Moby-Dick as Philosophy

Plato - Melville - Nietzsche

By: Mark Anderson

Narrated by: Randal Schaffer

Moby-Dick as Philosophy is at base a chapter-by-chapter commentary on Herman Melville’s masterwork, Moby-Dick. The commentary form of the audiobook subserves a higher end, the presentation of an ideal of the type "philosopher". Superimposing portraits of Plato, Melville, and Nietzsche - the thinkers themselves, their ideas, and their lives - it generates a composite image from the overlaying and interblending of figures.

At a higher level still, the audiobook is a meditation on the nature of philosophy and its relation to wisdom and the relation of creative artistry to both. It explores these themes in the context of the history of philosophy conceived as the rise and fall of a certain influential variety of Platonism - in Nietzschean terms, the life and death of God - and it proceeds with reference to the different reactions, as exemplified particularly by Melville and Nietzsche, to the nihilism that looms on the horizon of these intellectual and spiritual revolutions.

©2015 S.Ph. Press (P)2018 S.Ph. Press

engrossing

I listened to the sample provided with the audio version of the book several times to make sure I was compatible with the narrator. I've never read Moby Dick. I haven't even read much philosophy. For some reason I couldn't stop coming back to the sample, but felt unwilling to commit to an 18 hr length book on tape about Moby Dick and philosophy.

Finally, after listening to the sample for the 20th time, I admitted it was what my heart wanted. My motivation's aren't that obscure. The narrator goes at an excellent speed, the prose are compelling, and the story is engrossing. Now I have to read Moby Dick in text form, and I couldn't be more excited.

This book answered many questions.

Moby Dick is a (philosophical) colossus and this books is a real helper to anybody struggling with the whale. Each chapter of this American classic is analyzed - just spot on. Highly recommended.

Great Book, Poor Reader

The book is well-written and thought-provoking, and I enjoyed it and recommend it. Be aware, you are going to get a lot of Plato and Nietzsche, along with the Melville. It helped me understand Melville's novel more deeply, but even more it helped me understand what Plato is up to in his works and how Nietzsche approached everything. That was what I was hoping for so it worked for me, but it may not be for you.

As for the reader... no problem understanding the words he's reading, and his voice itself is fine. The issue is that he reads in a sort of sing-song way, with a tonal formula that is applied to every sentence (or two sentences in some cases). Sentences generally begin on a higher tone; important words within the sentence also get a higher tone; then towards the end of the sentence he drops the tone in preparation for a standard higher tonal ending, like a dismount. It's sort of like TV reporter reading an editorial from a script.

Once you realize what the reader is up to, it's very distracting. It also has the effect of making what is being read feel trivial, forced into a box. And missing opportunities for humor or to otherwise add to the pleasure of the work. A good reader takes each sentence for itself, giving the words and phrases whatever emphases and cadences are appropriate based on their context and meaning. This doesn't happen so much when you're following a formula.

Take a dramatic sentence like this, concluding a paragraph on the complexities of the novel: "The result reads like an encyclopedic prose-poem chanted by drunken angels in Hell," That's quite a sentence, and deserves special treatment. But the reader gives it the same treatment as everything else, and the opportunity for a dramatic moment is lost.

Notwithstanding that disappointment, I'm happy I listened to the book. And to be fair: although the reader was distracting and disappointing, he also added a layer of interest. I wouldn't have written this review otherwise.

Terrible Narration

I love Moby Dick and was excited to see this. I have liked mist of the content however it is ruined by the distracting, poor narration. Many of the sentences are long and complex and this narrator’s performance can’t handle them correctly. The inflections, pauses,and incorrect accent make it hard to understand. I would recommend reading a print copy as I plan to do. Some of the worst narration I’ve ever heard.

Not enough Melville

More about Plato and Nietzsche than Melville who seemed an afterthought. Not recommended for reader interested in Melville. I'm going to try and exchange it for Why Read Moby Dick.