Harrison Stewart

Although at times it’s passages may be troubling and it’s vernacular antiquated, there is still a romantic vision thrust forth from these pages. Upon reading, I am transported into the mid-19th century, aboard the Pequod and descended into the very deepest understanding of the mindset of a whaler on his voyage. Each voyage to the whalers was a liminal stage, like a chapter within purgatory where each return to land was just a step stone across the creek of the universe. The 3 to 5 year voyage itself was the leap between these stones. I cannot wish to write even halfway as beautifully as Herman Melville and I do not write this review with an facetiousness or pretenses. This is, by any measures, is one of the best novels ever written and it, with all honesty, can be studied in psychology and philosophy classes as it feels more akin to a Platonic study of the human condition than just a novel. Fantastic read. It does take a chapter of your own life to read it but you may be a different person coming out of it, for what it’s worth.