[Life] Book Club
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Aww, I'm delighted that you consider this one of your favourites! I gladly welcome you back, my dear! ^-^ Your lovely presence was missed dearly.
This book has quite an interesting title! I did a bit of research on it and it seems to be rather enthralling! I might just have to read it! How do you feel about the way in which androids are treated? I think there are a plethora of real-life parallels that relate to the androids, sadly.
Also, how are you enjoying the novel thus far? Do you like the writing style, the pacing? I'd love to hear your thoughts, my dear!
Welcome, hun! So glad you stumbled upon my modest club!
I did a bit of research on Sleeping Giants as well and I must say, it has a fantastic premise! I tend to stay away from sci-fi novels, but this one seems quite peculiar in the best way! Are you enjoying it thus far? Do you like the interview format?
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I'll join if I may.
Name/Nickname:
Seliph
Favourite Book:
I don't really have one. There are a lot of books I really liked, but none stick out to me as being the best I read.
Favourite Author:
There were instances where I read a lot of Stephen King and J.K. Rowling when I was younger. Currently I don't really have a favorite.
--
I've had a very long break from reading books and only read some philosophical/psychological books (so basically complicated stuff). Over the last couple months I started looking into mainly public domain literature. I actually managed to finish quite a few books including the original "Dracula" and "Frankenstein" novels and more specific stuff like the German "Nibelungenlied" (yk the story where Siegfried slayed a dragon and after his death a lot of other things happen that we never really get to see in any modern adaptations).
I think the best books I read (and finished) this year where "Journey to the Centre of the Earth" and "Crime and Punishment". Though, I've picked up "Moby Dick" a couple days ago and it looks promising as well. Another book I'm currently reading (that I'd really like to drop but I'm already over two thirds in) is Dante's "Divine Comedy". Idk, I just find it boring and repetitive...
Name/Nickname:
Seliph
Favourite Book:
I don't really have one. There are a lot of books I really liked, but none stick out to me as being the best I read.
Favourite Author:
There were instances where I read a lot of Stephen King and J.K. Rowling when I was younger. Currently I don't really have a favorite.
--
I've had a very long break from reading books and only read some philosophical/psychological books (so basically complicated stuff). Over the last couple months I started looking into mainly public domain literature. I actually managed to finish quite a few books including the original "Dracula" and "Frankenstein" novels and more specific stuff like the German "Nibelungenlied" (yk the story where Siegfried slayed a dragon and after his death a lot of other things happen that we never really get to see in any modern adaptations).
I think the best books I read (and finished) this year where "Journey to the Centre of the Earth" and "Crime and Punishment". Though, I've picked up "Moby Dick" a couple days ago and it looks promising as well. Another book I'm currently reading (that I'd really like to drop but I'm already over two thirds in) is Dante's "Divine Comedy". Idk, I just find it boring and repetitive...
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Oh MysticalNinetales!
I intend to answers questions about Do Android Dream of Electric Sheep soon, but there's something else that I wanted to ask you about if you don't mind :) This morning I saw the most delightful and informative video on YouTube about cooking in the Victorian era. There's a a twist here for the viewers though... an Oliver Twist. The dinner is served in the home of the greatest writers of all time Charles Dickens, who gave us a Christmas Carol, A Tale of Cities, Oliver Twist, Great Expectations, David Copperfield and more. We tour his house, hear stories about his life and meet one of hid surviving descendants Cedric Dickens. I thought this was fascinating, and would say it's not a one-dimensional viewing experience because it some literary and historical value in addition to being an exploration of the culinary world. I want to share this with others, but wasn't sure quitw where to post this. Obviously this is good for the Cooking Club, but I think it could also be relevant for the history club Whispers of the Past or your book club even since members would learn some things they probably didn't know about author Charles Dickens.
I wanted to ask if it would be okay with a video like that appearing in your club, do you think it fits at all within your topic?
