Finished it recently in like the last month. It was really good read when I picked it up. Seemed to be a short story that most people pick up for their first story.I liked the main character, how he is shown a different perspective on viewing his life by a stranger, hating his wife which just listens to tv and music all day barely functional as her own person, the english professor he befriends and the ending was a nice wrap up.I honestly wanted to start reading because I want to read moby dick to understand MGS5 better and had no interest in reading beforehand but was obviously self aware that I was severely lacking any ability to read critically. Also the fact that I probably have to read a lot of literature to understand the references of moby dick pulls from like the bible.Should I keep reading? What should my next book be? Should I know anything before reading more?
>>25339018Reverend Insanity.
>>25339021Is it good?
my diary desu
>>25339074Post diary, I'll read it.
>>25339018Moby-Dick owes its existence to three different works:>Paradise Lost>The Bible>Shakespeare's playsIf you want a reading list tailored specifically for Moby-Dick, then follow:>Iliad (+Odyssey)->Aeneid (+Metamorphoses)->Paradise Lost>King Lear>Jonah, Ecclesiastes, Job (KJV) This way you'll see the literary lineage Melville is alluding to with his language. There's a clear cause and effect here, with Melville aping Milton, Milton aping Vergil, and Vergil aping Homer.What's notable about Moby-Dick is that it's not a Novel in the traditional sense; Melville himself referred to it as a Romance, and its structure has much to do with the epic poem. Don't expect plot twists, character development, or anything else you associate with stories. The book takes its preoccupation with language and philosophising from Paradise Lost, and if you read it this way no page will be boring (a common complaint among new readers) because Melville is a master prose stylist. Every chapter was a joy to me, and Melville is one of my favourite writers even outside of Moby-Dick.>One often hears of writers that rise and swell with their subject, though it may seem but an ordinary one. How, then, with me, writing of this Leviathan? Unconsciously my chirography expands into placard capitals. Give me a condor’s quill! Give me Vesuvius’ crater for an inkstand! Friends, hold my arms! For in the mere act of penning my thoughts of this Leviathan, they weary me, and make me faint with their outreaching comprehensiveness of sweep, as if to include the whole circle of the sciences, and all the generations of whales, and men, and mastodons, past, present, and to come, with all the revolving panoramas of empire on earth, and throughout the whole universe, not excluding its suburbs. Such, and so magnifying, is the virtue of a large and liberal theme! We expand to its bulk. To produce a mighty book, you must choose a mighty theme. No great and enduring volume can ever be written on the flea, though many there be who have tried it.
>>25339162That's so many words. Can't I read a summery of it all including moby dick to understand mgs5?
>>25339018If you liked F451, you should either read 1984 or Brave New World. Those are much better dystopians.I personally disliked this book. For me, it was just an American cheap copy of 1984, but the author hated capitalism instead of socialism. I also HATE the pretentious bullshit of feeling you are superior because you read a book and other people don't. Imagine a movie about a guy who saves DVDs and VHSs from the thought police. Same shitty energy.
>>25339977>bullshit of feeling you are superior because you read a book and other people don't.... but you are
>>25339018read fightclub, it's fun. never make reading a chore. always drop a book if you find yourself starting to dread it. you may come back to it later. in time, you'll find yourself drawn to the dusty old tomes later.
>>25339162God I need to reread MD so bad>>25339213You can if your sole aim is to understand mgs5, but I think it's worthwhile to at least attempt to enjoy the book fully, it's truly a magical work that will help you better appreciate life in its every aspect. And don't get lost in the references, you'll get really bogged down. Just read it and enjoy it for what it is (and really the star of the show is the prose; try to subvocalize/read aloud and sense the rhythm, it's like poetry in a sense). If there's a detail that truly intrigues you, only then look up what it's referencing to.
>>25339018>first book everYou need to be 18 to post here
