Friday, July 27, 2012
Saturday, July 21, 2012
...in mountainous countries where the traveller is continually girdled by amphitheatrical heights; here and there from some lucky point of view you will catch passing glimpses of the profiles of whales defined along the undulating ridges.
Sunday, July 15, 2012
All angel is not'ing more dan de shark well goberned
OK, first things first for this week's post. Here is an early illustration by Alison, for the children's edition of Moby Dick:
You can clearly see Ahab at the bow. Probably that's Ishmael struggling with the sails. If you look carefully you can see a whale fluke (though clearly not Moby) just ahead and off to the port side.
OK, on to this week's reading...
We are treated this week to another few forebodings of doom. It seems to be a regular feature, beginning with Elijah's prophecy before they even set sail. Here we have the sighting of the giant squid "..which, they say, few whale-ships ever beheld, and returned to their ports to tell of it." And then there is "Gabriel" on the Jeroboam who is a walking, talking, prophecy of doom, and warns Ahab not to pursue Moby Dick. So I wonder, hasn't this point been made? And why does Melville want to make it over and over?
On a similar note, and since I wrote last time about some of Melville's wonderful writing, one of his habits I am not so fond of is to tell you of some action and then explain to you why it is important (what happened to "show, don't tell"?). For example, in Ch. 64 when they kill the whale, it's quite clear that Ahab's mood darkens after the chase is over and the whale is secured alongside the Pequod: "Vacantly eyeing the heaving whale for a moment, he issued the usual orders for securing it for the night, and then handing his latern to a seaman, went his way into the cabin, and did not come forward again until morning." Good job of "show" Herman! But then this: "Though, in overseeing the pursuit of this whale, Captain Ahab had evinced his customary activity, to call it so; yet now that the creature was dead, some vague dissatisfaction, or impatience or despair, seemed working on him; as if the sight of that dead body reminded him that Moby Dick was yet to be slain;..." Herman, why "tell"? I got that already, quite clearly.
But far be it from me to criticize Melville. Every chapter is filled with wonderful things. The scene with Stubb and Fleece and Stubb's supper is priceless - back to the humor of the early chapters, but with an edge. Fleece's sermon to the sharks is similarly priceless, and this little nugget contains the whole book: "Your woraciousness, fellow-critters, I don't blame ye so much for; dat is natur, and can't be helped; but to gobern dat wicked natur, dat is de pint." And then: "..all angel is not'ing more dan de shark well goberned." Queequeg is de shark well goberned. Ahab, not so much.
Until next time, fellow-critters.
OK, on to this week's reading...
We are treated this week to another few forebodings of doom. It seems to be a regular feature, beginning with Elijah's prophecy before they even set sail. Here we have the sighting of the giant squid "..which, they say, few whale-ships ever beheld, and returned to their ports to tell of it." And then there is "Gabriel" on the Jeroboam who is a walking, talking, prophecy of doom, and warns Ahab not to pursue Moby Dick. So I wonder, hasn't this point been made? And why does Melville want to make it over and over?
On a similar note, and since I wrote last time about some of Melville's wonderful writing, one of his habits I am not so fond of is to tell you of some action and then explain to you why it is important (what happened to "show, don't tell"?). For example, in Ch. 64 when they kill the whale, it's quite clear that Ahab's mood darkens after the chase is over and the whale is secured alongside the Pequod: "Vacantly eyeing the heaving whale for a moment, he issued the usual orders for securing it for the night, and then handing his latern to a seaman, went his way into the cabin, and did not come forward again until morning." Good job of "show" Herman! But then this: "Though, in overseeing the pursuit of this whale, Captain Ahab had evinced his customary activity, to call it so; yet now that the creature was dead, some vague dissatisfaction, or impatience or despair, seemed working on him; as if the sight of that dead body reminded him that Moby Dick was yet to be slain;..." Herman, why "tell"? I got that already, quite clearly.
