Moby Dick: Love it? Hate it? Must Read? SO from another thread.

[Hunter]

What do you think of Moby Dick? I often see it on some VERY short must read lists. Is Moby Dick a must read?

[Farrar]

I had to read other Melville in school and then tried to read Moby Dick... and I just didn't like it and didn't finish it. I can respect that it's a great book, but you don't have to love all the greats. And I feel like I've read enough (and continue to read new to me) classics that I don't feel like I have to finish every single one. Even Moby Dick.

 

Sorry, Bill.

[Five More Minutes]

Moby Dick is one I read and am glad that I did. (If nothing else, I get Bone and the poor guy lugging that book around! :001_smile: ) But I'd agree with Farrar -- I don't think I need to read every. single. great. book, and am willing to let some slide. Don Quixote has been sitting on my shelves for years and occasionally I pick it up out of guilt ... and then leave it for another time.

[Ellie]

Well, as long as you stick to the actual story, it's a good book. What is boring is the discussion of whales and natural history in general (it's been a very long time since I read it, lol). It was the same with Hans Brinker...the Hans storyline was good, but there was lots of other stuff that was boring.

[Erin]

What do you think of Moby Dick? I often see it on some VERY short must read lists. Is Moby Dick a must read?

Dry as dirt.

I have tried to read it several times, but just can not get past the few dozen pages.

DH read it, just for fun. The history of whaling aspect really kept him in it, though. I'm not intrigued enough by whaling. ;)

[Spy Car]

Perhaps the greatest literary work in the English language.

 

Bill

[Farrar]

Moby Dick is one I read and am glad that I did. (If nothing else, I get Bone and the poor guy lugging that book around! :001_smile: ) But I'd agree with Farrar -- I don't think I need to read every. single. great. book, and am willing to let some slide. Don Quixote has been sitting on my shelves for years and occasionally I pick it up out of guilt ... and then leave it for another time.

 

 

After reading Bone, Ds asked if he could read Moby Dick. I was like, um, why don't you wait until you're a little older. And then, when he dressed up as Bone, he posed for his Halloween picture holding a copy of it. :D

[Spy Car]

What's Bone?

 

Bill

[JuanitaL]

My son had it on his reading list, I started reading it and made it maybe 3 or 4 chapters in - he finished it though. I have two more kids, so maybe I could make a plan to read part of it with the 2nd one, then part of it with the 3rd one.

[Jane in NC]

Although I had not read Moby Dick, I assigned it to my son in 11th grade. After he finished it, he proclaimed it to be one of the best books he had ever read and then assigned it to me.

 

I shall be eternally grateful. Truly a magnificent work.

[lovemykids]

I read it and thoroughly enjoyed it when I was very young. I assigned to my daughter this year, in eighth grade. She begged me to let her stop due to boredom :lol:, but she would like to try again in late high school.

 

I say *must read* and love it...but it depends on the person or child.

[Five More Minutes]

nm ... my phone split a post on me ...

[Five More Minutes]

So ... finally, after much fighting with my phone, here's an introduction to Bone:

 

http://www.scholasti.../bone/books.htm

 

Now the question is ... is Bone a must-read? :-)

[Spy Car]

The edit feature killed my joke.

 

Bill

[Five More Minutes]

 

After reading Bone, Ds asked if he could read Moby Dick. I was like, um, why don't you wait until you're a little older. And then, when he dressed up as Bone, he posed for his Halloween picture holding a copy of it. :D

 

I LOVE that!

[raceNzanesmom]

Oldest ds loved it. He's read it at least twice. I made my way through it, but agree all the added info gets boring.

[Miss Tick]

I chose to read it as an adult, didn't rush it, and enjoyed. I thought it was waaay better than Secret Garden! :-)

[8filltheheart]

I have read Moby Dick multiple times. I don't enjoy it so much while I am reading it, but after I finish it, I am always glad I did.

 

I do think that the chapters on white and some of the extended commentary on whaling procedures, etc are tedious. (especially the chpt on white!) So far only 1 of my kids has read it before graduating.

[Mommy22alyns]

NNNNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Nope. I did my time, I'm not going to do it again.

[Beth S]

Our dermatologist randomly volunteered that Moby Dick was his FAVORITE book.

My son & I rolled our eyes.

His second favorite is Dracula.