I intend to answers questions about Do Android Dream of Electric Sheep soon, but there's something else that I wanted to ask you about if you don't mind :) This morning I saw the most delightful and informative video on YouTube about cooking in the Victorian era. There's a a twist here for the viewers though... an Oliver Twist. The dinner is served in the home of the greatest writers of all time Charles Dickens, who gave us a Christmas Carol, A Tale of Cities, Oliver Twist, Great Expectations, David Copperfield and more. We tour his house, hear stories about his life and meet one of hid surviving descendants Cedric Dickens. I thought this was fascinating, and would say it's not a one-dimensional viewing experience because it some literary and historical value in addition to being an exploration of the culinary world. I want to share this with others, but wasn't sure quitw where to post this. Obviously this is good for the Cooking Club, but I think it could also be relevant for the history club Whispers of the Past or your book club even since members would learn some things they probably didn't know about author Charles Dickens.
I wanted to ask if it would be okay with a video like that appearing in your club, do you think it fits at all within your topic?
I must apologize for my delayed response! I've been preoccupied offline with finals and I've been working a ton as well. Please feel free to discuss whatever you wish! I promise I'll be more active in a few days!
I generally prefer more realistic stories or ones that incorporate historical elements. I find that sci-fi and fantasy novels can be quite outlandish and I sometimes struggle to conceptualize them. I used to be fond of them when I was younger, but I think as I've matured I've begun to prefer books that I can connect to and relate with on a personal level. Of course, there are a plethora of sci-fi novels that I do enjoy such as The Hunger Games series, the Divergent series and the Heart of Dread series. Perhaps I will be interested with sci-fi novels again, we shall see!
If there are any sci-fi novels that you'd like to recommend, I'd love to hear!
Welcome to the club, hun! So lovely to have you join us!
I must admit I'd never read a Stephen King novel in my life. I've always been too afraid to. I've also never read anything overly philosophical. What in particular draws you towards those types of books? I will admit that I do adore psychology and if you have any books that involve psychological concepts, please do share them with me! Psychology is something I'm studying in university, I find it absolutely enthralling!
Although, I have read Frankenstein by Mary Shelley and it was quite a peculiar read. I must confess that it wasn't my favourite, I felt that the storyline was rather incomplete, but I did enjoy it nevertheless. Was that the same novel that you're referring to? If so, what was your opinion on it?
May I ask, what about Divine Comedy is boring? Usually you'd expect a book with "comedy" in the title to be engaging. What about it is lackluster? Is it the writing style, or perhaps a lack of context?
Oh yes! Please do post this! I'd love to see it my dear! You don't need permission, hun, post whatever you'd like. I don't mind if the conversation strays slightly at all. Charles Dickens is a story-telling legend, after all.
I generally prefer more realistic stories or ones that incorporate historical elements. I find that sci-fi and fantasy novels can be quite outlandish and I sometimes struggle to conceptualize them. I used to be fond of them when I was younger, but I think as I've matured I've begun to prefer books that I can connect to and relate with on a personal level. Of course, there are a plethora of sci-fi novels that I do enjoy such as The Hunger Games series, the Divergent series and the Heart of Dread series. Perhaps I will be interested with sci-fi novels again, we shall see!
If there are any sci-fi novels that you'd like to recommend, I'd love to hear!
Welcome to the club, hun! So lovely to have you join us!
I must admit I'd never read a Stephen King novel in my life. I've always been too afraid to. I've also never read anything overly philosophical. What in particular draws you towards those types of books? I will admit that I do adore psychology and if you have any books that involve psychological concepts, please do share them with me! Psychology is something I'm studying in university, I find it absolutely enthralling!
Although, I have read Frankenstein by Mary Shelley and it was quite a peculiar read. I must confess that it wasn't my favourite, I felt that the storyline was rather incomplete, but I did enjoy it nevertheless. Was that the same novel that you're referring to? If so, what was your opinion on it?
May I ask, what about Divine Comedy is boring? Usually you'd expect a book with "comedy" in the title to be engaging. What about it is lackluster? Is it the writing style, or perhaps a lack of context?
