Monday, July 26, 2010

#24 Moby Dick

I did it! I finally finished this dang book! Near the end I was feeling a bit like Ahab, my white whale was the end of this book but unlike Ahab I managed to catch my prey.

As much as this book bored me silly, I am very proud that I stuck it out and now I can say that I conquered the whale. We had our moments, some much more interesting than others. I enjoyed the end more the middle. Ahab has always been a bit 'off' but in the last few chapters you see his quest for revenge take on a super special kind of madness, like he's completely unraveling at the thought of finding and killing the whale.

The ship also survives a major electrical storm which leads the crew to want to return home. Of course Ahab is not having any of that. They continue on and meet up with a ship that goes by the lovely name of the Rachel. The Rachel has seen the white whale and actually lost one of their whaling boats in the process. The boat contained the captains son and the request help in looking for the boat, which Ahab soldily refuses. Moby Dick is near and he'll lose no time in chasing him by helping someone else. Ahab finally spots the whale himself and they give chase for 3 days straight. On the third day Moby Dick reigns supreme and gets his own brand of revenge as the book transforms from an adventure into a tragedy. 

It may not be my favorite book but I'm glad I picked it up. Thanks to Book Snob for inspiring me to take this one on and giving me a deadline of sorts so I couldn't give up when the going got slow. Also to Book Snob Wannabe for joining us on this adventure on the sea.

6 comments:

Pat Tillett said...

Reading this whole thing is an accomplishment. I read it a long time ago. Before I started, a friend told me to pay attention to the story, but to ALWAYS be on the lookout for two things...

1. The "god complex" displayed by Melville throught the book (and other books). He went on to tell me that Melville was a total narsisstic wackjob.

2. the similarity between the whale and Ahab.

Anyway, it did have some BORING parts, but overall I liked it.

B said...

Wow kudos to you for reading this! I've always felt like I should, but have never picked it up. You're an inspiration :)

Laura Kozy Lanik said...

Congratulations Rachel on Finishing!

Book Snob Wannabe said...

Congrats on finishing the book!!!!

I really hate that I did not complete it in time, but my goal is to have it completed before school start in two weeks. This has truly been a challenging read for me!

Julie P said...

Yea to you for sticking with it! Doesn't it make you feel so good?

Rachel said...

Thanks everyone! I am so glad I finished it. When it started to drag, I told myself that there was no quitting in the middle and the only way out was through the end of the book. This was definitely the most difficult book I've read so far but if I can tackle that one I think I can manage the rest.

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