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sloatsj's review against another edition
4.0
I learned of this book shortly before I began Moby Dick and was intrigued, but figured such a huge book would cost me a heap of postage. Thank you amazon.de for making this purchase possible and less painful than expected.
This is a beautiful companion to Moby Dick, full of inpired drawings and graphic work, one based on every page of the book. It's the kind of thing only someone who really loved the book could do, and that's what makes it all the more beautiful, the ekphrastic homage! It was touching in that way, where you see how Moby Dick really lives within this artist.
When I was younger and had not yet begun writing poetry, I used to copy out poems I loved by hand as a way of internalizing them and, honestly, showing my devotion to them in the only way that seemed possible. How I felt doing that is similar to the vibe I got going through this book - the artist making Moby Dick part of himself, wanting in a way to interact wíth it.
Very impressed. I totally recommend this to anyone who likes Moby Dick, or any art lover afraid to embark on the reading alone.
This is a beautiful companion to Moby Dick, full of inpired drawings and graphic work, one based on every page of the book. It's the kind of thing only someone who really loved the book could do, and that's what makes it all the more beautiful, the ekphrastic homage! It was touching in that way, where you see how Moby Dick really lives within this artist.
When I was younger and had not yet begun writing poetry, I used to copy out poems I loved by hand as a way of internalizing them and, honestly, showing my devotion to them in the only way that seemed possible. How I felt doing that is similar to the vibe I got going through this book - the artist making Moby Dick part of himself, wanting in a way to interact wíth it.
Very impressed. I totally recommend this to anyone who likes Moby Dick, or any art lover afraid to embark on the reading alone.
juliana_aldous's review against another edition
5.0
Gorgeous book. Matt Kish created an illustration (one-a-day) for each page in the Signet Classics paperback edition of Moby-Dick. Hopefully someone at Signet will be smart enough to produce a new edition of Moby-Dick with at least some of Kish's illustration. This is exactly the kind of wonderful project that works well as a web site, but then is also worth the price of a book to have and hold.
I've posted a few of my favorite illustrations on my pinterest Art board: http://pinterest.com/jaldous/art/ but you can find the entire collection at Kish's site. http://www.spudd64.com/.
I've posted a few of my favorite illustrations on my pinterest Art board: http://pinterest.com/jaldous/art/ but you can find the entire collection at Kish's site. http://www.spudd64.com/.
jennifertordy's review against another edition
4.0
What Kish was able to accomplish via this project is really remarkable. His line choices and interpretations were fresh, unpredictable, and sometimes funny. He gave a new voice and style to an old classic. Well done.
shoemaker's review against another edition
3.0
Very cool idea; makes me wish I were artistic. This idea works so well with Moby Dick, I think, because the novel functions,for me at least, on a sub-conscious, (or unconscious) level. Trying to remember Moby Dick, even though I just re-read it a few years ago, is like trying to recall a strange and portentous dream.
bobbo49's review against another edition
4.0
Although I read about this book in the NYT last year, I really didn't know what to expect when I bought it to accompany my reading of Moby Dick this summer. When I paged through it before starting my read, I was somewhat disappointed to find that the pictures were primarily somewhat abstract collages, not necessarily my favorite art form. But when I got down to the reading, 20 or so pages of Moby Dick followed by the matching pages of the artwork (each page is based on a quote of material from the book), I was very pleasantly surprised. I think the art would be hard to follow without a contemporaneous reading of the book, but together they are an excellent pairing. If you plan to read Moby Dick, by all means see the art alongside it!
rettaroo's review against another edition
My husband got this for me because he knows how much I love Moby Dick... More of a coffee table book than anything else, but it is a fun, interesting look at how a text can impact other readers in ways that align with or diverge from your own perspective. Plus, it is pretty cool to look at!
jared_davis's review against another edition
5.0
An affinity for Moby Dick can be hard to explain. The book runs long, droning at times, yet still stands as a quintessentially American classic. The endless attempts to transform the book into other modalities -- textual, visual, theatrical, cinematic -- may too be an American cultural tradition.
Kish has done a fine job for our generation. I'm impressed by the very feat of producing an original artwork, once per day, for every page of a nearly six-hundred page book. But Kish has done more than simply illustrate Moby Dick; he's made Melville accessible by a nation that feeds on mere impressions of narrative. Pictures really do speak thousands of words in Kish's art.
Kish has done a fine job for our generation. I'm impressed by the very feat of producing an original artwork, once per day, for every page of a nearly six-hundred page book. But Kish has done more than simply illustrate Moby Dick; he's made Melville accessible by a nation that feeds on mere impressions of narrative. Pictures really do speak thousands of words in Kish's art.
timshel's review
5.0
What a wonderful tribute to a great novel.
When I received Moby-Dick in Pictures I decided it was imperative I view the book simultaneously with [b:Moby-Dick|153747|Moby-Dick|Herman Melville|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1327940656s/153747.jpg|2409320]. With a full reading list and an uncertainty about Melville's classic work, it took a little too long to get around to it. Thumbing through these artistic interpretations, I appreciated the work, but viewing these as I believe the artist intended them to be viewed, alongside Moby Dick, made them immensely richer.
There is so much that makes Moby-Dick in Pictures amazing: the sheer scope, the variety of styles and media, the progression of the artist. Kish worked on this project for over a year, making one picture on average for every day. Looking at these pictures, you get a sense of the day the artist was having, his relationship with the words on the page, his interpret ion of Melville. You see the growth of the art from a hobby to a passion. And knowing that Kish is not a trained artist makes his art all the more meaningful; here is an artist putting a face to his love of literature with no idea what he'll find; what I believe Kish may have found in the end was a reflection of himself in the waters of Herman Melville.
Reading the introduction is a requirement to better understanding and appreciating this book. Even without this understanding, I believe the work is strong. I am eager to see what other works of art Kish produces in the future.
*Received from Goodreads' First Reads program*
When I received Moby-Dick in Pictures I decided it was imperative I view the book simultaneously with [b:Moby-Dick|153747|Moby-Dick|Herman Melville|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1327940656s/153747.jpg|2409320]. With a full reading list and an uncertainty about Melville's classic work, it took a little too long to get around to it. Thumbing through these artistic interpretations, I appreciated the work, but viewing these as I believe the artist intended them to be viewed, alongside Moby Dick, made them immensely richer.
There is so much that makes Moby-Dick in Pictures amazing: the sheer scope, the variety of styles and media, the progression of the artist. Kish worked on this project for over a year, making one picture on average for every day. Looking at these pictures, you get a sense of the day the artist was having, his relationship with the words on the page, his interpret ion of Melville. You see the growth of the art from a hobby to a passion. And knowing that Kish is not a trained artist makes his art all the more meaningful; here is an artist putting a face to his love of literature with no idea what he'll find; what I believe Kish may have found in the end was a reflection of himself in the waters of Herman Melville.
Reading the introduction is a requirement to better understanding and appreciating this book. Even without this understanding, I believe the work is strong. I am eager to see what other works of art Kish produces in the future.
*Received from Goodreads' First Reads program*
bibliocyclist's review
3.0
“Better sleep with a sober cannibal than a drunken Christian.”
“Better it is to perish in that howling infinite, than be ingloriously dashed upon the lee.”
“To produce a mighty book, you must choose a mighty theme.”
“Better it is to perish in that howling infinite, than be ingloriously dashed upon the lee.”
“To produce a mighty book, you must choose a mighty theme.”
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