Oh yes! Please do post this! I'd love to see it my dear! You don't need permission, hun, post whatever you'd like. I don't mind if the conversation strays slightly at all. Charles Dickens is a story-telling legend, after all.
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I'm super excited to be sharing this! Here is dining with the great Dickens!
I keep forgetting what I read over the year but luckily goodreads has me covered
currently reading Mason & Dixon by Pynchon as well as The Tempest by Shakespeare, both have that older style of English which has been really fun, even though Pynchon wrote Mason & Dixon in 1997. I always wonder how many of these words are actually pronounced the way I imagine it, I know that Shakespeare for example used words in his writings that were specific to his time period, so professors are always talking about how great the OED is for close readings etc. but not only that, often the words were pronounced differently in their time and you ended up with some funny puns that just don't carry over!
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I mostly just got into Stephen King because my father used to read his books. I'm also most likely one of the few people who kinda liked how the Dark Tower saga ended.
Philosophy: I've always been a little too much into trying to grasp the big meanings of life. I've also never been the type to make friends, never had any feeling of belonging anywhere. During the lowest of my life, when others may look into religion or unhealthy groups, I picked up Nietzsche...and didn't understand anything at all. But it's something I find important, back then in hopes to figure out who I am and even now still as a means to find something to go towards to.
But needless to say: that stuff is difficult. I personally prefer ancient Greek/Roman philosophy over modern. They had something special, their own weird quirks, but still simple enough to understand. Modern philosophy I find mostly either lacking, superficial and on the other side of the spectrum of modern philosophy overly convoluted (read: academic).
Psychology: goes kinda along with my interest in philosophy. If you want something that's good to get into then read "Thinking, Fast and Slow" by Daniel Kahneman. It's very approachable, at least I found it so. Imo it gives good insights into why we act the way we act and why we make so many mistakes.
It's the one. To be honest I kinda went in blind and didn't really expect it to be a story about revenge. I do like myself a little revenge story, however. I suppose, I'm just not a good person xD
But yeah, it's not particularly...complete.
Context, most likely. Afterall it's very much a story in the world of Christianity. Dante traveling through Inferno, Purgatory and Paradise, meeting people of name in all the circles (most of them Italian, because Dante was Italian) and listening to they stories and then moving on; supposedly what made it popular in the first place was how it changed the "genre". Up to then Italian literature of this kind was always written in Latin. Dante wrote his "Comedy" in Italian. There may also be that he finished his work only one year before he died (kinda reminds me of Goethe's Faust in that aspect). There may also be more that I'm missing.
In that sense, "boring" might not be the right word. It may well not be my type of literature, something I enjoy. But I read it anyway, because I'm that stubborn in terms of literature: finish what you start.
Even if it's Hegel. But more on that when I talk about what I've read this year and what I plan on doing in the next one.
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D-did I never join this club??? Shame on me!
Name: Fairy
Favorite Book: This is a tough one. A Song of Ice and Fire, Slaughterhouse V, To Kill a Mocking Bird, The Traitor Baru Cormorant... but I'm also a big fan of amateur horror too.
Favorite Author: Octavia Butler, Kurt Vonnegut, and Orson Scott Card would be too if not for all the... bigotry. :/
Name: Fairy
Favorite Book: This is a tough one. A Song of Ice and Fire, Slaughterhouse V, To Kill a Mocking Bird, The Traitor Baru Cormorant... but I'm also a big fan of amateur horror too.
Favorite Author: Octavia Butler, Kurt Vonnegut, and Orson Scott Card would be too if not for all the... bigotry. :/
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this club is cute
i genuinely miss reading books like i used to when i was a kid
i genuinely miss reading books like i used to when i was a kid
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I am very excited as moderator of this section to present MysticalNinetales with a Silver Sylveon award for excellence, and a commemorative plaque. One of my favorite hangouts The Book Club has been voted first runner up for Club of the Year! Congratulations my dear friend Lina. May the silver Sylveon be a light illuminating the pages of this wonderful library.
Be sure to come claim your giftcard prize! Let us know when you're ready which store your gift card will be from.
