Moby-Dick book review: Part II

(Part I:  Moby-Dick as a story)

Moby-Dick as history

I would venture to estimate that literally 60% to 70% of this book is purely educational (and mostly nonfiction), in which Ishmael describes whales and the process of whaling...in great detail. He can go on for chapters about it, actually taking a break from the story. Needless to say, unless you are interested in learning about whales and whaling, you'll probably find this book to be quite boring. At times, I found much of it to be quite tedious; but in the end, I rather liked the educational stuff and even enjoyed reading some of it. Sometimes I could almost sympathise with the narrator--writing about a topic that few people care about, and yet writing with such persuasiveness and enthusiasm that he makes you care about whales, too (at one point, I seriously wanted to become a whale conservationist). The information about whales and whaling became genuinely fascinating--the size of the whales, their habits, the process of hunting whales, how the whalers get the oil from the whales, etc... Melville's writing perspective also varied a good deal. Sometimes he portrayed the whales as vicious, and the whalers as victims; but probably more often, he took the whale's side, and portrayed the whalers as cruel, murderous hunters. Though I think he unnecessarily went to both extremes, having these two perspectives was pretty fair of him.

As for all the various whaling accidents and things that happen throughout the book, we are told that some of these things did actually happen in real life (Moby-Dick was actually based on the real-life "Wreck of the Whaleship Essex", a book I recommend). It gave me a much better understanding of whaling, and I felt more interested in the book, since it's so largely based on fact and not fantasy.

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Moby-Dick book review: Part I

Or, The Whale

by Herman Melville

Edition: Barnes & Noble Classics, paperback.
Pros: Readable, affordable, nice cover picture, has an adapted version of Richard Henry Dana, Jr.'s Dictionary of Sea Terms.
Cons: It would be nice to read an edition with illustrations, diagrams, or stuff like that. I would've also rather read a version without the footnotes, because whenever Ishmael says or quotes something in Latin, it's his way of censoring something.  

My overall rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars. Would've given it more if not for the objectionable content. 

{This is an abridged version of a very, very long book review. Let me know if there are any typos or anything.}

Moby-Dick as a story

   When Ishmael, the narrator, joins the crew of the Nantucket whaling ship, Pequod, he doesn't quite know what to expect. A newbie to whaling, he finds a whaler's life a whole different world; and the Pequod itself--surrounded by foreboding and under the command of a mysterious captain--is not a typical whaling ship. Once out at sea, Captain Ahab makes his agenda plain to everyone: he's sworn not to return home unless he kills Moby-Dick, the monstrous white whale who injured Ahab on his last voyage. And so, imprisoned on the Pequod and to Ahab's reckless command, the crew begin their maddened hunt, around the globe and with the ever-growing premonition that they'll never make it back.

   As I soon learned during my first attempted reading of Moby-Dick, this book is far from what I'd call a swashbuckling sea story...on the contrary, the book is long and very slow. The characters are what mostly drives the story (if this book could be considered as driven by anything!). Captain Ahab, the main protagonist, is insane and obsessed with his revenge; Ishmael implies that this insanity began right after Ahab's leg was severed by Moby-Dick. But not only that, Captain Ahab is also very evil. Within the last 100 pages or so of the book, this aspect of him get so bad that at times it's unreadable (I recommend skipping the chapter called "The Forge"). And then, in contrast, we also get a few glimpes of Ahab's sanity (and cunning), and even moments where he seems close to repenting of his vengeance. As much as Ishmael writes about him, I was never able to fully understand this character...it's one of the many mysteries in this book.

   But it is Ahab's remarkable charisma that wins over most of the crew to his cause. The crew is made up of men from all over the world...most notable are Queequeg, the harpooner whom Ishmael befriends; 2nd mate Stubb, who tends to view everything in a humorous light; and 1st mate Starbuck, who is second-in-command, after the captain.  Starbuck is the only character on the whole ship who seems to have much of a conscience. From the very first time he hears of the captain's plan, Starbuck is outspokenly opposed to it, and throughout the voyage he struggles between his sense of justice, duty, and moral principles as he tries to do the right thing. He's the best character and I only wish he were in the book more (as opposed to Ishmael, who is incredibly annoying).

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Book Review: "...you are a clever lad, and you ask advice--mind you follow it, or it's little use asking it."