But far be it from me to criticize Melville. Every chapter is filled with wonderful things. The scene with Stubb and Fleece and Stubb's supper is priceless - back to the humor of the early chapters, but with an edge. Fleece's sermon to the sharks is similarly priceless, and this little nugget contains the whole book: "Your woraciousness, fellow-critters, I don't blame ye so much for; dat is natur, and can't be helped; but to gobern dat wicked natur, dat is de pint." And then: "..all angel is not'ing more dan de shark well goberned." Queequeg is de shark well goberned. Ahab, not so much.
Until next time, fellow-critters.
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Hey guys, just a little bit of housekeeping and a comment here.
First of all, did we ever change the schedule? If so, damn, I'm still behind; if not, I'm still behind--are we going to change it?
Second, I haven't been able to comment on the blog at all for the last couple of days. I don't know why--it won't let me choose who I want to post as. Are any of you having this problem? (If so, tell me about it in the comments!)
On to the topical part: I read The Affidavit today, and there's a footnote in my copy that I think is very interesting. Ishmael is talking about various accounts of whales sinking ships, and he mentions a guy named Captain D'Wolf and says, "I have the honor of being a nephew of his." According to my footnote, D'Wolf was a real person (as were the other figures mentioned in this chapter, I think), and he was Melville's uncle! Is this chapter being narrated by Melville? Is Melville simply modeling Ishmael after himself?
EDITING TO MAKE CLEAR: I can post OK; I just can't comment! No clue why. And since I can't comment, I'll say this here: Dad, I can't wait to see this moment you're talking about where you think Melville "draws back the curtain." I'm trying to think of what it might be, but I'm coming up with nothing.
First of all, did we ever change the schedule? If so, damn, I'm still behind; if not, I'm still behind--are we going to change it?
Second, I haven't been able to comment on the blog at all for the last couple of days. I don't know why--it won't let me choose who I want to post as. Are any of you having this problem? (If so, tell me about it in the comments!)
On to the topical part: I read The Affidavit today, and there's a footnote in my copy that I think is very interesting. Ishmael is talking about various accounts of whales sinking ships, and he mentions a guy named Captain D'Wolf and says, "I have the honor of being a nephew of his." According to my footnote, D'Wolf was a real person (as were the other figures mentioned in this chapter, I think), and he was Melville's uncle! Is this chapter being narrated by Melville? Is Melville simply modeling Ishmael after himself?
EDITING TO MAKE CLEAR: I can post OK; I just can't comment! No clue why. And since I can't comment, I'll say this here: Dad, I can't wait to see this moment you're talking about where you think Melville "draws back the curtain." I'm trying to think of what it might be, but I'm coming up with nothing.
Chapter 41, Moby Dick
Okay, so I'm microblogging (is that a new term? Or is that just twitter?). But I was struck by Melville's comparison of the "the smitten tree [that] gives birth to its fungi" to marine ecosystems. I am quite sure that he is not just being literal about the life that can spring from dead whales etc. Clearly he's making a larger point. That said, his mention of the tree and fungi made me think of the astounding ecosystems that spring up around dead whale carcasses:
http://i1-news.softpedia-static.com/images/news2/Whale-Carcasses-Reveal-New-Species-2.jpg
I doubt that they knows of this in Melville's day, as it would have probably required a more sophisticated deep sea technology than they had. But perhaps he had imagined something like this?
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
http://i1-news.softpedia-static.com/images/news2/Whale-Carcasses-Reveal-New-Species-2.jpg
I doubt that they knows of this in Melville's day, as it would have probably required a more sophisticated deep sea technology than they had. But perhaps he had imagined something like this?
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Chapter 40: Midnight, Forecastle
It's a musical! With dancing! I have a strange desire to watch Saturday Night Live.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Monday, July 9, 2012
The First Lowering
Just a quick post about this week's reading (yes, I am up to date!). Nothing to deep about the meaning of it all, but I want to comment on Melville's writing. There is quite a variety of styles in MD. The straight ahead narrative of the first chapters, the relatively dry, but never boring, technical descriptions of whales and whaling, the story-within-the-story of The Town-Ho (in today's language, that has quite a different meaning!), to mention a few. But the Chapter "The First Lowering", in my opinion, is a tour de force of some of the best writing so far. Packed with action and consequence, it's quite a page turner.
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