i guess i can see actual writers saying that. but not general public.
like if i asked my mom for her favorite book, it would be some a romance novel. and she read a lot. if i asked friends from college it would be HGTTG, or maybe some GOT-like series. off to ask my nephews (seniors in HS).
/shrug
Can’t wait for Friday when crazypillowguy provides the 100% proof he just promised.
Do you mean you’ve read Chapter 1 but not beyond? Chapter 1 is pure genius imo (many chapters are; one of my favorite passages is the last paragraph of chapter 42 “The Whiteness of the Whale”).
What Melville does is really amazing. He starts off by introducing Ishmael and Ishmael’s personal motives for going out to sea, but then he immediately delves into the broader human attraction to the water with like a dozen magnificently imagined and expressed examples (tenuous at times if one wants to be nitty) that span: the habits of city folk who congregate by the water, artists always painting shepherds staring at peaceful streams, Niagara Falls having no visitors if it were a giant sandlot, and Narcissus meeting his end at his reflection in the fountain (although I forget the note; Ishmael says that Narcissus drowned but the myth is that he died on the bank by neglecting to eat and drink).
Yes, multiple times. Last was a few years ago. I’m not sure what it is that puts me off. Probably if I got past chapter 2 it’d be fine, lol. It doesn’t help that has been getting harder to focus over time.
If I make a commitment to do something it helps. I told microbet I’d get to Galapagos and I did eventually. Tell you what, I hereby promise to make a concerted effort to read it this year. Moby Dick is now my Moby Dick!
I peaced out sometime at the beginning of the last hunt (maybe 70-75% through?) and never came back, but man, there is some stupendously epic writing in it.
Moby Dick was another book I was forced to read in high school. At least made it through that book without any strong feelings. Maybe just because it was easy after suffering through Tale of Two Cities for a second time.
You shouldn’t slog through it if you don’t enjoy it. If you don’t like his figurative flourishes and philosophical digressions, even if there are makings of a decent plot and good characters (which are hard to focus on with everything else going on), I wouldn’t bother.
My daughters both loved it. My oldest in particular thought it was hilarious.
lol I went to such a shit high school. We had no required reading of novels like that. Just reading chapters and stuff for a test.
Same. And I took the English classes below AP. High English or whatever it’s called.
Hot take incoming:
Ironically Trump using a double down on my lies impeachment defense strategy is a huge positive for the country.
Because he’s doing this it’s going to be spicy and get good ratings. A lot of people haven’t heard from Trump in almost a month and are jonesing for some more of that insane reality show we were all living from 2017-2020. Not the real world parts, the media consumption parts. It’s a bit like missing fentanyl after you kick the habit (I have no experience of this it’s a metaphor damn it), but the physical cravings are still there.
This is the best opportunity to deal a crushing blow to these ‘the election was rigged’ claims. He kept saying he wasn’t getting heard out in court. Now the whole planet is going to watch them get heard out in something vaguely resembling a court live. It’s going to go, if anything, worse than it went in front of the actual courts.
It’s a bitter pill admitting this one last time that orange was the President of the United States, and that we as a nation are not in fact better than that. But his defense not being boring procedural shit that might work out for the GOP is probably good for the country. Even seeing him get obliterated by the evidence live in real time and then the GOP senators voting to let him off the hook will be good for the country.
A great book (not a novel) that gets into some history of the whaling around that time and area is In The Heart Of The Sea. And if anybody ever finds themselves in New Bedford looking for something to do, the whaling museum is excellent.
Just here to note that the Great Gatsby was trash unless you enjoy your symbolism to be hit over your head with a 2x4. Mr Nolan freakin loved it though. Must of spent two weeks on it.
My English class (senior year?) spent an entire quarter on Hamlet.
First response is great:
Gatsby is outstanding.
lol this dude has been in a coma since like '92
