Forrest’s Reviews > Moby Dick > Status Update

Going fishing on Saturday and trying to decide if it's a good idea to take this book with me on the boat . . .

Moby Dick makes an offscreen cameo and eats someone. I had forgotten about that. Nomnomnom.

One wonders if Lovecraft didn't lift the trope of the evil Asian sailor directly from Ahab's "Tigers".

Now I want to write the stories of Timor Tom, New Zealand Jack, Morquan, King of Japan, and Don Miguel. Hmm . . .

Not convinced that this is the OG of Cosmic Horror? Go read that passage at the end of chapter 42: "The Whiteness of the Whale". One of the best passages of Cosmic Horror I've ever read, full stop. My review of the second reading might just be a quote of that passage. Awe-full in the extreme. If you don't have an existential crisis while reading it, you're not paying attention.

Now we dig into the blubbery meat of the story!

On my first reading, I think I missed the intricacies of the hierarchy of whalers. There is a decided caste system between captain, first mates, harpooners, and the cook, at least. It's an anachronistic comparison, but I'm reminded (in the future sense?) of Gormenghast and its many layers of society, muddled within each group, but crystal clear when delineated against each other. An interesting analysis of "masses".

Just slowly sailing along, enjoying my reread.

I am enjoying the simple act of reading this time around. No need to analyze, contextualize, etc (though those things happen naturally). Having read the book once for analysis, now I just get to enjoy it. It's a feeling of reading freedom I haven't enjoyed for a while.