So I thought I would start out with people's general thoughts on Moby-Dick (at least the ones I have heard from people that I know) and then lead into my initial reaction to reading the book.
Most often you hear people saying these types of things about Moby-Dick:
"Oh yeah, you are reading Moby-Dick? I really didn't like that book..."
"I read that book for class. It was interesting, you should totally read it."
"No one really likes Moby-Dick, but I read it and I think you should read it too."
Or in one extreme case: "I didn't like Moby-Dick and you won't either. Don't ever read it."
I'd like to point out that the last person tried reading it when they were 14 and they have now decided that they might try to re-read it. Basically what I understood from all of this was that while not many people seem to enjoy the book, it is also a book that one should read.
As I started to read the book I noticed something that I had never been told about. Moby-Dick has short chapters. Like really short. And they don't go on and on about something that I couldn't care less about. I found it kind of interesting and it really wasn't that difficult to read. Sure there are some dense parts, but the footnotes really help.
I found it interesting that Ishmael says "Call me Ishmael." It is like it isn't his real name and that caught my attention. Readers want to believe their narrator, but right off the bat "Ishmael" doesn't seem to be completely honest with his readers. His name is full of meaning, but I don't believe that he actually gave us his name. Maybe he just wants a pseudonym to go by, but that is a really powerful metaphor of a name for just a pseudonym. I am hoping that I will be able to trust him more as a reader as we keep reading the book. It will be interesting to see how his character develops, especially with the relationship he is forming with Queequeg.
I also don't totally buy the whole "I'm bored and want to have an adventure/see the world" thing that Ishmael has told us as readers. I think there is more to him than that and I kind of can't wait to see how he does on the whaling ship. If he isn't telling the truth about his name then how can we know if he is telling the truth about why he is going whaling? I guess I hope to find out in later chapters. We'll see though.
I'm glad you're writing down your initial impressions, Alyssa; it will be interesting to see if they change as the novel develops.
ReplyDeleteI found your last paragraph especially interesting. It’s a good point, if Ishmael really just wanted to see the world and have an adventure surely there are plenty of other much less dangerous ways to do this? But no, he decided to see the world through a whaling ship. He picked a very dangerous experience, death is very likely. But maybe that’s his idea of an adventure, because would it really be an adventure if there was no risk involved? I’m interested to see if Ishmael does have an ulterior motive for joining this whaling mission. It would be nice to have an explanation as to what drew him specifically to whaling. However, since he began the novel by withholding information, I’m not sure an explanation is likely.
ReplyDeleteI like how as a reader you question if we should trust “Ishmael”. How much of what he says is fact? He picks a name that gives us the idea that he is an outcast, but I am wondering if he chooses to be an outcast or if he feels society has made him one. This could be why he decided to take an adventure on a dangerous whaling ship, by being on a ship he can feel as if he is doing something of substance, that few men are willing to do. But now I wonder if Moby-Dick is the masked character, or if it is truly Ishmael (or whoever he really is).
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