Frazz by Jef Mallett for August 16, 2020

It’s an easy swim; just a reeeeeally long one.

I DID enjoy MB, but I would have appreciated it a lot more if I had read the Wikipedia article BEFORE reading MB instead of after. It was too late that I learned MB is, among other things, a tour de force of changing literary styles and perspectives.

For those who think the Cliff’s Notes version is too complicated, here’s the CN: “White whale. Obsessive ship captain. Gadgets and ropes. Almost everyone dies. The end”

In school, I read for pleasure or for class. Some of the class reading wasn’t too bad, but some ( Brothers Karamozov  e.g.) were incredibly boring.

Once I was cut loose from that, I mostly read for pleasure until I got into a serious white-collar job, when I had to read for information. Interestingly, the fact that I actually saw the need made it a lot more tolerable even though it was mostly written in as dry and uninteresting a manner as possible. Of course the other reason it was better was because once I got the info I needed, I could (and should!) stop.

I used to read mostly science fiction. I decided I needed to read some of the classics (you know, the ones people ask you how you got out of high school without reading). I did read MobyDick a few times, but that wasn’t my happiest choice.

I disagree. A good read does not feel like an effort. It makes you forget what you’re doing and think only about the book.

Why is reading a problem for a smart kid? Most books don’t get boring if you read fast enough. You make it through to the action, and you pick up a lot of background detail on the way.

I was never able to make it through Moby Dick. Probably the most depressing novel ever written.

Actually you can skip the a jug of wine, a loaf of bread and thou beside me in the wilderness and plug in __a cup of coffee, a good book, and a comfortable chair_

I no longer drink alcohol, bread is verboten in my diet, and wilderness is a backyard full of mosquitoes, seemingly endless rain, and weeds that will be knee high when it’s dry enough to mow. Now, let me see, what page was I reading just now?

Some people think Moby Dick is the great masterpiece of American Literature. Other people think it’s crushingly boring. I always thought that was weird until I read it. Then I understood why both points of view existed.

I think it’s great. Except it sometimes makes me want to throw the book at the wall.

I’ve been a hard-core reader since way back. My parents were told that I read at a 5th or 6th grade level, and I was only in kindergarten! I believe I enjoy nothing so much as a good book, but I will admit to something: ………………. I have never read Moby Dick. Nope. Never. I now qualify as a coot, I suppose. I will be 71 in October. I suppose it’s time to drop by the 2nd hand book store and pick up a copy. Thanks again, @pschearer, for clearing up the mystery. Have a Great Day.

From hell’s heart is stab at thee!!A pox, I say. A pox on all the run on sentences that last at least half a page and could be done in two sentences at most. And especially at those writers who employ them.

Melville’s account in the novel of the cabin boy being left alone in the water until the sailors can come back for him is a great example of descriptive narrative. Well, worth seeking out.

It took me six months to wade through Moby Dick. It’s kind of like reading all the begats in the Bible. Only longer.

Nice artwork, Sunday’s is always a treat. I had to fetch my good glasses to make out what that thing was in the upper right (a boat…).

I tried reading Moby Dick once. Single most boring thing I’ve ever read.

I’ve heard that the electronica singer/songwriter Moby (birth name Richard Melville Hall) is actually a nice guy, and that this “dick” thing was just a bad rap, probably spread by a disgruntled ex-girlfriend.

I’ve tried several times to get through that book.It defeats me every time.We did see an avant-garde musical production of it that I really liked (and so did my husband, who loves the book).

Reading a good book is nothing like swimming since you never want to leave that environment. Obviously he shouldn’t have generalized with the word “reading”.

There are some really exciting parts in Moby Dick, but to get to them you have to wade through Ismael’s depression, Ahab’s hatred of the human race and the whale, Starbuck’s fears and depression, the writer’s depressing underlying theme that humans are not good and deserved whatever depressing death gets inflicted upon them, and all of nature’s determination to off the human nature in the most depressing way possible. I recommend watching the movie version with Gregory Peck. It has all the good bits in it and won’t drive you into the mental ward with all the depressing stuff.

I liked White Jacket but not MD

I read Moby Dick in middle school, for a book report, which I was late on. Not surprisingly, I hated it. Maybe someday I’ll try it again. Maybe not.