(This fun conversation began when the doc saw ds reading "Scarlet Letter" while waiting for the appt.)

I read it in high school and skimmed over BOTH the whaling chapters AND the plot chapters.

I know SWB has written in one of her books that she has deftly avoided reading MD in its entirety.

[PachiSusan]

I attempted to read it 3 times. I never got past the first few pages. I can't really explain why but it just did not pull me in. Neither did "A Tale of Two Cities"... <running away in fear for my life> :auto:

[Pen]

Must read? At what stage, and for what reason? In a college course on Great American Novels, yes, I think it would be a must read.

 

In general? No. I think it would be a good book to include on a list of things that a child might like, or to have in a basket or on a bookshelf where it might be picked up and enjoyed. But no reason that it Must be read if it does not resonate.

[lewelma]

You guys are making me feel terrible as I was the one who suggested it to my ds(12), and I have never read it. I had heard great things about it probably from Bill! :001_rolleyes: After 3 weeks, ds is only half way through, and he is my fast reader. He did tell me that he has finally gotten past the boring part. I will say, however, that he does NOT want to stop the book and does not want to have anything else to read until he is done. So I hope that in the end he is glad he read it.

 

Ruth in NZ

[Chris in VA]

I think it's one of those books best read with support from a good lit analysis resource, and discussed with someone who has read and understood it.

(Of course, there are multiple layers of meaning in MD, and practically NO one truly gets all of them, but at least someone who has a clue...)

 

I don't like analysing Great Books to death, as I believe it can suck the life out of them, and the strength of the story or characters or whatever should be able to stand alone,BUT, without some knowledge of the subtleties, it is hard to see all the incredible stuff in them. We need to know WHY something is considered "important" in order to appreciate it more.

[Karen in CO]

It is a wicked little book that I avoided reading it until a few years ago. It took me over a year of insomnia to work my way through it. When I finished, I flipped back to the beginning and read it again and then again. I've since read it many more times. I've read portions of it as a bedtime story to my youngest dd because I just couldn't put it down, and she will tell you that it is a very exciting book and has the audio book on her Kindle. My ds read it his senior year of college on the train to school and loved it. I think it is something that people should tackle as a choice; however, I think a mature study of American literature would be incomplete without it.

 

 

 

“I have written a wicked book and feel spotless as a lamb.†~Melville

[klmama]

I do think knowing the plot is very helpful for literary references. We read the Great Illustrated Classics version and enjoyed it. I tried the original, but stopped. I prefer Melville's short stories.

[Jane in NC]

You guys are making me feel terrible as I was the one who suggested it to my ds(12), and I have never read it. I had heard great things about it probably from Bill! :001_rolleyes: After 3 weeks, ds is only half way through, and he is my fast reader. He did tell me that he has finally gotten past the boring part. I will say, however, that he does NOT want to stop the book and does not want to have anything else to read until he is done. So I hope that in the end he is glad he read it.

 

Ruth in NZ

 

We have spent a fair amount of time in a town that was once a whaling community. For my son, reading Moby Dick was a walk into the past along a main street he knows well. In fact, he wondered if someone unfamiliar with New England coastal communities would have a harder time just getting into the book.

 

I spent many pleasant hours with the beautifully illustrated University of California edition of Moby Dick in my beach chair, sand between my toes.

[J-rap]

My husband says it is the greatest novel he has ever read. He is a deep thinker and very intellectual. Myself -- I've never read it.

[Ravin]

My 9yo. DD has announced today that she is going to read it. So far she's finished the first chapter, though I have my doubts as to whether she understood any of it. I may have to dive in myself, just because.

 

Most of my literary understanding of the NE coast comes from the Island in the Sea of Eternity books, which are a scifi/fantasy trilogy about Nantucket getting sent 3500 years into the past. (ducking for cover!)

[Georgiana Daniels]

It's on my list--we'll see where it actually lands in my To Be Read pile.

[Hen]

we studied it in AP English, but never actually read it. Recently, a family friend boy- age 16 read it at his Classical private school and he has said it is now his favorite book. I've heard he can elegantly share about all the symbolism and profoundness (is that a word?) in the book and he has pointed out to his parents many instances of references from the book in other media...so I am pretty intrigued. When I see him this Summer I am going to ask him to make a believer out of me and tell me all about it, and then it will be on my 'to read' list.