My first reaction upon finishing is that "Moby-Dick" is infinitely more fun the second time around. The expectation of a rip-roaring whaling yarn safely removed by my first reading, I found myself enjoying the frequent philosophical digressions, unprompted shifts in point-of-view, and the strange Shakespearean monologues that make "Moby-Dick" such an unconventional and difficult read.
Much of this book's effect on me comes from my powerful, hands-on experience first reading it at the Mystic Seaport Museum. Some of it also comes from the aforementioned philosophical digressions. "Moby-Dick" is, among many other things, a meditation on the ineffable. My favorite of the book's metaphors is the flat front of the head of the sperm whale: "gazing on it, in that full front view, you feel the Deity and the dread powers more forcibly than in beholding any other object in living nature" (Ch. 79).
This contemplation of the mysterious things in the world is something that I, as a person of faith, value greatly, and feel is often overlooked today. I close with a few quotes from the great book, and an exhortation to read it yourself.
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"There are some enterprises in which a careful disorderliness is the true method." - Ch. 82
"You have seen him spout; then declare what the spout is; can you not tell water from air? My dear sir, in this world it is not so easy to settle these plain things. I have ever found your plain things the knottiest of all." - Ch. 85
"An allegorical meaning may lurk here." - Ch. 90
"Book! You lie there; the fact is, you books must know your places. You'll do to give us the bare words and facts, but we come in to supply the thoughts." - Ch. 99
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