Your awards were designed by none other than the legend Sylveon mod herself! I'll private message you the imugr link if you wish to display em in any particular way for your award-winning club.
/Hands you a bouquet of roses
Be sure to come claim your giftcard prize! Let us know when you're ready which store your gift card will be from.
Your awards were designed by none other than the legend Sylveon mod herself! I'll private message you the imugr link if you wish to display em in any particular way for your award-winning club.
/Hands you a bouquet of roses
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Thank you so much, dear! It truly means a lot to receive this esteemed award! I hope that my humble club continues to flourish in 2020!
I am very excited as moderator of this section to present MysticalNinetales with a Silver Sylveon award for excellence, and a commemorative plaque. One of my favorite hangouts The Book Club has been voted first runner up for Club of the Year! Congratulations my dear friend Lina. May the silver Sylveon be a light illuminating the pages of this wonderful library.
Be sure to come claim your giftcard prize! Let us know when you're ready which store your gift card will be from.
Your awards were designed by none other than the legend Sylveon mod herself! I'll private message you the imugr link if you wish to display em in any particular way for your award-winning club.
/Hands you a bouquet of roses
Thank you so much, my dear Milotic! I am ecstatic to have been gifted this fabulous award! I must say, it isn't I that makes this club so special, it's each and every member, everyone that contributes to discussion! All of my dear members make this club what it is today and I'm so proud!
I will respond to all of the posts shortly! I apologize for my brief absence. I wish everyone a happy new year and I'll talk to you all soon! Keep on reading! ^-^
I keep forgetting what I read over the year but luckily goodreads has me covered
This is fabulous! I should sign up to Goodreads, It'd be very interesting to see all of the books that I read throughout 2019.
I must admit I despised Shakespeare's work in high school, as I found his writing difficult to comprehend and I failed to see what relevance it had. Although, in 12th grade, we explored Hamlet, which I surprisingly really enjoyed. I can't quite point out what about it I liked exactly, it just made sense to me. As a lover of history I do think that old-English, as painful as it is to read, is quite fascinating. I constantly think about what it would be like if the English language hadn't evolved any further from the pre-enlightenment era. Just imagine the memes.
Maybe I should give one of Shakespeare's plays another read. How are you enjoying The Tempest thus far?
Yes, my father was quite fond of Stephen King at one point of his life as well. I used to find various King novels tucked away in closets and drawers throughout the house growing up. Although, I haven't seen him pick up a hearty novel in at least half a decade, perhaps longer. The only thing he reads nowadays are hardware magazines. Anyways, I had to do a bit of research on Nietzsche, as I was unfamiliar with him and his work. He seems to have a plethora of interesting philosophical ideologies, many of which differ greatly from my own, which I find all the more intriguing. If his philosophical ideologies speak to you, I'm glad! What in particular about his views do you connect with the most, if you don't mind me asking.
I do agree, I've always admired Greek/Roman philosophy, you're right, it's very easy to understand, and so many of their ideas are so incredibly profound. Early Greek theorists such as Aristotle and Democritus and philosophers were truly ahead of their time. In terms of modern philosophy, well, truthfully, I don't have much of an opinion. I think in our increasingly connected world their are so many ways of thought and such an array of ideologies that it's hard to keep up with. I'm not even sure I can offer an explanation on what modern philosophy is. Perhaps you're right, maybe it is overly convoluted.
Thank you for the recommendation. I will have to keep an eye out for that book. I've been yearning to read something non-fiction and relating to psychology for quite some time now, given that 100% of all I read and have ever read is fiction.
Yeah, the plot was incredibly turbulent and it wasn't what I anticipated at all. It was very engaging, although I found it ludicrous how Victor seemed so unemotional in regards to the deaths of several of his friends and family members. To me, the monster seemed more human than he did.
That's fair, there's certain books that I've read two words of and I've immediately understood that they weren't for me. It's interesting because I'm the complete opposite of you, I refuse to read something that doesn't suite my tastes, even if it's a required novel for a class. I simply cannot dive into an book that I don't like. I'm a book snob, if I do say so myself.
