To really get authentic sense of who Melville was. You should live in the old town region of Mazatlan where Melville also lived.
So, I love “Moby Dick” and have read it and analyzed it enough (historical context is really important in understanding this book) that I find it pretty funny. Unfortunately, explaining the funny parts of “Moby Dick” to anyone is one of the most un-funny experiences one can ever have. My wife has threatened me with bodily harm if I make another attempt.
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One of my favorite things ever was reading Moby Dick. I was 30 years old on a 3 month adventure in northern Mexico. Every time I was on two or three day train ride I would be reading Melville. Pro-tip; have an annotated volume on hand. Those long passages near the end? Sip some great tequila as the endless sea of dessert rolls by and the prose plays like a great sad country western song; sadness infused with dark humour.
A great video I saw at MASSMOCA years go: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMYkBazu8s4
If it’s playing at a museum near you, treat yourself to a viewing.
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it’s a meta-metaphor for me. I keep swearing to one day read the whole book, but have/will never be successful. Moby-Dick is my Moby-Dick.
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Well, given that each chapter is about 3 pages, that’s understandable.
I’ve read it twice, but I really like the pedantic explanation of the whaling industry. My wife was a fellow English major and definitely did not like it as much as I did.
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I say be capricious as to what you read next. Put it at the bottom of your list and when you do get to it you will feel extra accomplished.
At this point in my life, a reading list shouldn’t be prioritized beyond gaining enjoyment or gaining understand. I have three reading lists, but my best experiences have been from listening to something online, like a podcast, and then exploring that author’s works. Karen Russell and Kelly Link were great joys that I found from Selected Shorts and To The Best Of Our Knowledge, that were worth more than any of the times I read Moby Dick. Friends have been good references too. I have gained insight into people by listening to their “must read” books.
Moby Dick is a monstrous book in so many ways. It’s influence is deep and it is in many of the dominant English literary canons. It may also be made more weighty by those that have read it because of its size, age, use of language, and or minutiae contained within it’s pages. People have PhDs on it and authors have built stories around that book. So many things make the book truly monstrous. The most monstrous aspect of the book is that it is assigned in high school instead of later on in life.
I haven’t had much use for the information concerning ships found within Melville’s Moby Dick, but that has stuck with me all these years, and sometimes I wish I could have those brain cells tasked to remember something else. I can say the same of so many experiences that I still can recall.
In short, save the book until you feel an overwhelming want to read it.
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What about the PKD fans?
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Obviously what Moby Dick is about is a subject that’s kept academics busy for years, but I never saw obsession and futility as the main themes of the book, so much as spirituality and organized religion. Probably because when I read it in college I was deliberately made to read Emerson first to make the transcendentalist themes more obvious. The main thrust of the book seemed to be, to me, that no one belief system is correct, but all have a partial picture of the divine, institutional religion sucks, as well as slight notion that our imperfect world may be the result of an imperfect God.
Ahab, as much as he rants against god, is less a human figure and more, as I believe he is described, an “ungodly, god-like man.” Though he curses God, he is like unto a god in that he is the absolute master of his domain, and much of the grief on the ship is a result of his flaws. Or, more simply, shit rolls downhill, and God is at the top of the hill, so guess where all this shit is coming from.
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I think those are Philip-Heads.
It really is one of the best books ever, and funny and radical and freethinking and gay to boot. Melville was a Happy Mutant for sure
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They do make a mean kabob, but I had no idea they had so many devotees that someone would make a documentary abo–
Sorry, wrong Moby Dick’s.
Dammit, @anon48584343 beat me to it
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Pro Tip: When faced with a choice between Moby-Dick and War and Peace, read the Silmarillion.
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Or go even shorter, by reading “Bartleby the Scrivener.”
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Moby, yes. Moby, not.
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No. They be Mobiphones.
How could this post be complete without mentioning that rollicking wild ride those whaleboats took after spearing a monster - the Nantucket Sleighride?
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While you could I specifically left that one off. While a great story it’s a bit outside his usual style and has nothing to do with sailing. However, it definitely worth reading.
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