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"Hast seen the White Whale?"
Why does my mind go blank when anyone asks what I'm reading? I suppose another question might be what does it do when it's not blank?
I've just managed to get through Moby Dick by Herman Melville [1851]; a triumph of sorts, even if it did take me about five months during which I veered off to read lots of other books. Without the many and lengthy asides, philosophical and scientific, the story of the hunt for the white whale would have been a novella, I'm sure. Melville would have been aware that most of his readers would never have seen a whale, perhaps not even a picture, so he spends detailed chapters describing the physical attributes of Ahab's prey to the minutest degree. There's one chapter about the jaw structure of the sperm whale.
The accounts of life aboard a whaler in the 1800s I found rather more interesting, though there again, for a modern reader the detail could get excruciating. The crew were a most diverse society and it seemed there was none of the discrimination of race which certainly would have been the case ashore. Some were white men, some were Native American or Tahitian or other races and while the latter were referred to as "savages," this didn't seem to be derogatory, but more as information of their origin. Several were harpooneers and treated with great respect, as you would somebody who could wield such a weapon.
When one of them takes a fever and seems close to death, the crew gladly fulfil what they take to be his last request; the construction of a wooden coffin. In an era where slavery still existed in the United States, the black crew of the Pequod live in equal respect - and danger - with their Caucasian crewmates. It is perhaps telling that the ship's owners - and I think also Captain Ahab - are Quakers, who did not support slavery.
Unlike the slaughter which is modern-day whaling, I'd call this 1850s version, where the hunters were lowered from the main vessel in small boats and had to get up close and personal with the whales, much more of a fair fight. There are several scenes where the Pequod encounters another whaler and Ahab calls out his invariable question, "Hast seen the White Whale?"
In one, the other ship's captain displays his artificial arm, made like Ahab's leg, from whalebone. He doesn't need to say anything; they both know he's telling Ahab what, or rather who, took his limb. On another encounter, the captain points to the lashed remnants of a shattered boat.
I did get spoilered as to the ending, so in case there's actually anyone else who didn't know the outcome of a 170-year-old book, I'll not mention that :-)
Encouraged by making it to the end, I've now embarked on The Count of Monte Cristo, [1844] also a free download from Gutenberg. I dimly remember reading this when I was either in high school or new to university, so not much remains apart from the barest outline and the memory of seeing a movie based on it. Wish me luck. I'll report probably around the end of this year.
I've just managed to get through Moby Dick by Herman Melville [1851]; a triumph of sorts, even if it did take me about five months during which I veered off to read lots of other books. Without the many and lengthy asides, philosophical and scientific, the story of the hunt for the white whale would have been a novella, I'm sure. Melville would have been aware that most of his readers would never have seen a whale, perhaps not even a picture, so he spends detailed chapters describing the physical attributes of Ahab's prey to the minutest degree. There's one chapter about the jaw structure of the sperm whale.
The accounts of life aboard a whaler in the 1800s I found rather more interesting, though there again, for a modern reader the detail could get excruciating. The crew were a most diverse society and it seemed there was none of the discrimination of race which certainly would have been the case ashore. Some were white men, some were Native American or Tahitian or other races and while the latter were referred to as "savages," this didn't seem to be derogatory, but more as information of their origin. Several were harpooneers and treated with great respect, as you would somebody who could wield such a weapon.
When one of them takes a fever and seems close to death, the crew gladly fulfil what they take to be his last request; the construction of a wooden coffin. In an era where slavery still existed in the United States, the black crew of the Pequod live in equal respect - and danger - with their Caucasian crewmates. It is perhaps telling that the ship's owners - and I think also Captain Ahab - are Quakers, who did not support slavery.
Unlike the slaughter which is modern-day whaling, I'd call this 1850s version, where the hunters were lowered from the main vessel in small boats and had to get up close and personal with the whales, much more of a fair fight. There are several scenes where the Pequod encounters another whaler and Ahab calls out his invariable question, "Hast seen the White Whale?"
In one, the other ship's captain displays his artificial arm, made like Ahab's leg, from whalebone. He doesn't need to say anything; they both know he's telling Ahab what, or rather who, took his limb. On another encounter, the captain points to the lashed remnants of a shattered boat.
I did get spoilered as to the ending, so in case there's actually anyone else who didn't know the outcome of a 170-year-old book, I'll not mention that :-)
Encouraged by making it to the end, I've now embarked on The Count of Monte Cristo, [1844] also a free download from Gutenberg. I dimly remember reading this when I was either in high school or new to university, so not much remains apart from the barest outline and the memory of seeing a movie based on it. Wish me luck. I'll report probably around the end of this year.