 
Percival Keene
by Captain Frederick Marryat
Edition: Heart of Oak Sea Classics, Holt Paperbacks
Overall rating:  4.5 out of 5 stars.  I would probably recommend this for ages 14+

Recently, I became a fan of the Hornblower TV series (not all the episodes, just some) and also the Master & Commander movie; which really got me interested in the Royal Navy genre.  Years ago I had read the Mutiny on the Bounty trilogy, and attempted to read Moby Dick; so for me, this was a revisit to the Age of Sail.  I've been on the lookout (no pun intended) for a good Royal Navy series--the Hornblower books are rather boring and the romantic stuff later in the series is bad, and I tried the first M&C book, but that was bad too, and ditto for The Powder Monkey.  I also read half of Mr Midshipman Easy (also by Marryat), but it was a comedy and not really my cup of tea.  In short, all of this doesn't have much to do with this book review, except to give you an idea of where I'm coming from.  ;)

[If there are any typos in this review, let me know.]


The story:  Percival Keene spends a good deal of his childhood playing practical jokes and trying not to get caught.  His life changes, however, when he finds out who his real father is: Captain Delmar, a proud naval captain, who takes a great interest in Percival and gets him a place as midshipman on board his ship, the Calliope.  As Percival begins to rise in rank, age, and sense; he becomes obsessed with one idea, and that is to get Captain Delmar to acknowledge him as his son.  Repeatedly, Percival proves himself a talented and loyal officer, and--in adventure after adventure--he goes to great lengths to win the captain's good opinion; but after a time he begins to wonder how long he must work to overcome his father's arrogance, or if it is even possible.




My thoughts:  Charles Dickens said, of reading this book,  "I have been chuckling, and grinning and clenching my fists, and becoming warlike."  While I did not become "warlike", this book is definitely entertaining, and will make you grin or LOL more than once.  Even on shore, Percival's pranks and the adventures he runs into are interesting and oftentimes hilarious; he's sort of a British Tom Sawyer. 

Besides being entertaining, the book is also fast-paced, and through it I learned some interesting things that might come in useful for a writer, such as how much prize money a ship's company could expect to get, how powerful having connections was back then (the speed with which Percival got promoted to lieutenant, captain, etc, was amazing), and the kind of tactics and missions that were carried out during the Napoleonic Wars.  What's great, too, is that this book was written by a REAL captain, so he not only knew what he was writing about, but he had lived some of it, too.  His writing style is quite good, and there is little or no bad language--an example more recent authors should follow.  The romance, too, was sweet and not inappropriate.  As far as technical tall-ship stuff goes, Marryat throws some in, but not so much that you're overwhelmed; there were also notes in my edition of the book to explain some things.

Although Percival isn't the kind of character you really really like, he's still a pretty good character and improves somewhat as the book goes on.  He comes to have a strong sense of duty and patriotism, and faces his problems and goals with a lot of energy and perseverance.  He has faults, too, though; like when he admits to the reader that duels are wrong, but he's going to do it anyway because he doesn't have much of a choice...not very convincing.  However, on the whole, he's a pretty good guy.

His father, Captain Delmar, is despicable, which is one of the problems with this book: Percival is constantly striving to be humble and respectful and obedient to his father, so that his father will help Percy with his career and might acknowledge him someday...and, therefore, I started to lose interest a bit, because it's hard to sympathize with, watching Percy try to get the esteem of such an awful person.  On the other hand, later on in the book this actually works out, because at that point you're wondering if he ever will succeed in his goal.  Kind of an annoying plot at first, but it works.

Now, keep in mind that, as with all history, there are different ways of viewing the Age of Sail.  This book is sort of like a Hornblower episode with Cpt. Pellew: Percival gets to be heroic more than once, there aren't any tyrannical captains, and, overall, officers and crew get along just fine.  You get the impression, too, that the Navy was an excellent profession for people like Percival, who could thereby turn his energy and strategical thinking to defending his country.  So, it's good to know that the Hornblower TV episodes are, indeed, authentic in some ways--even if this perspective is just one of many, it nevertheless seems to have been the perspective of a real officer from that era.

Though this book is often humorous, there are a couple themes that are serious.  One is making the right decision: Percival has to make a lot of choices, and though you might not always agree with him, it does make you wonder what you yourself would do, if you were in his shoes.   The other theme is about life and death; a good quote is:

"'Why, Captain Keene, I thought just now you did not care whether you lived or died.'
'No more I did at the time, Cross; but when we are so wonderfully preserved, we cannot think but that we are preserved for better things; and as Providence has interfered, it points out to us that it is our duty to live.'"

The ending was excellent.  I was hoping for a really happy ending, but instead it was bittersweet.  Still, it was a good way to end this story, which might easily have gone on and on; it certainly left me wanting to read more books by Marryat.

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