Why Read Moby-Dick?

A personal exploration of Philbrick's love of Moby Dick with a nice dose of insight into the novel. While it doesn't quite ring of preaching to the choir, it does strike me that the book will mean more to those who have already read the novel (or, perhaps, to those who have given it a good-faith go but not quite gotten through?) than those who haven't. Precisely my kind of thing, that is someone writing genially about why they love a particular book. ( )

Love for a book is a special kind of love. It makes you do odd things, like order personalized license plates for your car, tattoo your body, or devote your entire life to research. It was my love of a book that lead me to this book. No, I don't love Moby Dick—though I do think it is a wonderful story and certainly one to learn from—no, the story I love is East of Eden by John Steinbeck. In researching EoE I learned of the books that Steinbeck considered great influences to his masterpiece; the one that seemed to be most mentioned was Moby Dick. Immediately Melville's book went from the “maybe some day I'll read this” pile to the “soon, very soon” pile. Yet, after I read it I wanted more. I wanted to understand more of the background and significance that perhaps Steinbeck, in his day, knew. This led me to Why Read Moby-Dick?.

Philbrick's exploration of Melville's crowning literary achievement is well-researched and informative. For the most part he tackles the subjects he wished to address as they appear chronologically in the book. With various additional references, there is great insight into Melville's process of thought and life circumstances during the years he penned the novel. Philbrick makes some excellent observations to start, but then he mostly repeats these, reiterating what he's already said. This would be acceptable if that's all Melville was trying to say, but there seem to be so many layers left uncovered or glossed over. Throughout Philbrick's little book he shows the relationship that existed between Melville and Nathaniel Hawthorne, and this was all very interesting.

Overall Why Read Moby-Dick? was good, but I think so much more could have been said. And a little less could have been said elsewhere. If you love Moby Dick this is a must read. Otherwise, just ask someone else who has read it for a summary and read Melville's original instead. ( )

Highly enjoyable, although the audio recording has some irritating technical issues. ( )

A wonderful short homage to obsession. Not so much Ahab's towards The Whale, but rather Melville's towards Hawthorne, the struggle to write Moby-Dick, and his struggle with mortality. Perhaps a case could be made for the author Philbrick's obsession with Melville as well.

A short read in which those unable to start the classic Moby-Dick may find something to pique their interest. Perhaps of mild interest to sailors who appreciate portrayals of eras that have passed. For those too afraid to start the epic itself you will find a good summary of the best quotes form Moby-Dick. ( )

Regardless of whether most people thought Philbrick gave a compelling answer to the title of his book (Why Read Moby-Dick?), there can be no doubt of the love he has for the original source material.

And no. I have yet to read Moby-Dick ...but maybe I shall.

Take that as whatever you will. ;) ( )