A Book, A Film

The book is touted as the great American novel. I wouldn't go that far but Moby Dick is certainly a remarkable achievement. It disobeys certain of the rules you are taught in creative writing classes and is none the poorer for that. It is a big slab of a book but the chapters are short which makes for easier consumption. It speaks of man's urge to bend nature to his will, creeping into obsession. It is quintessentially American and, for that very reason (on account of how the world has developed) it is also universal. It had stood in my bookcase, one of those books tormenting me as requiring reading. Now I have done it. I was right to think it necessary. Call me Dave. 

The film is a considerably lesser cultural artifact but one well-made and which answers the tasks it sets itself. Greenland is, on its face, a disaster movie - a comet strike threatening an extinction event. The presence in the lead of Gerard Butler might make you think that he will save the world. But no, although there are some perfectly satisfactory special effects, it concentrates on the narrower horizon of what a man should do to preserve his family. It is a taut and humane example of the disaster movie. Actually rather good. 68/100.