Moby-Dick by Herman Melville is certainly one of the most well known books in American Literature. I'm not going to pretend that I enjoyed this book. When I read it, I expected it to be an exciting adventure, but it turned out to be little more than a tech manual on how to go whaling. The storyline that there was in the book was at least interesting.
The theme of this book is obviously revenge and its consequences. The captain of the vessel in which the protagonist has embarked on a whaling expedition, Captain Ahab, was once maimed by a white whale, named Moby-Dick, and he has sworn a vendetta against this whale. Throughout the book, Ahab focuses on nothing other than killing this whale. He does not enjoy the successes he and his crew achieve throughout the book because he is blinded by his hatred for the whale. When he and his crew finally sight the whale, he stops at nothing in his attempts to kill it. Moby-Dick eventually destroys the ship killing all of the crew other than the protagonist. Ahab's hatred for this whale eventually cost the lives of him and his entire crew.
This theme really is great. I can not say a word against the ideals of this book, but the ideals are not the problem. The first problem in this book is the language. Sadly, some parts of this book had to be read extremely slowly because the language was just too complicated. This is not a huge issue, and it certainly wouldn't have condemned the book alone, but there was a far bigger issue. This bigger issue was the massive breaks in the storyline in which the author attempted to teach the reader everything he or she could ever need to know about whaling. This information had absolutely nothing to do with the story, and it took up at least half of the book. These gaps were frustrating and nearly pointless. In my opinion, this book was really not worth the time it required to read. I would not recommend this book to anyone who does not have an extremely great interest in whaling and the ocean in general. I certainly wouldn't recommend it to children because I do not expect that most would enjoy so much as a word of it.
Sorry to have to give any classic book a review like this,
Jodath
"It is a good rule after reading a new book, never to allow yourself another new one till you have read an old one in between." ~C.S. Lewis~
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Number Four: Robinson Crusoe
Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe really is a remarkable book. When I first read it, I found it to be relatively long, but still an excellent book. Now that I am old enough to understand the book a bit better, I find it to be truly wonderful. As a Christian, very few books have ever had a greater impact on me than this.
The overarching theme of this book is without question God's just punishments tempered by his merciful providence. The main Character in this book, Robinson Crusoe, chose to break with the wishes of his father and God himself time and again during the first part of the book. Twice, God made it very clear to Crusoe that if he should continue down that path then he would come to destruction and then God blessed him for obeying him for a time. Crusoe chose to disobey God again, and God marooned him on an island all alone. Crusoe hated his life on this island for a very long time until he became extremely ill and nearly died. After this, he saw everything in a different light. From that point in the book on, Crusoe was no longer miserable, but rather understood the amazing blessings God had given him on the island. Crusoe became content with his lot, and God blessed him. After a time, God sent Crusoe a companion on the island, and not long after that God gave him release from the island. In his absence, God blessed Crusoe with enough wealth to last him a lifetime. Crusoe's life was not perfect after this, but he trusted God completely for the rest of his life.
From a Christian perspective, it doesn't get much better than this. Crusoe's life illustrates how important it is to submit to God in an amazingly simplistic yet powerful way. There have been books that I enjoyed more, but this book is certainly one of my favorites. I wouldn't entirely recommend this book for people who are too young, because it is pretty long and doesn't have a particularly exciting plot line for long stretches, but for anyone old enough to get through it, I would highly recommend this book.
Sincerely hoping that you all read this one,
Jodath
The overarching theme of this book is without question God's just punishments tempered by his merciful providence. The main Character in this book, Robinson Crusoe, chose to break with the wishes of his father and God himself time and again during the first part of the book. Twice, God made it very clear to Crusoe that if he should continue down that path then he would come to destruction and then God blessed him for obeying him for a time. Crusoe chose to disobey God again, and God marooned him on an island all alone. Crusoe hated his life on this island for a very long time until he became extremely ill and nearly died. After this, he saw everything in a different light. From that point in the book on, Crusoe was no longer miserable, but rather understood the amazing blessings God had given him on the island. Crusoe became content with his lot, and God blessed him. After a time, God sent Crusoe a companion on the island, and not long after that God gave him release from the island. In his absence, God blessed Crusoe with enough wealth to last him a lifetime. Crusoe's life was not perfect after this, but he trusted God completely for the rest of his life.
