fallllingman t1_ix2515k wrote on November 20, 2022 at 3:56 AM

Reply to comment by kramerica_intern in [OC] Inspired by movie barcodes, I made some emotional barcodes for books by Campbell_MG

I mean do you expect 500 of 600 pages to be devoted to chasing a whale in hot pursuit? If we choose to call the whale God (and goodness knows Moby Dick is all about it’s symbolism), isn’t it proper that he makes an appearance only in the last thirty pages after we spend the novel doubting his existence? That’s not my personal interpretation of it, but the novel would be much worse if any more of it was devoted to chasing a whale. This is Herman Melville, not Robert Louis Stevenson.

kramerica_intern t1_ix25vjc wrote on November 20, 2022 at 4:03 AM

I didn’t think they’d be in hot pursuit the whole time but yeah, kinda. I picked up the book expecting to read about Ahab insanely chasing after Moby Dick. I didn’t expect entire chapters about objects found on a whaling vessel.

Though I suppose that’s what whaling might have been like. Lots of boredom before you finally get the intense rush of the chase.