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Title: Dull. Very dull
Review: I have to start by saying that I like long, involving novels by great authors (e.g. Tolstoi, Dickens, Hawthorne). I actually expected to love this book. Instead, the best I have to say is that I liked parts of it. The chapters focusing on Ahab are replete with drama and a gorgeous sense of tragedy-the stuff of Greek drama. Then Ishamael, as narrator, takes over and discusses the minutiae of whaling and even whale physignomy. I don't care. I simply was bored. While I can understand on an intellectual basis the way this story is structured,I have to agree with those reviewers who said the book was a mess when it came out.I have read one other work of Melville's, namely Billy Budd. I hated that too. It could be that he just isn't my cup of tea. Or maybe some of us just think Moby Dick is overrated.
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