A good example of this is Life of Pi by Yann Martel. It wasn't a bad novel, by any means. It's widely popular and has been made into a successful movie (As I'm sure you may know). Last year, we had to read the novel within the span of the month, and once a week as a class we would come together to discuss it. I read the last two chapters and a couple of pages scattered throughout the novel and that was it. I simply couldn't get into it. I found a lot of the underlying messages quite interesting, including ones related to religion and whether Richard Parker was a real, living tiger or a fable of Piscine's dazed imagination. I read mostly of the book's plot online in order to contribute to the discussions and that was really it. Again, it wasn't that I disliked the book, it just wasn't something that I would've ever selected to read myself.
The book at you're describing does sound quite interesting. Perhaps that's because I'm Christian myself, although I don't know that would jive with comedy. (I must admit I don't believe in Inferno or "hell" myself but it would be interesting to see its portrayal.)
Welcome, my dear! So grateful that you have stumbled upon my little club. I hope you'll stay for a cup of tea!
Oh To Kill A Mockingbird. Yes what a classic. Now that was a novel that I didn't expect to take to but I genuinely enjoyed it. What about the critically-acclaimed yet immensely scrutinized novel did you enjoy most? Who was your favourite character? Myself, I loved Atticus Finch. I imagined him as quite a dashing older gentlemen.
A Song of Ice and Fire also rings a belle. I'm almost certain that a friend of mine read that once, although I don't think I've come across it myself. It has a lovely title though so I'm sure it's fabulous.
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Well, it kinda started just as a matter of curiosity. Apparently, reading Nietzsche was at some point expected, but it fell out of favor. So I wanted to look into it. There were also some hearsay about how he was supposedly nationalist and suffered from syphilis. So I wanted to clear that up for myself. Turns out, both of them were false.
In terms of content: Nietzsche is kinda hard to understand and he's made very much clear that he did so intentionally. It took me about 8 of his books just to get the feeling that I finally got what he wanted to say.
I think, for me the most important part was about individuality and the associated purpose. Thing is, I never had any feeling of belonging to a group and usually was stuck with my own thoughts. Nietzsche does talk many times of people who "suffer from society", that is those, who don't fit into a current system and are instead people made to pave the path to, what Nietzsche likes to call, the "Übermensch" (uber human, super human, whatever English translation there is). I personally don't think I'm entitled to such a position, it may even well be that I completely misunderstood something completely.
But in any case: if you happen to have a better understanding of him, you can go ahead and correct me. That, btw., is something everyone else can also chime in, if they like. :)
Well, it's a comedy because right from the beginning it is made clear that Dante is still alive and that he'll return to tell everyone of his experiences through his travels.
But it is true, that the book requires a lot of context. Dante (the rl author that is), being exiled after repeatedly going against the pope and other Christian influence holders, calling them out on their power abuse. The book was very much made as some sort of retribution, showing that he indeed is a devout Christian who cares about the morals and values.
I'm probably doing a very bad job at describing it so you may want to do some of your own research. ^^"
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Now for my full review of "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" This novel is quite brilliant, it's so unexpected and full of irony and ahead of it's time. I don't really know a book that this is similar to, but I was on the edge of my seat as I peered into this strange world. As for the pacing, I couldn't put the book down.
The title is that much more poignant in context because there was a mass extinction that took place before the events of the novel, and what mostly roams the world are electric animals that were made to simulate real ones so post-apocalyptic earth looks more like it did before the war. The few surviving animals are sometimes wrongly assumed to be fake, meanwhile the imitations are so realistic that they can fool the onlookers into thinking they have come across a real living creature.
Even though people often struggle to distinguish the two unless they are around them for extended periods, everyone would prefer to have an authentic animal instead of a synthetic one because of their rarity, and because it's a connection to another living being in the desolate remains of earth, even though real animals are almost unaffordable and will eventually die like all living things. To have any animal is a status symbol, and if you can afford a living pet even a common mouse you are thought to be very lucky.
