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Jason Silver

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Thoughts and Reflections on Scripture

2004

January

Wednesday, January 7th, 2004

Moby Dick

Rating: Three Stars

I was surprised at how interesting Moby Dick was-- especially at the beginning. Don't get me wrong-- this book is ENDLESS. It goes
on and on and on, until I thought I was going to die before I finished it. Like usual, I read it on my pocket pc, so there was no
sense of accomplishment like a real book that 1. gets more and more dog-eared; and 2. has fewer and fewer pages left to read. It was
an eternity.

But I really did enjoy it. It had the typical modern theme of consumption and control. The characters were determined to control the
whales, and never was remorse expressed for slaying such immense creatures. There were some particularly sad elements to this
effect.

But that is by no means the point of the story. The main anti-character has lost his leg, and with it his mind: he's now obsessed on
seeking revenge on the white whale which stole it. It seems impossible as time and again, they nearly lose their lives in the
pursuit.

Typical of these old books, there was a lot of explanation about what was going on-- and I found myself doubting the plausibility
for much of it. I think one of the things I like about these old stories is the window back in time. The writer expresses what seems
like him to be science. A simple example: they referred to the whale as a fish. Now we know their science in that particular
instance was wrong. There were many other examples like this.

It helps me keep a realistic perspective on what we think is science now-a-days too. In 50 or 100 years, things we take for granted
as true will sound silly. This is post-modernism, folks.

So, I recommend it. You gotta take some time to wade through this, but it's worth the read.

~Jason


Tags:books