Chapter 35 "Moby Dick"

Now I want to talk about a great book--.I have read Melville's South Seas series such as Oumu and Typi.They were fun and enjoyable to read when I was on the islands myself.But I never wanted to read them again.I haven't read "Pierre" because many good critics think it discredits Melville.But Melville's reputation alone is enough.Some critics thought the writing was too flowery, but I thought the style was perfect for expressing the theme of the book.Hyperbole goes two ways, it either puts the writer on top or reduces him to absurdity.It has to be said that Melville does seem absurd at times, but no one can stay on top and never fall.The best parts are magnificently written, full of majestic tension and flowery and enduring rhetoric, enough to make the reader forgive Melville for his occasional absurdity.There are a few chapters that I find long and tedious, dealing with archaic lore swooped in from the library, and the biological history of whales.But it can be seen from this that Melville's knowledge of such advanced fields is very rich.No one is perfect, Homer sometimes dozed off, and Shakespeare wrote pages of empty sentences.However, Melville's description of some scenes in New Bedford, his description of events, his handling of characters, especially the terrible Abel, are excellent.As you read it, you feel a throbbing, a mystery, a foreboding, a passion, the fear and horror of life, the inevitability of fate, and the colossal power of evil.They tighten around your throat, and you seem to be overwhelmed and yet wonderfully lifted.If you are a writer, you should be very proud if you have achieved such a high literary achievement and can have such a wonderful effect on the emotions and intellect of your readers.

Despite the opening in New Bedford and the storyline also taking place on an American whaling ship, I failed to find a Native American flavor in it.I've been looking for this and it's very precious because it's unique.Melville's culture was European, and his prose inherited the style of the great writers of the seventeenth century.Although his characters (at least the important ones) are Americans, this is purely accidental.Compared with ordinary people in life, they are a bit exaggerated, and they do not have the characteristics of a specific country.They belonged to that exciting and inconceivable realm where Dostoyevsky's many characters, as well as his violent characters, lived stubbornly and endured all kinds of torture.