I'm about 50 pages in, just finished the chapter titled

>>9531875
and it gets better and better

>>9531882

The thing that struck me about The Sermon is that literally everyone knows how the story of Job goes, it's very old territory, and yet I couldn't tear myself away from the pages. There were just layers and layers of stuff going on.

>>9531891
>Job

>>9531971

Meant Jonas, my b bby.
Been up for like 20 hours.

The movie was good too, screenplay by Bradbury, sermon by Olson Welles.

https://youtu.be/qb-g4O2QDZg

>>9531891
Meville's exposition on Jonah in The Sermon honestly made it my favorite Biblical book. Now, whenever I read Jonah his words reverberate in my mind and just make the story that much better.

A Squeeze of the Hand and The Cassock are the two funniest chapters in literature, imo. They're also beautifully written. You still have so much good shit ahead, mang.

Are there any other novels written in the same kind of essayistic style?

>>9531875
Will I be able to properly appreciate Moby Dick if I'm not familiar with the Bible?

>>9533790
No. You can't properly appreciate Moby Dick unless you have at least a basic understanding of Plato, Aristotle, Stoicism, Leibniz, and Christianity.

Shakespeare helps but is not required.

>>9531875
>main character is a sailor
>has an encyclopediac knowledge of general and classical culture
>his sailor friends also have
>in the XIX Century

Get the fuck out of here, Meville!

>>9533826
i know this is a joke but...the other way round. theres a shakespearean reference on virtually every page, a biblical one every other

>>9533826
Shakespeare should be more important than all of those for moby dick, are you baiting?

>>9533842
>in the XIX Century
in what century what it have been more believable for you

>>9533856
If it was nowadays I could have swalloned it more easily, but I would still be very generous

Anyway, it really rustles my Jimmies

>>9533868
>>9533842
wasn't this explained at the very beginning of the book, that he came from a cultured background and took to the sea to ease his existential angst? You have read the book, right?

>>9533851
>>9533853
Shakespeare is referenced but mainly through prose. The themes themselves are related to those works I mentioned.

>>9533879
Haven't finished it, and don't remember much of it. But I remember him being very cultured, and his sailor fellows too. That actually dropped to me

>>9533887
Really, I only remember Ahab being "cultured", considering he knew Latin. Starbuck may seem cultured but it was mostly religious knowledge, which would be common in that time period. Stubb, not so much, and Flask was retarded.

Ishmael was certainly cultured, but as this anon >>9533879
explained, that was the point of his character and is likely a reference to the Biblical Ishmael who came from a good family but was at odds with all of his friends and relatives

>>9533887
I believe it's all in order. The erudite sailors all come from Quaker families, of course they are somewhat cultured. Biblical knowledge is assumed. Ishmael himself is stated to be from a kind of academic background. Ahab and Starbuck are outliers and more keenly intelligent as is expected of
leadership.

>>9533887
Just because the characters speak in high-quality English doesn't mean they are cultured. Melville was unable to write realistic dialogue and all of his characters sound high class as fuck. Try reading his other works and you'll see what I mean.

>>9533884
Many of the themes are developed by the prose and style, which is directly through Shakespeare. Not understanding Shakespeare but reading Moby-Dick would be a crying shame. Might add Milton to the list too.

Good picks otherwise though.

File: 1494976711211.jpg (171KB, 972x1176px) Image search: [Google]

171KB, 972x1176px

Melville did have a strange obsession with the dark skinned pagans

>>9531875
I read Moby Dick as a teenager, but I've revisited it time and time again, and I like it a little more each time I do. It really is one of the greatest novels ever written

>>9533842
But Melville was a sailor, and for Ishmael to have all this knowledge, Melville must have had it as well. Get out of here, you retard.

Wait until the cetology chapter, whoowee is that a hoot. Oh and also the super detailed description of every single sailor even though almost all of them are the same character

Is Melville's other works worth reading?

>>9535471
Are*

>>9535471
The Confidence Man is totally different from Moby-Dick and is honestly incredibly amusing, especially if you like black humor. I'd say it's not as "great" as Moby-Dick, but it's an interesting, really pessimistic meditation on America.

Bartleby The Scrivener is a top tier short story.

>>9535302

I'm on the cetology chapter now and I got so bored I rode my bike to campus to shitpost instead
But I was reading for like 4 straight hours so maybe that's why

>>9531875
>babby's first Melville

>>9536617
>best book ever written

>>9531875
Yes it is. Nothing comes close. I envy you having a first time experience.

>>9533913
Hard to believe that some old fucker like Elmore Leonard was able to write more realistic dialogue than Melville.

>>9531875
Possibly, OP. The Sermon is amazing but just you wait until you finish this damn beast of a book. You'll be hoping for more.

>>9532029
Welles' Sermon is fantastic. Felt the film was very flawed and lacked the wonderful pacing of the novel, but in all honesty, John Huston is a legendary filmmaker and he clearly tried his damned best to adapt it. It's an admirable adaptation worth watching, definitely. Gregory Peck as Ahab is surprisingly effective, albeit flawed.

>>9535471
His early works are alright, if you're into travel narratives go ahead. His later works seem more Gothic influence, I haven't read much but they seem to be good.

>>9531875
I'm glad you like it. Wait till you read The Town Ho's Story. It's a sub-plot about another whaling ship with a mutiny problem on deck, a lot of bullshit occurs between two ship mates, a captain, and his men. In the midst of mutiny, Moby dick appears. That's not even half of it, I just wish there was more to the story. It's a nice distraction from the main narrative and well written.

>>9535471
I've only read a short story called "I and My Chimney," which is literally just some crazy old coot ranting about his house's chimney. Still pretty good.

>>9531875
The last chapters are easily the best I've ever read of anything

Did you expect the best book ever written to be otherwise?

>>9531875
I know that feel, I read that part about Joshua and I even liked the homo-eroticism overtones. But then this nigga Herman has to start talking about FUCKING WHALES ! Im 65% in on the book. Its like a voyage in its self, sometimes boring, sometimes very interesting.