I think it's connected to aging, but I've never had a good memory. It's funny isn't it--to read something you wrote and not remember it all but think that's a pretty good post. All we can do is laugh, right?
Verna, I have to admit that I didn't care for all those details about whaling when I read Moby Dick so long ago--when I was in college. But I had to laugh when you said you didn't remember all the columns you wrote. I'm glad I'm not the only one. But I'm glad to see another column from you--even if it's an old one.
Do you think it's an age thing, Kath? The older I get, the more entertained I am by being reminded of things I have completely forgotten. Sometimes a nudge brings up a memory, but other times--as with that blog post and others I've read lately--even though I know I kept a blog back then and I remember writing to it, but I don't remember the post itself, and the only way I'm sure this is my writing is that I recognize my style. hahahahaha!!
You are a gem, Verna Jeanne. I too read Moby Dick in college, but only once. As much as I'm impressed with your rapid recall of the word flenser, there was little about this book to inspire me. In fact as I've aged into someone who can't bear stories about animal abuse in any form--even when I've been advised that the story actually has a happy ending, any description of the whaling industry (American classic or not) leaves me cold. I'm happy just sticking withl "Call me Ishmael", and poking through my bookshelf for a different American classic!
I know. I'm the same way with books about any kind of abuse. And in this one, Melville puts you right there on the deck with the blood and gore. I know I missed a lot when I read this in 1982, but I'm ok with that!
I read Moby Dick in college too (hardly remembered anything about it), but then read it with a smart and thoughtful online book group during the pandemic. We read about 50 pages a week for 4 months and it was fascinating. I now understand the book in the context of its time (back then, the whaling industry was as powerful and timely as the petroleum industry is now), and also see how Melville was writing about race, class, and homoeroticism. At times, it’s incredibly funny, and also quite beautiful. Melville was trying to write the equivalent of today’s Wikipedia about the whaling industry, but by the time the book came out, whale oil was being replaced by coal.
I like how Melville plays with our expectations. Ahab does not (spoiler alert) die a glorious death, but instead a quick and easy to miss one. All that talk about ropes and how and why to properly coil them? That entire chapter is prelude to the sentence and a half describing Ahab’s death caused by getting caught up in a rope and getting tossed over the side of a harpoon boat. It’s a stunning commentary on perceived power and importance.
Some people have called Moby Dick the first post modern novel. It’s a big messy mishmash of far too much, but for many readers, that is its brilliance.
Thanks for this, Ellen. After I posted this last last night, I wished I had asked for comments from anyone who has read it and either liked it or at least appreciated it, which I did not. I appreciate hearing about your experience reading it with a group. Maybe with a better teacher or a thoughtful group, as you had, I would have gotten more out of it. Or not. I was young and arrogant and in love with the Elizabethan poets. I did, however, love Melville's short stories, especially Bartleby the Scrivener.
Fortunately, we live in a world with many, many books to choose from. I’m glad I read Moby Dick, but doing so is not a benchmark of virtue! I am squarely in the camp of not finishing books that don’t inspire, delight, intrigue, or otherwise engage us.
This made me laugh, also it made me think of how short Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea is, and that maybe this should be the alternative. Of course that means you have to read Hemingway’s work.
I still stand by the FACT that Kafka’s Metamorphosis is not only the most useless “classic” but also that reading it actually makes the reader dumber.
Hah! We all have our favorite love-to-hate-it books. No more Kafka for you, young lady! I don't like the Hemingway I've read--except for The Old Man and the Sea. Melville could have learned a thing a two from Hemingway. hahahaha! Thanks for commenting, Kaitlyn. I love you too!
I think it's connected to aging, but I've never had a good memory. It's funny isn't it--to read something you wrote and not remember it all but think that's a pretty good post. All we can do is laugh, right?
Verna, I have to admit that I didn't care for all those details about whaling when I read Moby Dick so long ago--when I was in college. But I had to laugh when you said you didn't remember all the columns you wrote. I'm glad I'm not the only one. But I'm glad to see another column from you--even if it's an old one.
Do you think it's an age thing, Kath? The older I get, the more entertained I am by being reminded of things I have completely forgotten. Sometimes a nudge brings up a memory, but other times--as with that blog post and others I've read lately--even though I know I kept a blog back then and I remember writing to it, but I don't remember the post itself, and the only way I'm sure this is my writing is that I recognize my style. hahahahaha!!
You are a gem, Verna Jeanne. I too read Moby Dick in college, but only once. As much as I'm impressed with your rapid recall of the word flenser, there was little about this book to inspire me. In fact as I've aged into someone who can't bear stories about animal abuse in any form--even when I've been advised that the story actually has a happy ending, any description of the whaling industry (American classic or not) leaves me cold. I'm happy just sticking withl "Call me Ishmael", and poking through my bookshelf for a different American classic!
I know. I'm the same way with books about any kind of abuse. And in this one, Melville puts you right there on the deck with the blood and gore. I know I missed a lot when I read this in 1982, but I'm ok with that!
I read Moby Dick in college too (hardly remembered anything about it), but then read it with a smart and thoughtful online book group during the pandemic. We read about 50 pages a week for 4 months and it was fascinating. I now understand the book in the context of its time (back then, the whaling industry was as powerful and timely as the petroleum industry is now), and also see how Melville was writing about race, class, and homoeroticism. At times, it’s incredibly funny, and also quite beautiful. Melville was trying to write the equivalent of today’s Wikipedia about the whaling industry, but by the time the book came out, whale oil was being replaced by coal.
I like how Melville plays with our expectations. Ahab does not (spoiler alert) die a glorious death, but instead a quick and easy to miss one. All that talk about ropes and how and why to properly coil them? That entire chapter is prelude to the sentence and a half describing Ahab’s death caused by getting caught up in a rope and getting tossed over the side of a harpoon boat. It’s a stunning commentary on perceived power and importance.
Some people have called Moby Dick the first post modern novel. It’s a big messy mishmash of far too much, but for many readers, that is its brilliance.
Thanks for this, Ellen. After I posted this last last night, I wished I had asked for comments from anyone who has read it and either liked it or at least appreciated it, which I did not. I appreciate hearing about your experience reading it with a group. Maybe with a better teacher or a thoughtful group, as you had, I would have gotten more out of it. Or not. I was young and arrogant and in love with the Elizabethan poets. I did, however, love Melville's short stories, especially Bartleby the Scrivener.
Fortunately, we live in a world with many, many books to choose from. I’m glad I read Moby Dick, but doing so is not a benchmark of virtue! I am squarely in the camp of not finishing books that don’t inspire, delight, intrigue, or otherwise engage us.
This made me laugh, also it made me think of how short Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea is, and that maybe this should be the alternative. Of course that means you have to read Hemingway’s work.
I still stand by the FACT that Kafka’s Metamorphosis is not only the most useless “classic” but also that reading it actually makes the reader dumber.
I love you, thanks for sharing!
Hah! We all have our favorite love-to-hate-it books. No more Kafka for you, young lady! I don't like the Hemingway I've read--except for The Old Man and the Sea. Melville could have learned a thing a two from Hemingway. hahahaha! Thanks for commenting, Kaitlyn. I love you too!