The protagonist Deckard, a government contractor and android bounty hunter can't afford a real animal and keeps an electric sheep to graze in his yard because of the pressure from his wife to keep up with the Joneses, but he is obsessed with having the companionship of a live animal some day, especially one that hasn't been domesticated, something wild and free. He has contempt for the electric sheep because it feels dishonest to him. He has a memory of real sheep from before the war. The electric sheep epitomizes everything he finds hypocritical with this world.
Because Deckard is a sensitive man with a conscience he initially tries to justify his job "retiring" androids (killing them) by comparing androids to his electric sheep that he can walk over to and just turn it's switch off when he's tired of it. The key word there is tries. His job gets harder and harder psychologically the more androids he has to face.
As for how androids are treated, I will quote an android so you can hear it from their own lips.
"It's a chance anyway, breaking free and coming here to Earth, where we're not even considered animals. Where every worm and wood louse is considered more desirable than all of us put together."
I won't tell you which android said it and spoil things in case you read the book one day. It's something of a detective novel that keeps you guessing about who is an android and who is not, and throws curve balls at the reader.
One of the things I found especially riveting and original about this book is a concept known as Mercerism, it's a sort of religion that has taken root in post-war earth. In accordance with Mercerism you do not kill any living thing, not even an insect, it is sacrilegious. You would certainly never harm a human being.
Androids are legally classified as property like animals. However unlike an animal an android is not recognized as even alive by the state, so they are not protected by the aforementioned moral code. While the death of an animal would be regarded as a tragedy and a serious crime, killing an "Andy" (as they are derisively called sometimes) is of no consequence unless it was still in service to a person or company as , in which case there penalty would be some minor fine to compensate the owner for profit loss or property damage no more. Androids themselves have no civil rights. To "retire" an android no longer considered useful or manageable would not only be permitted by law, the law would enforce this like scraping an unsafe car. You would be expected to terminate a runaway android.
Being an android is perhaps an existence even more hopeless than that of a slave in the history of our world because a slave might be able to purchase their freedom or be set free under some circumstance or run away to a place that doesn't have slavery and live in peace. But sadly there's nowhere that you can go as an android where you would be recognized as a living being. The only way to not be enslaved is if you escaped and passed as human for whatever time you had left. It's a life of constant fear. There is no destination where you are safe once and for all, you just have to keep running and hiding.
Androids might be designed and employed for any occupation, but they are mostly found in colonies on Mars to do labor in conditions that humans would not be able to physically withstand. At the start of the novel we learn that a rebellion happened on planet Mars where a number of androids killed their owners to escape slavery and fled to Earth to hide, and have now infiltrated society, posing as human. This is where the specialist Deckard comes in, to track down everybody who had anything to do with the revolt, unmask them as androids and "retire" them to make the streets safe again.
I think the book is interesting because the morals are not black and white. The androids Phillip K Dick introduces to us are often ambivalent figures. They are usually physically beautiful, they can form friendships, display emotion, use reasoning powers, they show curiosity and exhibit all sorts of talents. They in some ways have a childlike quality. Yet the author doesn't romanticize androids. He is willing to an explore an android's capacity for cruelty and manipulation, something that also exists in the heart of human beings in his story. Nobody is noble. It's one continuous shade of gray that just gets a lot darker in places.
I would give this book four or five stars, and want to check out more of Phillip K Dick's stories like "We Can Remember It for You Wholesale" and "Minority Report."
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To be honest: when you spend hours thinking about what to write and you could literally fill books with those thoughts alone; but then you write things down and afterwards realize that what you wrote down is not much at all; it kinda makes you sad; and by "you", I mean myself.
Anyway, here are my condensed thoughts on "Moby Dick; or, The Whale" by Herman Melville.
***
Call me Ishmael! Among the few things that I new about the book Moby Dick, this quote was one of them. Yet, only when I got to the first sentence of the very first chapter did I actually remember it.