From a Christian perspective, it doesn't get much better than this. Crusoe's life illustrates how important it is to submit to God in an amazingly simplistic yet powerful way. There have been books that I enjoyed more, but this book is certainly one of my favorites. I wouldn't entirely recommend this book for people who are too young, because it is pretty long and doesn't have a particularly exciting plot line for long stretches, but for anyone old enough to get through it, I would highly recommend this book.
Sincerely hoping that you all read this one,
Jodath
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Number Three: Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne really was a fascinating book. When I read this book around four years ago, I found it to be quite enjoyable despite a relatively slow moving storyline. This book was full of amazingly real and complex characters and a wonderful story describing the wonders of the world under the sea.
When I read this book, I found the character of Captain Nemo to be fascinating. He was an extremely well educated man who loved science, literature, and music, but he was also an extremely troubled man who harbored many demons. This man truly loved his men as if they were his children, but he also ruthlessly hated those who lived on land. Throughout this book, he used his vessel to explore the world of science in ways in which they had never been explored before, but he also used the same vessel to end the lives of many people. In the end, Nemo sailed his submarine into a whirlpool where it was likely destroyed. Without question, Captain Nemo is one of the most complex characters I have discovered in literature. With amazing characters like Captain Nemo, this book couldn't help but be good, but this book also contained several good life lessons.
There were only two issues that I had with this book. The first is a relatively minor problem, and this problem was the scientific nature of the writing. Clearly Verne had a great love for science which he put very prevalently in this book. Throughout the narrative, there were many pauses in which the author explained the many different scientific principles of the submarine or explained the various life forms which the crew were studying. This type of writing could be extremely interesting to some people, but I didn't exactly love these breaks in the narrative. The other issue that I had was the lack of really heroic characters. There were a plethora of interesting characters throughout this book, but there were none who were really heroes. To me, a book without true heroes cannot truly be considered great.
My conclusion: this was a really good book. It wasn't the best book I have ever read, but it was certainly far from the worst. I wouldn't necessarily suggest if for a younger audience, but for people who are old enough to understand the scientific and psychological studies which are explored throughout this book, I would definitely say that its worth reading.
Hoping that you are out there reading these books for yourself,
Jodath
When I read this book, I found the character of Captain Nemo to be fascinating. He was an extremely well educated man who loved science, literature, and music, but he was also an extremely troubled man who harbored many demons. This man truly loved his men as if they were his children, but he also ruthlessly hated those who lived on land. Throughout this book, he used his vessel to explore the world of science in ways in which they had never been explored before, but he also used the same vessel to end the lives of many people. In the end, Nemo sailed his submarine into a whirlpool where it was likely destroyed. Without question, Captain Nemo is one of the most complex characters I have discovered in literature. With amazing characters like Captain Nemo, this book couldn't help but be good, but this book also contained several good life lessons.
There were only two issues that I had with this book. The first is a relatively minor problem, and this problem was the scientific nature of the writing. Clearly Verne had a great love for science which he put very prevalently in this book. Throughout the narrative, there were many pauses in which the author explained the many different scientific principles of the submarine or explained the various life forms which the crew were studying. This type of writing could be extremely interesting to some people, but I didn't exactly love these breaks in the narrative. The other issue that I had was the lack of really heroic characters. There were a plethora of interesting characters throughout this book, but there were none who were really heroes. To me, a book without true heroes cannot truly be considered great.
My conclusion: this was a really good book. It wasn't the best book I have ever read, but it was certainly far from the worst. I wouldn't necessarily suggest if for a younger audience, but for people who are old enough to understand the scientific and psychological studies which are explored throughout this book, I would definitely say that its worth reading.
Hoping that you are out there reading these books for yourself,
Jodath
Number Two: Gulliver's Travels
Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift was certainly an interesting read. When I read this book around six years ago, I was too young to understand much of the symbolism of the first three quarters of the book, and I certainly didn't fully understand it. Luckily, I have been blessed with a relatively good memory, and after a brief review of the facts, much of the book returned to me. Even when I read it the first time, I knew that it was absolutely full of the authors opinions about human kind. Sadly, I disagree with most of the author's conclusions, and I find the book to be a relatively unimpressive read.
