What should I know before I start reading Moby Dick.
>>7690106
nothin, just read it. i'm readin it now. nothing specifically needed to understand what he's saying.
>>7690106
>>7690106
Prepare for some boring ass chapters with unreliable knowledge bout whales.
Other than that is pretty good.
>>7690106
you should have started with the greeks and I believe reading the Bible is also a must.
A bit of Shakespeare to recognize the soliloquizing, a bit on philosophy to recognize when he invokes anyone from Plato to Spinoza in the middle chapters, a bit of the KJV bible, and a lot of patience, depending. It can be dense but imo everything contributes to it being THE quintessential American novel.
>>7690123
what about the allusions?
>>7690167
well, yeah, i guess so, >>7690145
that guy is mostly right, but probably the only one that's required is a general understanding of christianity. otherwise, you should be fine. I usually like bursting through a book knowing absolutely nothing, and then making connections after the fact when i experience what they were referencing. it's a nice feeling.
>>7690137
>unreliable knowledge
>whale as metaphor for absolute knowledge
>man's literal and figurative pursuit of meaning in Ahab and the Pequod
what's boring again
>>7690201
the whale parts.
I've been learning English for 2 years now and still cannot read Moby-Dick, too many unknown words to be honest. What should I do? I'm starting to give everything up. Why is English so illogical
I got the abridged version. Is it really worth reading the full thing?
>>7690229
eh, now you see why those >translation idiots are fucking annoying.
>>7690234
either don't read at all, like most of us on here, or read the unabridged text, like a true patrician. there is no room for half-assery on /lit/.
>>7690234
>reading abridged books
>EVER
>>7690201
Dude, there is literally an entire chapter called "Cetology" destinated just to inform us how he classifies the whales, thats not to mention how he pulled some species out of his ass.
I am not talking about the whole thing in general; just those chapters where he tries to offer some kind of useless facts and that make the reading heavier.
>>7690302
that has been one of my favorite chapters so far, actually
>>7690310
Really? Why?
Indeed classic literature is painfully boring shit, moby dick is the greatest example
>>7690322
just fun shit, him talking about whales was interesting, getting a view of his world, the mystery, the inaccessibility of his time to know what we know today, it was just interesting. that whiteness of the whale chapter though, that shit was fucking boring.
>>7690234
moby dick is a book that begs for abridgement. perfectly fine if you're not an autist
>>7690352
get out
>>7690347
>>7690302
If I weren't lazy and on mobile I'd elaborate more but every element of the work was calculated towards a wholistic experience. Moby-Dick is a c19th Bible, not just on whaling but one that sought to encapsulate the culmination up-to-that-point of humanity's existence in a work.
>>7690249
Not that anon, but are you saying I'm not missing out on any essentials by reading Moby Dick in translation, or that it's just the preferable alternative to someone without a decent enough grasp of English? Because I have a copy in my native language.
>>7690670
basically that it's sometimes not worth the trouble if you're banging your fucking head against the wall. better to experience a diminished version of something rather than not experience it all. I dunno, it's probably a pleb opinion, but who gives a shit, really? do you really care? or would you rather actually read something you want to fuckin read?
>>7690845
you could discuss it with other people in the thread.
I can appreciate his concepts of purity and nature's representation of whiteness, and how the white whale is an affront to the sensibilities of man, who has held the color in high esteem, and that the whale itself holds a vengeful spirit against that concept, rather than simply Ahab's need for revenge, but revenge against his defamation of whiteness, as a monstrous whale. that being said, the chapter was fuckin boring
>>7690302
>"[The narwhal's horn] would certainly be very convenient to him for a folder in reading pamphlets."
Sucks for you to have missed out on Melville's subtle humor. I breezed through the cetology chapter. It'll be a tough wake-up call for you when you realize that most good lit isn't filled with HAHA type humor.
>this is what happens when you don't start with the Greeks
>>7691070
yeah, i chuckled at that.
it really does have some great subtle humor.
>>7690106
that ahab isn't fighting against nature, he is fighting for the perceived notion of his identity.
>>7690106
>>7691081
>Ahab is virtually a human monolith, a Promethean figure. He takes his multinational crew in maniacal pursuit of the white whale which took off his leg (and, Melville implies, more than that: as a friend of mine quipped, a better title for the book might be Moby-no-Dick).
http://www.newstatesman.com/culture/books/2015/12/white-whale-big-smoke-how-geography-london-inspired-moby-dick
>>7691070
People see Moby-Dick as being in the same category of 'novel' as whatever they read in high school English when it's anything but. To approach the work without even a cursory knowledge of the canon is to have a comparatively incomplete reading, not merely for references' sake but also because those people aren't equipped with the faculty gained from mindful reading to parse anything from the text.
watch documentary "into the deep" after you read it.
>>7691212
*read the book.
>>7690264
What does abridged mean
>>7691255
Edited, shortened.
>>7691255
ruined.
>>7691255
destroyed
>>7691255
rent
>>7690106
It helps to know what a whale is/looks like.
>>7691340
that's explained in the buke
>>7690845
>Might as well talk to my fucking dog.
Great way of starting a discussion...disregarding other people thoughts without giving your point of view... I think you and your dog have very much in common.
>>7691070
>Sucks for you to have missed out on Melville's subtle humor.
I actually kinda chuckled at it. Kinda.
>It'll be a tough wake-up call for you when you realize that most good lit isn't filled with HAHA type humor.
It'll be tough to realize something that I never actually expected out of good lit. It took me by surprise in the first pages this book actually had humor. Subtle like you said, but humor nonetheless.
>>7691110
I am really sorry that little ol' me started reading a book without the proper background reading. Next I'll ask about it before starting a new book
>>7690106
read the parts of the Bible with Abel and Ishmael
Perhaps do some research into Gnosticism.
http://thelectern.blogspot.com.br/2012/03/moby-dick-herman-melville.html