Ishmael introduces himself as a scholar with the occasional urge to board a ship and earn is money as a sailor. Though, having been on a couple of merchant vessels before, this time he desires to join the crew of a whaling ship, that is: he wanted to try out the profession of hunting whales.
Thus, he heads out to the town of New Bedford where he meets and befriends a harpooneer called Queequeg, a member of a cannibal tribe. The two decide to board the same ship and head for Nantucket, hailed by Ishmael as the birthplace of whaling. Finally, they join the crew of the Pequod.
However, the tone of the story is set even before the sails are set as a prophet tells them that the voyage will end in certain doom.
As the ship sets sail we get introduced to the main actors on board. Starting with Starbuck, the first mate and the "voice of reason", Stubb, the somewhat crazy, but also quite philosophical, second mate, who describes himself as "always jolly", and Flask, the third mate who starts off a little bit too cocky but gets cut down to size pretty quickly only to be taking only a minor role for the rest of the book. Those mates also assign their respective harpooneers. Those being Queequeg, Tashtego, a native American and Daggoo, a man from Africa.
Lastly there is Captain Ahab. At the beginning he is rarely seen, being assumed to be ill. As time progresses he starts appearing more and more up until at last he calls his crew on deck to reveal to them the true intention of the voyage: to take revenge on and kill Moby Dick, the white whale.
This is also the first instance where we get to see the first mate trying to reason Ahab out of his monomaniac plans.
The book thenceforth is filled with little stories describing the everyday life on the Pequod as well as with a lot of analysis in regards to the profession of whale hunting, the methods and tools used to hunt down whales, the anatomical structure of the different species of whales, but also some mythological aspects as well. There are also multiple occasions when the crew encounters other ships and exchanges information, hoping to learn the location that Moby Dick resides.
Some things about the whale himself: he belongs to the species of Sperm Whales. Those whales where the main target of whaling ships due to the oil they store in an organ inside their head. This oil has a milkish color which the sailors back then confused with sperm leading to the species being called the way it is. This oil becomes solid when cooling down and was used for e.g. making candles.
The Sperm whale is also one of the few whales who have actual teeth, making them the largest predator on earth. This circumstance also lead to Ahab losing his leg during his last encounter with Moby Dick.
As for the conclusion of the book, I don't think there is much to spoil about it. The story is well known and the trope of revenge has certainly been used many times in media afterwards. I won't talk about how it ended, but I will talk just a little bit about how I experienced the ending. That is: even before the final chase happened, the stage was already set for the things to come. And more important: some of the information given at that point made the ending more of a tough pill to swallow than I was expecting at first. It usually does take a lot to get any reaction out of me. Feeling empty after reading a long book is normal, but this book took "feeling empty" to a completely new level.
Anyway, I'm not rating the book. I don't like rating things. Numbers are too arbitrary. What I will say, however: I liked the book. And I will put it into my pile of "will reread in the future".
Anyway, here are my condensed thoughts on "Moby Dick; or, The Whale" by Herman Melville.
***
Call me Ishmael! Among the few things that I new about the book Moby Dick, this quote was one of them. Yet, only when I got to the first sentence of the very first chapter did I actually remember it.
Ishmael introduces himself as a scholar with the occasional urge to board a ship and earn is money as a sailor. Though, having been on a couple of merchant vessels before, this time he desires to join the crew of a whaling ship, that is: he wanted to try out the profession of hunting whales.
Thus, he heads out to the town of New Bedford where he meets and befriends a harpooneer called Queequeg, a member of a cannibal tribe. The two decide to board the same ship and head for Nantucket, hailed by Ishmael as the birthplace of whaling. Finally, they join the crew of the Pequod.
However, the tone of the story is set even before the sails are set as a prophet tells them that the voyage will end in certain doom.
As the ship sets sail we get introduced to the main actors on board. Starting with Starbuck, the first mate and the "voice of reason", Stubb, the somewhat crazy, but also quite philosophical, second mate, who describes himself as "always jolly", and Flask, the third mate who starts off a little bit too cocky but gets cut down to size pretty quickly only to be taking only a minor role for the rest of the book. Those mates also assign their respective harpooneers. Those being Queequeg, Tashtego, a native American and Daggoo, a man from Africa.