The idea which struck me when I read this book, and has remained with me ever since, is the idea of humans being no better than animals at heart. At the fourth island that Gulliver visits, he finds animals called Yahoos which are exactly like humans in every way other than their minds which are the minds of brutish animals. Living near these animals, he finds horses which speak with the tongues of men and have far more intelligence than any men described in the story. Gulliver begins living amongst these horses and eventually decides that humans really aren't very different from the Yahoos. Eventually, Gulliver was cast off of the island because the horses decided that he really was an animal himself and they couldn't allow him to live amongst them. At the end of the story, Gulliver returned home but found that he couldn't be part of human society any longer because humans really were nothing more than disgusting animals.
Personally, I find this theme to be extremely far from the truth. Human's are not animals, but rather beings created in God's own image. They are damaged by their sin natures, and many do live their lives in sin, but they still aren't animals. This book truly praises nothing. It contains no bravery, it makes a mockery of religion, of law, and of humans in general. There really are very few redeeming qualities in this book.
Hoping that someone enjoyed it more than I did,
Jodath
The idea which struck me when I read this book, and has remained with me ever since, is the idea of humans being no better than animals at heart. At the fourth island that Gulliver visits, he finds animals called Yahoos which are exactly like humans in every way other than their minds which are the minds of brutish animals. Living near these animals, he finds horses which speak with the tongues of men and have far more intelligence than any men described in the story. Gulliver begins living amongst these horses and eventually decides that humans really aren't very different from the Yahoos. Eventually, Gulliver was cast off of the island because the horses decided that he really was an animal himself and they couldn't allow him to live amongst them. At the end of the story, Gulliver returned home but found that he couldn't be part of human society any longer because humans really were nothing more than disgusting animals.
Personally, I find this theme to be extremely far from the truth. Human's are not animals, but rather beings created in God's own image. They are damaged by their sin natures, and many do live their lives in sin, but they still aren't animals. This book truly praises nothing. It contains no bravery, it makes a mockery of religion, of law, and of humans in general. There really are very few redeeming qualities in this book.
Hoping that someone enjoyed it more than I did,
Jodath
Friday, February 11, 2011
Number One: Treasure Island
Treasure Island by Robert Lewis Stevenson is truly a wonderful book. When I read this book, I was only eleven years old, but even then it seemed absolutely amazing to me. Now, eight years later, it is every bit as good as it was then. Before writing this review, I decided to refresh my memory on some of this story, and in doing so I once again found myself lost in wonder of this excellent story. Like most classic books, this one truly can be read at any age and still thoroughly enjoyed.
The biggest thing which stuck out to me in this book was Jim Hawkins progression from the obedient, but relatively uninteresting, young boy to the confident and assertive young man he becomes by the end of the book. He goes from a mere passenger on board the ship to the hero who saved the ship in the end of the book. There is an amazing progression from a boy seeking adventure to the man who, instead, cares about saving his friends and keeping his personal honor above all else. In the end, he was unquestionably willing to sacrifice whatever was necessary to save his friends. In the end, he truly was a hero.
Not a page in this book was wasted. There was absolutely no drag in the story in any place, and there was enough adventure to keep even an eleven year old boy excited. Few books can equal this in excitement, and at the same time it manages to convey an excellent message. In Treasure Island Stevenson really did manage to pull of a Great Book which I would highly recommended absolutely everyone reading. I hope that I can find the time to read it again soon.
Hoping that you will enjoy this book as much as I did,
Jodath
The biggest thing which stuck out to me in this book was Jim Hawkins progression from the obedient, but relatively uninteresting, young boy to the confident and assertive young man he becomes by the end of the book. He goes from a mere passenger on board the ship to the hero who saved the ship in the end of the book. There is an amazing progression from a boy seeking adventure to the man who, instead, cares about saving his friends and keeping his personal honor above all else. In the end, he was unquestionably willing to sacrifice whatever was necessary to save his friends. In the end, he truly was a hero.
Not a page in this book was wasted. There was absolutely no drag in the story in any place, and there was enough adventure to keep even an eleven year old boy excited. Few books can equal this in excitement, and at the same time it manages to convey an excellent message. In Treasure Island Stevenson really did manage to pull of a Great Book which I would highly recommended absolutely everyone reading. I hope that I can find the time to read it again soon.
