Have you read Moby Dick by Herman Melville?

Question

So, I had a bet going on with a friend of mine. I said, "most people have read Moby Dick" she said I was wrong -

So I asked quite a few people where this line came from, "Call me Ishmeal" - and no one could tell me.

So, I want to know, how many of you read Moby Dick, yes or no? If yes, tell me what you liked or disliked about it?

Thanks!

I love this book - I love it for it's depth, it's symbolism, it’s richness in the prose – I’m not sure a middle schooler or high school kid could understand the depth of this book. Opinions on that?

Answer 1

Yes I have, nd in the Original form, not the watered down, and re written short version that is so common in the past 40 years or so. So ask if they have read the Original. the Original is very indepth in a saiors life at sea, and if you don't have much knowlege on society of the 1850s or in that matter ships and sailors, yo may get confused and lost in much of the old terms and manners of the time, the wording is not common to todays literature, and as a book, it wa not well recieved or read for years, not until the late 1800s did it start to become popular, and lets face it these days few people read books, as say 50 years ago, and fewer still could get through a book as "hard" as Mobey Dick, mostly because the life is so far removed fro anything in todays society, years ago people had a better understanding of the lifestyle, it was still around in one formm or another, but whaling, and sail ships havent been apart of the American life since the 1920s.
I woud say less than 1 in 1,000 have read it, it may be more especially the younger the crownd, aunder 40 I'd say you would be hard pressed to find another besides yourself.

Answer 2

Though I could have told you the novel had you asked me the quote, I have yet to read the book. And I'm not particulary intrested in reading it. I read something Melville did before "Moby Dick" that was supposedly supposed to show what a good author he's supposed to be. Moreover it was claimed that it was just a taste of of what one can expect if they haven't read "Moby Dick." I was so bored out of my skull that I can't believe "Moby Dick" would actually be something I could bother reading. I'd much rather read about the whaling ship Essex and her crew, whose true story inspired Melville to write "Moby Dick."

Answer 3

I've read Moby-Dick. My favorite part was when it was all over. The interclarity chapters were a living hell. :(
Yeah. Not the biggest fan of that whale. I didn't like how it was sooooooooo long. What I did like was the central theme.

Answer 4

I did read it, but wasn't much of a fan. It would dwell on things I wasn't interested in for chapters at a time, and I would just get really bored. Plus, I read it in class with a teacher that I really didn't like who worshiped the book, but really made it unenjoyable for me. Perhaps I shall attempt it again someday.

Answer 5

I agree with dg, and I think it shud be required reading for all kids by the 7th grade. It's entertaining and a great literal work of writing. It was mandatory for our 7th grade class to also read Tale of Two cities.

Answer 6

Who hasn't read it that is of an age to read?
What I disliked was the obsesssion he had against the whale to the point it cost him his life and that of his men.

What I liked, and it isn't very nice of me, is the fact the ultimately, though killed,the whale won!

Answer 7

Yes, I read it aloud - Captain Ahab's anger is well scripted and you can release alot of pent up energy reading it aloud - quite an interesting phenomena.

Answer 8

Yes, I've read it. I think it's a novel which at this point is more important than entertaining.