about a whaleship, that Melville had apparently lifted wholesale from someone else's treatise on the subject, that dragged on and bogged down the narrative. I didn't find this to be the case -- due to the novel's original episodic nature, chapter breaks are frequent, so one isn't stuck with descriptions of the tryworks (where the fat is rendered into oil) for too many pages. And of course, this is mostly a new subject to me, so a little general background is both informative and helpful. While the frequent chapter breaks do move the action along, what I did find a little trying was Ishmael's (Melville's?) attempted classification and categorization of the cetaceans, and the sperm whale (obviously) in particular. But again, this wasn't too long or too frequent.

One of the often remarked upon parts of Moby Dick is the symbolism. Of that, I have little to say other than "it's here." It's not subtle, but that's a good thing. What I do like is Melville repeatedly hammering home the inevitability of the end. (Which, again, not subtle).

What else is there to say? This is a classic for a reason.