"Chapter XV- Chowder"

[ealgylden]

Ever since I first read it in junior high, I've been terribly fond of Moby Dick. My family finds this amusing, since the book is notoriously boring, and copies of it generally serve as doorstops or tools for spider killing.

"Have you gotten to the ten chapters on coiling ropes yet?" they mock.
"Ha ha. We'll see who's laughing when we all get attacked by a giant, insane whale," I say.
"We live at least eight hours from the ocean," they point out, "so we don't think that book will be very useful against giant, insane whales."
"It's very, very slashy," I say, and since they're my family and they know me, they know that there is no counter-argument for that and I win.

Anyway, one of my favorite bloggers, Katie at Jejune.net, has recently read it, and her reasons why you should as well are very cute (be sure to sample a few of her other book comments as well- she has a way with a quirky phrase). I really want to see Geoffrey Rush as Ahab now. Plus she links to David Sedaris' essay on reading Moby Dick, which somehow I had missed despite being as big a fan of Sedaris as I am of the whale.


And now to stop spamming and go hunt up some food. This day has been violently unproductive. I think I'll watch Cry-Baby tonight. That sounds productive, doesn't it?

Comments

[mrkinch.livejournal.com]

That was great! Thanks for posting the links. And no, I have not read Moby Dick, nor tried to my recollection. Maybe in my creeping old age.

[ealgylden.livejournal.com]

Most of the people I know who have read it have been forced to, and that's rarely a good thing. So maybe it's just as well that you've avoided that, at least. But if you ever do decide to try it (and you should- it's not for everyone, but if you can get into it, it's an amazing book), save it for late fall or winter. It can be a wonderful experience to curl up with a cup of hot chocolate and Moby Dick while it's dark and cold and blustery out. But it's an impossible slog in ninety degree weather, even for me.

[ex-declinean757.livejournal.com]

Since I first read it in junior high, I've been terribly fond of Moby Dick. My family finds this amusing, since the book is notoriously boring, and copies of it generally serve as doorstops or tools for spider killing.

I get a similar reaction from people when I tell them I'm a Hawthorne fan and adored The Scarlet Letter. It also puzzles most folks that I can read Hugo without batting a lash, but Dumas leaves me cold. ::Shrug:: What can I say? I'm strange. :-)

[ealgylden.livejournal.com]

Not strange. Uncommon. Not one to follow the herd (or maybe one who follows the herd, except generations later- that's what I tend to do).

I prefer Dumas to Hugo myself, though I do like both, but Hawthorne I love. I was the only one in tenth grade English who was happy to read The Scarlet Letter (and the only one who'd read it before), and I've dragged all sorts of people to the infamous House of Seven Gables (even if they've refused to read the book). Salem has turned it into quite the well-done museum these days. Hawthorne and Melville get tarred with the same "boring classics no one willingly reads" brush, though, you're right. Too bad.

[ex-declinean757.livejournal.com]

Maybe it was the mood I was in when I tried to read Dumas, but I just couldn't get into it. Still, lots of people I know love his work. I'll have to try again sometime. :-)

::Trying to imagine a musical of House of Seven Gables and failing::

I really enjoy Hawthorne's short fiction. Think my favorite is Rapacinin's Daughter. The man did some wonderfully creepy stuff.

[castalianspring.livejournal.com]

I love that you love Moby Dick. I haven't read it yet, but that's only b/c there are a ton of other books on my "to be read" list. I definitely want to get to it.

Chapters on coiling ropes? Sounds good to me :) Very useful.

I get that same "booorrring" reaction to most of my favorite "classics". People have no taste, says I.

[ealgylden.livejournal.com]

I do recommend giving it a try if you get a chance, but not in the summer. You'll never make it through (well, you might, but it'd be a slog). I even look at it after May or so, and it exhausts me. No one could say that it's light reading (or light carrying), but there's just so much in it. It's one of my favorite December reads, though. I mean, there's a plot, but it takes a while to get going, and Melville is king of the interesting-but-not-plotty tangent. The book could have been called Moby Dick and Everything I've Ever Learned about Ships, Whales and Whaling. Which is fine by me, but makes it a hard-sell in general.

I get that same "booorrring" reaction to most of my favorite "classics". People have no taste, says I.

And you are very wise, says I. *g* A lot of people don't have the patience for "classics" anymore, and not (necessarily) because the books are long or complicated or "boring," but because you have to adjust to the mindset of the characters and the author to understand or enjoy them. And a lot of people just don't want to bother.

[castalianspring.livejournal.com]

That's just as well, b/c I'm really not reading much at this point besides Jeeves stories. It's so hard to find any desire to read anything else. Still, I always like to read about ships, so I shouldn't be bored.

And you are very wise, says I. *g* A lot of people don't have the patience for "classics" anymore, and not (necessarily) because the books are long or complicated or "boring," but because you have to adjust to the mindset of the characters and the author to understand or enjoy them. And a lot of people just don't want to bother.

Thank you, thank you :) Very good point, I think that probably explains why so many kids now don't want to read the classics. If such enjoyment doesn't come naturally, it's work for them to get into it. I can't imagine being like that.