No novel has come close to how brilliant this is Prove me wrong

>or The Whale

Well which is it?

Reading it right now. Melville's prose is divine. Also, the part at the beginning where Ishmael sleeps with queequog had me cracking up like no book has done for a long time.

>>9239954

>Melville's prose is divine

Divine? As in he puts you in a state of awe, like standing before God himself?

I bet you say "sublime" too, you ass.

I completely agree, actually.

Portrait of a Lady is the only novel that comes close, as far as I can tell.

>>9239921
bait<

>>9239961
wtf pocket your insecurities, you fucking douche

>>9239961
Divine as in extremely delightful. What's got up your arse this fine morning?

>>9239921
Is this book difficult in regards to being written in an older style of English? For example, I thought A Tale of Two Cities was hard to follow because of the old English.

At some point you'll grow tired of the detailed descriptions of whale asses and color and paintings and the like. However, as you hasten towards the inevitable end, you'll be begging for those chapters back, if only to hear Ishmael speak so hopefully about whales.

Also, Pequod meets the Rose-bud is the funniest chapter by far.

>>9239978
I guess Dickens is more British inflected than Melville is. You probably wont have similar issues, or if you do then not for the same reasons.

Tolstoy, proust, Joyce, Nabokov.. The list is long.

Probably the best American novel ever though.

>>9239978
I'd say it's about the same difficulty. It can be hard to follow at times, but it's never too difficult.

>>9239961
Someone is mad they needed a thesaurus to get past chapter 1.

>>9239921
James fucking Joyce

>>9239990
proust and nabokov dont belong there, great as they are

>>9239961
give him a break, he probably sucks cock for gas money

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>>9239961
top jej

>>9239961
>ass
Ass? As in, he is something beautiful you like to look at or poop out of, or even a donkey?

I bet you say "dickhead" too, you fool.

>>9240065
Chuckled/10.

>>9239961
Not sure if severe autism or comedic genius, or both, or neither

>>9240065
kek

>>9240084
How have you not seen this shtick a million times before? It's annoying in any case.

>>9240094
It's only annoying the dickhead getting roasted.

>>9240105
It doesn't roast anyone. It makes the "roaster" look like a fucking retard, even if they're taking on a role.

>>9240137
Whatever makes you feel less roasted, bb.

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>>9239961
>he doesn't kneel before god as he reads Moby Dick

>>9239963
i was trying to think of a 19th century meme trilogy the other day, and portrait and moby dick were the two books i had in mind. no idea what the third would be.

>>9240160
anna karenina or war and peace

portrait of a lady is not famous enough, replace with Madame Bovary

>>9240160
Anna Karenina maybe.

>>9239921
That whale gets bigger every edition.

>>9240148
If I wanted to be a moron, I'd castigate you for calling me baby, as it's the same type of idiocy you're praising I could probably have you suck my dick too.

>>9240171
>muh dick

such divine eloquence

>>9240166
I agree with Karenina, I didn't see what was so outstanding about it, but war and peace was genuinely great.

>>9240166
>>9240169
>>9240177
i was trying to pick english language books but otherwise these are good suggestions

maybe Middlemarch? theres always austen/dickens/brontes but idk.

>>9240189
Pride and prejudice at the beginning of the 19th century, and Austen in general. Well written, but boring.

>>9240160
great expectations

>>9240206
Nope brainlet. Dickens is a god

>>9240213
it was a recommendation...

>>9240170
I was trying to figure out what you meant since I assumed that shadow to the right of the boat was the whales tail and it seemed to be about the size of your average whale but then I noticed the eye in the sky.

That's just spooky.

>>9240224
A misunderstanding, comrade.

>>9239928
I'll agree with you, in the sense that nothing I've read yet has come close in my opinion.

>>9239928
>>9240356

Meant to reply to OP

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>>9240170
>mfw i expected the whale to swallow the whole ship, only to finish the book and dissapoint.

>>9240373
try Jonah, it might be more up your alley.

>>9240464
It wasn't that I was dissapointed in the ending because there was no great whale, but merely because all the covers and pictures and memes of Moby Dick depict a Leviathan of great magnitude.

It also doesn't help that the ending seems to feel like "The Stranger", missing key details.

I don't know how to spoiler tag, so I'll just write spoilers here:

I hate how in describing how Moby Dick attacks the Pequod, it only does so in one sentence, and then spends the next 4 paragraphs showing Ahab's reaction to it. It felt like I was robbed of imagery and given a soliloquy.