Hoping that you will enjoy this book as much as I did,
Jodath
The Destination
Around six months ago I set out on a quest (Now it is important to note that our lives are in fact full of journeys and it would be entirely untrue to say that I have chosen this journey in exclusion of others) to learn as much as I could about the Great Literature of Human History. To this end, I searched for a list of the all-time best classic literature, and eventually I discovered a list of two hundred such books. I made it my goal to read each and every one of these books. Certainly, I am far from achieving this goal and it will take many years before I can accomplish this quest, but I am still attempting to do so. When I discovered this list I had read a meager five of these books, but I decided to take on the challenge all the same. Six months later, I have read 11 of these books leaving 189 to go. Sadly, this list does not contain every book that I would like to read, and most likely I shall have read twice this number by the time I finish the list, but I do hope that someday - if I am spared - I will read this entire list.
- The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
- The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
- The Aeneid by Vergil
- Aesop's Fables by Aesop
- The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
- Agnes Grey by Anne Brontë
- Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll
- The Ambassadors by Henry James
- Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
- The Arabian Nights by Anonymous
- The Art of War by Sun Tzu
- The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man and Other Writings by James Weldon Johnson
- The Awakening and Selected Short Fiction by Kate Chopin
- Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis
- Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope
- The Beautiful and Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald
- Beowulf Translated by John McNamara
- Billy Budd and The Piazza Tales by Herman Melville
- Bleak House by Charles Dickens
- The Bostonians by Henry James
- The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
- Bulfinch's Mythology by Thomas Bulfinch
- The Call of the Wild and WhiteFang by Jack London
- Candide by Voltaire
- The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
- A Christmas Carol, The Chimes, & The Cricket on the Hearth by Charles Dickens
- The Collected Oscar Wilde
- The Collected Poems of Emily Dickinson
- Common Sense and Other Writings by Thomas Paine
- The Communist Manifesto and Other Writings by Karl Marx
- The Complete Sherlock Holmes, Volume I by Arthur Conan Doyle
- The Complete Sherlock Holmes, Volume II by Arthur Conan Doyle
- The Confessions by St. Augustine of Hippo
- A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain
- The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
- Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
- Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand
- Daisy Miller and Washington Square by Henry James
- Daniel Deronda by George Eliot
- David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
- Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol
- The Death of Ivan Ilych and Other Stories by Leo Tolstoy
- The Deerslayer by James Fenimore Cooper
- Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes
- Dracula by Bram Stoker
- Emma by Jane Austen
- The Enchanted Castle and Five Children and It by Edith Nesbit
- Essays and Poems by Ralph Waldo Emerson
- Essential Dialogues of Plato by Plato
- Essential Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe
- Ethan Frome & Selected Stories by Edith Wharton
- Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Andersen
- Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy
- Fathers and Sons by Ivan Turgenev
- The Federalist by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, & John Jay
- Founding America: Documents from the Revolution to the Bill of Rights Edited by Jack N. Rakove
- The Four Feathers by A. E. W. Mason
- Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
- Germinal by Emile Zola
- The Good Soldier by Ford Maddox Ford
- Great American Short Stories: From Hawthorne to Hemingway Edited by Corinne Demas
- Great Escapes: Four Slave Narratives Introduction and notes by Daphne A. Brooks
- Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
- Grimm's Fairy Tales by Jacob & Wilhelm Grimm
- Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift
- Hard Times by Charles Dickens
- Heart of Darkness and Selected Short Fiction by Joseph Conrad
- The Histories by Herodotus
- The History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides
- The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton
- The House of the Dead and Poor Folk by Fyodor Dostoevsky
- The House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne
- Howards End by E. M. Forster
- The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo
- The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky
- The Iliad by Homer
- The Importance of Being Earnest and Four Other Plays by Oscar Wilde
- Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs
- The Inferno by Dante Alighieri
- The Interpretation of Dreams by Sigmund Freud
- Ivanhoe by Walter Scott
- Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
- Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne
- Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy
- The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
- The Jungle Books by Rudyard Kipling
- Kim by Rudyard Kipling
- King Solomon's Mines by H. Rider Haggard
- Lady Chatterley's Lover by D. H. Lawrence
- The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper
- Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
- The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Other Writings by Washington Irving
- Les Liaisons Dangereuses by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos
- The Life of Charlotte Brontë by Elizabeth Gaskell
- Les Misérables by Victor Hugo
- Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
- Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad
- Lost Illusions by Honoré de Balzac
- Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
- Maggie: A Girl of the Streets and Other Writings About New York by Stephen Crane
- The Magnificent Ambersons by Booth Tarkington
- Main Street by Sinclair Lewis
- Man and Superman and Three Other Plays by George Bernard Shaw
