Andrea’s Comments (group member since Jul 19, 2012)

Andrea’s comments from the Reading the Chunksters group.

For me it was definitely Dantes and the scope of the story that made me take a break. At a point I was getting exhausted. But that was also a long time ago, and I was much younger and had less patience. I'm quite open to having a completely different outlook on it now.

I loved the prison chapters, by the way, but that's still to come.

I’m joining in for sure, because otherwise I’ll never manage to finish this book. I got to chapter 50 something before, but had to put it down for some reason. I just remember not liking Dante’s very much once he got to the revenge part , as he was kind of arrogant, but I wonder how my opinion might change after all these years.

That's the one I have. I've heard it is a very good translation. The censorship in the older versions definitely exists, but it does not change anything in the grand scheme of things. But a Kindle book of the Buss edition is on sale on Amazon right now for under $8.

What I don't like about Buss translation is that it's unavailable as an audiobook. I like to continue with my book while I'm unable to read a physical version, so it's inconvenient not to have it on audio.

I have a paperback on my shelf, so I’m good whenever you are. I’m pretty sure there is a public domain ebook available for free on Gutenberg if you’re okay with a digital copy.

Peg wrote: "One part I wondered about was why Ismael assumed Q was a cannabul"

I believe that's because at the time all people that came from so-called "uncivilised" world with tribal culture were considered cannibals.

I've read an interesting story somewhere (it was either in Cannibalism: A Perfectly Natural History or A History of Canada in Ten Maps: Epic Stories of Charting a Mysterious Land) that illustrates well how these misunderstandings came into play every day. When white colonialists came to a particular island off the coast of British Columbia, they were greeted by the local population with gifts of human limbs as a token of goodwill. The colonialists naturally assumed that the natives were cannibals and were sharing their meal with them. It turns out the locals thought their guests barbaric cannibals and were trying to appease their unusual appetites. Maybe it's in human nature to attribute cannibalistic tendencies to others to further remove them from our own culture, and make them as foreign as possible.

Some wonderful alliteration in the description of The Pequod:

"her masts stood stiffly up like the spines"
"decks were worn and wrinkled"
"like any barbaric Ethiopian emperor, his neck heavy with pendants of polished ivory"
"a cannibal of a craft"

I love the amount of alliteration Melville is using - it makes the narrative sound so poetic. I actually find myself flagging the most interesting descriptors, like "these bashful bears, these timid warrior whale-men". Just awesome!

I think the morning scene where Ishmael and Q are getting dressed is more of a humorous commentary how we tend to get lost in cultural differences - almost overthinking them. Ishmael stares at Q because to him his roommate seems so exotic, so he can't help but try to find his rather common behavior (dressing) somehow alien, while Q treats him back as just a regular human being and offers privacy. Melville laughs at that situation, because obviously all people are essentially the same and rules of civility should apply regardless of origin. That is actually a common way Westerners treat foreigners, even today. I've heard of tourists in Iceland, for example, walking into people's homes and taking pictures like they are just exhibits on display at a country-sized museum.

Ooooh, Pachinko is also on my immediate tbr, but since it's waiting for me in the library as we speak and has a huge hold list I'll have to read it much sooner than mid-February.

I've read to a point where Ishmael met Queequeg and remember laughing out loud. I was surprised to find so much delightful humour in a notoriously "boring" book. I can't wait to continue. Tangential chapters on whales in history, biology, art, etc. do not worry me at all, because I love whales and would love to learn more.

I'd like to tackle A Brief History of Seven Killings.

I started reading this one a while ago and did the first few chapters. It was surprisingly humorous and easy to comprehend. I wouldn't call it a breezy reading, since there are a lot if details and tangential musings on whales, but I was fearing worse in terms of heftiness of prose. I think 6 weeks would be a fair estimate.

Hmmm, I tend to read in spurts. I'd leave the book alone for two weeks or so, then sit down and read 300 pages in one day. So usually I do a lot of catching up, but without the stress. 70 pages a week would work fine for me.

Sorry, can't help with words of wisdom as I've never read this book before, but I'm excited to join in!

O Canada! We stand on guard for thee.

I find that any sections where Whites are fighting Reds are filled with a lot of mixed feelings and internal struggle. These are the people that fought together, side by side, in the Russo-Japanese war and WWI, the people of the same roots and belief, people that used to be neighbours and friends. Now they are divided by something as silly as a different ideology. Dr. Z is definitely an outsider, looking in on this mess and lamenting the past. You have to stop and think, under what circumstances these people were fighting. A large majority possibly didn't even believe in the possibility of the new world, but joined Reds, because they were winning in this particular territory, and fighting against the winning side meant prosecution and death. Regular folk were stuck between the rock and the hard place, and that is the sentiment that runs through Z's mind all the time.

I love the part where Zhivago feels like screaming to people that the salvation is not in the loyalty to uniforms, but in the freedom from them. I think it's a powerful statement that puts him firmly in the anti-revolutionary camp. I don't think he is particularly against the equality of classes and distribution of wealth, but he hates seeing his county torn in a Civil War. In his opinion the Reds are going about it wrong, relying too much on brutal force and fear.

Greg wrote: "Andrea wrote: "Maybe it's just me, but reading the Russian edition, I too missed the fact the the train jumper was Yura's father. I only clued in when someone else brought it up in the following ch..."

In Russian edition there is not a word about misogyny. I'm surprised the translator used this interpretation of Pasternak's words. The actual sentence says something along Nika remembering his own omnipotence that morning, when he seemingly commanded nature itself by willing it to change at his whim. I think he was earning to feel the same level of control and grandness, so he could wish for him and Nadya to fall into the water again to share an intimate moment, like they just did. Hope that makes sense.

Every time there is a passage about nature, especially the one on the way to Moscow in Chapter 5, I have to stop and re-read it a couple of times. Pasternak sure had a way with words.

The part about Gintz kind of broke my heart - he was rather pathetic in his assumed idealism and paid the price. Even in the face of death he was afraid to lose face the most. What a senseless end.

It's funny, because I didn't get that Pasha was stifled by marriage at all. I agree with Michelle. Pasha seems to be resentful that while he loves Lara deeply and passionately, she only seems to have a maternal/dutiful kind of feelings for him. It is as if there is something in him that needs to be pitied and babied, which wounds his pride and masculinity. It says more about his mindset, actually, than the reality of situation. So Pasha decides to go to the military to prove himself in a way. An immature kind of response to his position, in fact, makes me suspicious that the issue was with him and not his wife.