I have a confession to make. It took me several years to finish reading Moby-Dick. It took me ages to read it, but to actually understand what happened…um. I’m still working on it. If anyone has any tips about how to get a better understanding of the events and symbolism in this novel, please let me know!
I loved the powerful opening line – Call me Ishmael. First lines are meant to grip the reader, and propel them to the second line, and so forth, and Moby-Dick did exactly that. The language befuddled me at several points, so I definitely need to do several re-readings.
I don’t know much about sailing, boats or whaling, but by the end of the novel, I learned that the ocean is not a force to be trifled with. And that whales can be SCARY. Especially hulking old ones with a vendetta against a one-legged madman. It goes to show the double-edged sword of relentless ambition….you may get what you want, but is the price something you’re willing to pay? Hm.
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Published by Raidah Shah Idil
Raidah Shah Idil is a student counsellor, poet, writer, and creative instructor with a passion for YA (young adult), fantasy, sci-fi and detective fiction. She was born in Singapore and moved to Australia at the age of 12. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (English) and Bachelor of Science (Psychology) from the University of New South Wales in 2005.
After working as a marketing copywriter and studying the Islamic Sciences in Amman, Jordan for nearly two years, she returned to Sydney, got married, then moved to Malaysia. While working as a part-time tutor at Axiom Learning, she works as an online counsellor for Seekershub Global. She has completed her Diploma of Counselling through the Australian Institute of Professional Counsellors. Her full-time job is raising her baby daughter. Everything else is squeezed in between. Literally. Her writing has been published in The Feminist Wire, SISTERS magazine, Daily Life, Lip Mag and Venture Beat. Raidah’s poetry was recently published in the ‘Armed With Only Our Souls’ online DDFS chapbook by New York poet Caits Meissner. Her debut double-featured novel, “Finding Jamilah and the Story of Yusuf” was published by MyLegacy publications in early 2014.
In her spare time (ha), she reads, listens to audiobooks, goes on walks, and is always on the lookout for tasty noodle soup. She currently lives in a green, leafy suburb in Kuala Lumpur with her husband, three small children and mother-in-law.
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Raidah Shah Idil 