- The Man in the Iron Mask by Alexandre Dumas
- Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
- The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy
- Metamorphoses by Ovid
- The Metamorphosis and Other Stories by Franz Kafka
- Middlemarch by George Eliot
- Moby-Dick by Herman Melville
- Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe
- The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins
- My Ántonia by Willa Cather
- My Bondage and My Freedom by Frederick Douglass
- Narrative of Sojourner Truth
- Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave
- Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens
- Night and Day by Virginia Woolf
- Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
- Nostromo by Joseph Conrad
- Notes from Underground, The Double and Other Stories by Fyodor Dostoevsky
- O Pioneers! by Willa Cather
- The Odyssey by Homer
- Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham
- Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
- The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin
- Paradise Lost by John Milton
- Paradiso by Dante Alighieri
- Persuasion by Jane Austen
- Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie
- The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux
- The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
- The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan
- Poetics and Rhetoric by Aristotle
- The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James
- A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and Dubliners by James Joyce
- Possessed by Fyodor Dostoevsky
- Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
- The Prince and Other Writings by Niccolò Machiavelli
- The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain
- Pudd'nhead Wilson and Those Extraordinary Twins by Mark Twain
- Purgatorio by Dante Alighieri
- Pygmalion and Three Other Plays by George Bernard Shaw
- The Red and the Black by Stendhal
- The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane
- Republic by Plato
- The Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy
- The Rise of Silas Lapham by William D. Howells
- Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
- A Room with a View by E. M. Forster
- Sailing Alone Around the World by Joshua Slocum
- The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
- The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Emmuska Orczy
- The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad
- The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
- Selected Stories of O. Henry by O. Henry
- Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
- A Sentimental Education by Gustave Flaubert
- Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse
- Silas Marner by George Eliot
- Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser
- Sons and Lovers by D. H. Lawrence
- The Souls of Black Folk by W. E. B. Du Bois
- The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Other Stories by Robert Louis Stevenson
- Swann's Way by Marcel Proust
- A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
- Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu
- Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs
- Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
- This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald
- Three Lives by Gertrude Stein
- The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas
- Three Theban Plays by Sophocles
- Thus Spoke Zarathustra by Friedrich Nietzsche
- The Time Machine and The Invisible Man by H. G. Wells
- Tom Jones by Henry Fielding
- Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
- The Turn of the Screw, The Aspern Papers, and Two Stories by Henry James
- Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne
- Two Years Before the Mast by Richard Henry Dana
- Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
- Utopia by Thomas More
- Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray
- The Varieties of Religious Experience by William James
- Villette by Charlotte Brontë
- The Virginian by Owen Wister
- The Voyage Out by Virginia Woolf
- Walden and Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau
- War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
- The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells
- Ward No. 6 and Other Stories by Anton Chekhov
- The Waste Land and Other Poems by T. S. Eliot
- The Way We Live Now by Anthony Trollope
- The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
- The Wings of the Dove by Henry James
- Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell
- The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
- Women in Love by D. H. Lawrence
- The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
- Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
Quite the list, isn't it? Yes, it is a little intimidating, but I think I can get through it. If you know anything at all about literature, I am sure that you noticed that many of the books on this list are somewhat on the feminine side... Sadly, discrimination based on the intended audience of books would make this quest nearly useless. I will have to persevere through all of the books on this diverse list.
Now, I would guess that you are wondering why exactly I am writing all of this out. The answer to this very good question is that using this blog, I will be able to write my own feelings on each of these books (and almost certainly many other books which I have read and will read throughout this journey). Without doubt, I will not always remember how I felt about all of these books merely because there are too many books to remember. My hope is that in the future I will be able to look back at this blog and remember something of these books. I have little hope that this blog will ever be of much interest to anyone else, but perhaps at some point someone else will read my views of these books and decide to read them for themselves. Either way, for my own sake or for others, I am going to do this. If nothing else, it will give me a chance to write.
Wishing you all the best,
Jodath
P.S. If anyone wishes to comment on my opinions of these books, I am certainly open to other views. Also, if there are any other books which you would recommend that I read, please feel free to mention them - I am always looking for more books to read.
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