Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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Moby Dick is a sperm whale. Let’s all just laugh about that now so we can get on with the review.

Moby Dick by Herman Melville

November 4, 2015 by ingres77 11 Comments

Hearken! Before me there is a book, at once languid in its eloquence, and deceptive in its poignancy; bold in its exploration of the human experience, and narrowly constrained by its dimension. Experiencing Herman Melville’s florid prose leaves this reviewer destitute of erudition; both beguiled and inadequate before the preponderance of keys laid out in front of him. The dearth of knowledge with which I am equipped beleaguers my attempt to assess this wondrous and weighty tome. Moby Dick is a clarion singing in the […]

Filed Under: Fiction Tagged With: Herman Melville, Moby Dick, whaling

ingres77's CBR7 Review No:23 · Genres: Fiction · Tags: Herman Melville, Moby Dick, whaling ·
Rating:
· 11 Comments

You will not be spared the horrors, even from the comfort of solid ground.

October 22, 2015 by ingres77 4 Comments

I’ve been meaning to read this book for a long time, and the impending release of Ron Howard’s adaptation spurred me to finally pick it up. It’s one of the better reading choices I’ve made this year. For the uninitiated, the Essex was a whaling ship that was sunk in 1820 roughly halfway between Hawaii and the coast of Peru; almost as far from land as you can be and still consider yourself terrestrial. The ship was attacked by a sperm whale, which ultimately inspired […]

Filed Under: History, Non-Fiction Tagged With: sailing, stranded, survival, whaling

ingres77's CBR7 Review No:22 · Genres: History, Non-Fiction · Tags: sailing, stranded, survival, whaling ·
Rating:
· 4 Comments

True Stories are Often MUCH More Interesting than Fiction (take that Melville!)

July 20, 2015 by faintingviolet Leave a Comment

I was vaguely aware of the sinking of the whaleship Essex, and its role as the inspiration for Moby-Dick when I heard that there was going to be a movie about it staring one of the many Marvel Chrises and that the movie was based on a book* of the same name. In the Heart of the Sea is a book about 19th century history, sailing, oceans and a story of survival for some but not all? I was in. In case you are similarly […]

Filed Under: History, Non-Fiction Tagged With: faintingviolet, history, In the Heart of the Sea, movie adaptation, Nathaniel Philbrick, whaling

faintingviolet's CBR7 Review No:54 · Genres: History, Non-Fiction · Tags: faintingviolet, history, In the Heart of the Sea, movie adaptation, Nathaniel Philbrick, whaling ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments


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