I read (and enjoyed) Moby Dick as an adult. I am at a loss about why, out of all literature in English, a teacher would choose this one to inflict on teenagers. *Billy Budd* maybe, but not the meandering whale tale. That one should only be read by choice.
Dark Flashback. He of course wrote in the language of the day, which during those confused teen years I found not just hard to understand, but I really didn't want to understand. It was the 70s. It was bad enough that we had to read one of Shakespeare's plays a year.
On the topic of rereading I agree, it just isn't all there the first time. I'm almost finished reading the scroll version of Kerouac's On The Road. Idiot publishers.
I read (and enjoyed) Moby Dick as an adult. I am at a loss about why, out of all literature in English, a teacher would choose this one to inflict on teenagers. *Billy Budd* maybe, but not the meandering whale tale. That one should only be read by choice.
I totally agree! I think it's true for a lot of classics. It takes a good dose of lived experience to be able to fully enjoy books like Moby Dick.
Dark Flashback. He of course wrote in the language of the day, which during those confused teen years I found not just hard to understand, but I really didn't want to understand. It was the 70s. It was bad enough that we had to read one of Shakespeare's plays a year.
On the topic of rereading I agree, it just isn't all there the first time. I'm almost finished reading the scroll version of Kerouac's On The Road. Idiot publishers.
Give it another chance! 😊
I love Moby Dick too. Especially the humor! Totally unexpected.
Totally agree, I giggled quite a bit throughout!
I loved Moby Dick when I read it years ago. I also love those illustrations! I’ll have to find a copy with those in it.