Favorite book review: Moby Dick
What did I liked about the book and what I remember about it:
The plot is the best part of the book. The situation they are in is specially interesting, having a combination of different background characters in a closed and small environment: a whale boat. Also, the message of the book is very interesting: I think we should evaluate what we are pursuing for, otherwise it can overtake our life and harm the ones surrounding us.
My relationship with the book
I think I am similar to Ishmael in some aspects because although I want some adventure in my life and I am ready to face new challenges, sometimes I am a bit indecisive. Also I have some sad thoughts when things are not going well.
Two characters of the book: Captain Ahab and the Moby Dick remind me of various relevant people of the world history, but not of anyone that I met personally. People that believe so badly that the other people represent the evil and do so much to try to get rid of it. One of these events is Hitler, who can be compared as the Capitain Ahab, fighting against the nature force (the other races) or the Catholic pope, that send his troops on the crusades, killing people to spread their own beliefs.
Because of the obstinate behavior of Capitain Ahab, I started thinking more about my own behavior, avoiding being obsessed about things that I want to, and considering more the opinion of people that surround me (that are in the same boat as me) and have their own particularities.
About the book
I think the choice of the title is good. It represents the reason why all the characters of the book end up together. The force of the nature that represents different things to the characters, a big whale. The book have several lessons you can learn a bit from, but I liked the ending. It ends a cycle of one of the main characters pursuit, unfortunately not in a good way to him and to most of the boat population.
The best part of the book is when the whole crew meets the whale. I like it because the captain that really wants to see the Moby Dick and his crew that is not so into it, finally see the whale. The conflict of the situation is really interesting and happens a lot in our everyday life. There are lots of messages that can be retrieved from this retold version and probably there are even some more in the whole book, which I intend to read someday.
Very interesting, Mario. I was particularly interested in your thoughts on obsessions. Obsessions are very hard to control, aren't they? For some, they can take over, as you say, and it's easy to lose perspective.
ReplyDeleteYou seem to have gotten a lot out of this book, and even related it to your own struggles. I hope you get to read the whole book someday. Also, there is an old movie of it which is very interesting.
Good report! Well done.