TheBig3

Moby Dick is a refutation of transcendentalism. It's an argument that man is equal to nature and god, and it's heavy on the symbolism of the Abrahamic religions.

Here's a great three-part lecture on the subject:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRQF9xii9cc&t=311s

SGR

The thug notes analysis of Moby Dick was hilarious too. Keep floatin' homies.

elphenor

Great Gatsby is a much faster read both because of its length and its style

these books are almost only comparable in that they're cemented into high school curriculums for all eternity

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elphenor

also given when it was written, one interpretation of Moby Dick is that it's about the US reliance on slavery

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SGR

I haven't heard that one before, interesting. Makes sense when you think about it.

I'm surprised though you and jwb actually had to read Moby Dick in high school? I never did. I read Moby Dick after I graduated college - and not to sound aloof or anything, but I consider myself a pretty strong reader - and yet still I had to direct all of my attention to the novel when reading it - the circuitous nature of the narrative and chapter progressions and the flowery language of Melville made it a real challenge. I can't imagine reading it as a high schooler. If I was assigned Moby Dick as a high schooler, I would've did what jwb did and used sparknotes/cliffnotes - and I probably would still have a hatred for the novel today.

ribbons

I've never read Moby Dick, even though I have two copies of it on my shelves. I'll have to remedy that one day.

I find Fitzgerald's books and stories boring, but he has the most beautiful style and imagery. I gravitate to him because I love poetry and Fitzgerald writes in a very poetic prose style (similar to another favorite of mine, Tennessee Williams).

For example, from Gatsby:

"A breeze blew through the room, blew curtains in at one end and out the other like pale flags, twisting them up toward the frosted wedding-cake of the ceiling, and then rippled over the wine colored rug, making a shadow on it as wind does on the sea. The only completely stationary object in the room was an enormous couch on which two young women were buoyed up as though upon an anchored balloon. They were both in white, and their dresses were rippling and fluttering as if they had just been blown back in after a short flight around the house. I must have stood for a few moments listening to the whip and snap of the curtains and the groan of a picture on the wall. Then there was a boom as Tom Buchanan shut the rear windows and the caught wind died out about the room, and the curtains and the rugs and the two young women ballooned slowly to the floor."

Queen Boo

I don't see why having conversations with younger people is creepy as long as it's not sexual in nature, there's nothing wrong with sharing your love of music with people of all ages.

Just don't be a creep and you're good.

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The Batlord

Hey kid you ever listen to 2 Live Crew?

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SGR

jwb

There's nothing to say to a 14 year old unless you're going to try to be some kind of mentor or something. It's actually not at all normal to me for 30 year olds to be friends with high school students. For some reason the internet makes it seem more normal by reducing everyone to text on a screen.