The husband and I decided to form our own little book club. Unofficially,
we had read a book at the same time in 2025, but never discussed it.
For 2026, we made it official and, after going through a
list of possible choices, landed on Moby Dick. I had never read it, and
it had been many years since the husband had cracked open the book.
The book had been described to me as being a story about a captain obsessed with chasing down a white
whale.
Having that expectation in mind, I began the reading
adventure and I was absolutely frustrated.
This book isn’t just about a whale obsessed captain, it is
much more than that and, had I known this beforehand, my expectations would
have been different and I would have enjoyed it for what it was -at least to
me.
The book has a narrator (Ishmael) who proceeds to tell a
story of which he was witness. However, I would describe this as more of a
commonplace book: the writings of a man who tells a story about his experience,
seems to add context from points of view of other persons, describes scenes he
would never know, and then throws in various chapters of science and biology. There is an underlining current of religious opinions throughout and possibly an allegory in the characters of many.
The characters appear to allegorical meanings behind them.
The book read choppy at times and then the ebb and flow from
the story to the inner musings and scientific writings reminded me of the waves
of the sea.
It is obvious Melville researched much to write this book.
It is also obvious, that one needs some kind of knowledge of archaic ship
words, the Bible, pagan beliefs, European history, American history, and world
maps to understand and enjoy more deeply.
My husband asked me if I would re-read this book again. Yes,
I think I would, and with a deeper appreciation now that I come in understanding
better what it was and not the shallow description often given to the book.
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