>>9240556
addendum: I really just wanted to see the whole ending be catastrophic. I wanted to read about lances glancing off the skin; boats thrown threw the air and landing capsized; men pulled asunder by the lines; the planks creaking from afar as the pequod sank; the hissing sound and boiled water that follows; the clamoring cries of sailors being pulled into the vortex; the clouds of blood from the sharks; the desolation wrought; the last glimpse of the whale as it carried on like an indignant god would if swatting at flies.

I didn't get that, at least, not in the prose.

>>9240160
Karamazov

>>9239921
Agreed. Maybe sometimes Nabokov comes close in Pale Fire but this is pure beauty.

>>9240556
well, you kind of get that experience from reading about the small boats on the chase. Ahab's boat specifically. He lances the white whale, and the death of his Asian comrade in the ensuing chase is pretty brutal. Also Melville does describe the ship sinking beneath the waves.

I think the ending was intended to be more reflective than jarring, there's a sense of detachment from the whole work given Ishmael's nature as a chronicler, writing years after the fact. I don't think there's really supposed to be that sense of immediacy. Personally I found the -actual- ending where Ishmael is rescued extremely powerful/touching.

Consider 9/11, most people now would be more moved by the still image of the falling man than video footage of the plane hitting the towers.

>>9240576
honestly this would have ruined the book

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>>9240730
>>9239990
>nabokov
>even close to approximating Melville's level
this is ironic, right?

I would only put Ulysses and Absalom, Absalom! on its level.

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>he hasn't read the greatest book ever written
embarrassing

>>9241115
It's pretty good (though I think my Penguin translation is the subpar one, so I've been meaning to reread it), but what makes you think it's one of the greatest works of all-time? His poetry is better IMO.

>>9241122
greatest novel* (not greatest work)
I find his particular poetic/artistic insights especially beautiful and unique.
His prose reads clean and smoothly and every description seems to serve a lot more than they tend to in other novels I've read
His general artistic message is really appealing and relatable to me

t. German native

>>9241106
I wouldn't be dismissive of Nabokov. Pale Fire is pretty strong

>>9241114
>corncobby chronicles

>>9239990
>implying you read russian... or french...
>nabokov
.. dude

as far as Joyce v. Melville.... lmfao. When you reach this point who is better becomes a pointless question. You're in the god tier.

>>9241158
I'm Russian, learned English in childhood, and taught myself French a few years ago( although admittedly I'm not very fluent.) you have failed.

>>9241150
>Pale Fire is pretty strong
do I have to read it in russian or is english translation acceptable?

>>9242056
i recommend the cantonese throatsinging audiobook

>>9242056
It was written in English

Love the book, especially the ending
>ship is sinking
>Tashtego nails a replacement flag on the main mast as a final 'fuck you'

Loved that part, going down without a fight

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>>9240065

>>9239978
>old English

>>9239961
>as in he puts you in a state of awe
Actually, yes

>read Moby Dick
>1 year later get my first job on a tall ship

Thanks Melly

Only the Quixote, my friend.

>>9239983
But Stubb's supper!

>>9239961
>God

God? as in a superhuman being or spirit worshipped as having power over nature or human fortunes; a deity?

I bet you believe in the easter bunny to you christcuck

>>9239921
I've seen this pic a thousand times and I never noticed the whale there

>>9239961
sublime is perfectly legit adjective if you know what it means

How much of Plato should I have read to understand some of the later chapters? I feel like a lot was lost on me because Melville had many philosophical passages that would require some further reading.

>>9241114
Absalom is just watered down Moby Dick

>>9244154
How the fuck so, laddie?

>Not Don Quitxote

Wooooooooooow

>>9239921
Depends what you like about liturature

>>9244276
wow :) nevar thohought bout dis like dis

>>9239961
dictionary cucks need to go

>>9244123
as far as I remember probably just
Apology
Phaedo
Timaeus

but
Euthyphro
Crito
Meno
Symposium

probably wouldn't hurt. neither would Republic.

>>9241180
so i take it you never read a la recherche du temps perdu

>>9239961

Great post.

>>9244658
>so many anons praising someone pretending to be autistic
excellent board.

>>9243780
Oh don't worry, Stubb is in this chapter too.