This week Geoff reviews Moby Dick by Herman Melville. Geoff says:

“I have just finished reading Moby Dick which is an absolute tome of a book. I first tried reading it in about 1982 but abandoned it just after the 100th page. I picked it up again about 6 months ago and it has entertained me ever since. It is a slow read – I quite often re-read chapters as the writing is very deep – almost as deep as the oceans where the sperm whale lives. It is a colossal study of the life cycle of all types of whales, and the lifestyle of the whale hunter; including a detailed description of the sailing craft, tools and implements used in whale hunting in the 19th century.

The writing is slick and the language used, although old fashioned, is quite easy to follow and at times amusing. I had to use a dictionary on several occasions.  Melville must have spent much of his life doing research for this book and visited many libraries, perhaps receiving help from library staff. The foreword of the book contains a humorous reference to a sub-sub librarian (probably a library assistant or assistant librarian): “Give it up, Sub-Subs! For how much the more pains ye take to please the world, by so much the more shall ye for ever go thankless!”During the reading of the book, I learned the songs Greenland Whale Fisheries and Farewell to Tarwathie and often sing these – I have also become an obsessive cetologist!”

Find out more about our What we are reading series and find Moby Dick in Headington library.