Lastly there is Captain Ahab. At the beginning he is rarely seen, being assumed to be ill. As time progresses he starts appearing more and more up until at last he calls his crew on deck to reveal to them the true intention of the voyage: to take revenge on and kill Moby Dick, the white whale.
This is also the first instance where we get to see the first mate trying to reason Ahab out of his monomaniac plans.
The book thenceforth is filled with little stories describing the everyday life on the Pequod as well as with a lot of analysis in regards to the profession of whale hunting, the methods and tools used to hunt down whales, the anatomical structure of the different species of whales, but also some mythological aspects as well. There are also multiple occasions when the crew encounters other ships and exchanges information, hoping to learn the location that Moby Dick resides.
Some things about the whale himself: he belongs to the species of Sperm Whales. Those whales where the main target of whaling ships due to the oil they store in an organ inside their head. This oil has a milkish color which the sailors back then confused with sperm leading to the species being called the way it is. This oil becomes solid when cooling down and was used for e.g. making candles.
The Sperm whale is also one of the few whales who have actual teeth, making them the largest predator on earth. This circumstance also lead to Ahab losing his leg during his last encounter with Moby Dick.
As for the conclusion of the book, I don't think there is much to spoil about it. The story is well known and the trope of revenge has certainly been used many times in media afterwards. I won't talk about how it ended, but I will talk just a little bit about how I experienced the ending. That is: even before the final chase happened, the stage was already set for the things to come. And more important: some of the information given at that point made the ending more of a tough pill to swallow than I was expecting at first. It usually does take a lot to get any reaction out of me. Feeling empty after reading a long book is normal, but this book took "feeling empty" to a completely new level.
Anyway, I'm not rating the book. I don't like rating things. Numbers are too arbitrary. What I will say, however: I liked the book. And I will put it into my pile of "will reread in the future".
Spoiler:
I love your analysis of Moby Dick, thank you so much for sharing! I must confess that I was genuinely unaware of the premise of this popularized rale before your explanation. The entire premise of whaling is unexpected honestly, I always assumed it was about a man or women who befriended a lonely whale. How juvenile of me! Oh whale, I do have a child-like imagination (sea what I did there?)
Honestly, the way in which you've described the characters makes them seem quite interesting. I adore stories with a that have lively and interesting stories. Are any of the character's backstories heavily explored? If so, which character had the most intriguing past and who was your favourite character?
I also find it interesting how details about whales were presented in the book. Its nice when authors offer bits of information that can help a reader to connect and understand various elements of a story more. I certainly was unaware where sperm whales got their name from!
Anyways, Moby Dick seems like a fabulous read. I genuinely might consider reading it. I'm also thrilled that you enjoyed it.
Spoiler:
One question I immediately have as I read through your analysis is are there any efforts to increase the population of "authentic" animals? Are there scientists working to breed these creatures in order to allow them to flourish once again in the wild? Or are scientists solely focusing on the development of artificial electric organisms? I'm rather intrigued.
This story deeply interests me to the highest level. A post-war, post-apocalyptic society where machines can model as human beings and other living creatures sounds truly terrifying. It also highlights a fear that many people have in our increasingly technological-reliant society, is that one day computers and "androids" may outsmart us. I think perhaps there is a similar fear that is present in the society that you describe, which perhaps would explain why "androids" have no civil rights. This is perhaps a bizarre question, but is there a part of you that hypothesizes that are current society is heading towards an age of dominated by artificial intelligence?
Anyways, the prospect of androids getting hunted down genuinely breaks my heart. I feel for these individuals, even if they are indeed soulless. What is your perspective on this?
I appreciate your thought-provoking analysis of this story, as well as Seliph's intriguing review. I love hearing different opinions on various stories! I do plan on sharing details on stories that I've read within the past month or so, so please stay tuned! ^-^
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