{"id":1390707,"date":"2016-08-23T12:00:48","date_gmt":"2016-08-23T16:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/community.sparknotes.com\/?p=1390707"},"modified":"2019-02-08T11:33:17","modified_gmt":"2019-02-08T16:33:17","slug":"blogging-moby-dick-part-1-or-moby-richard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/blog\/blogging-moby-dick-part-1-or-moby-richard\/","title":{"rendered":"Blogging Moby Dick<\/i>, Part 1: Or, Moby Richard"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Ahoy!<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Let us be clear: unlike some of the books my illustrious colleagues have blogged you through, you will most likely never have to read <\/span>Moby Dick<\/span><\/i> in high school. The thing has 133 chapters, weighs as much as a child, and no teacher wants to be stuck on a whaling ship with you for the entire semester. So you don’t have to worry about memorizing any of this for the final. <\/span><\/p>\n

No, there is only one compelling reason to read <\/span>Moby Dick<\/span><\/i>, and that is to be able to say that you have read <\/span>Moby Dick<\/span><\/i>, because it is the literary equivalent of competing in the Iditarod (cold and unnecessary, but impressive to announce at parties).<\/span><\/p>\n

That is not to say that reading it does not have joy and value; there is wisdom and even humor hidden amongst the endless whaling anecdotes, and if nothing else, carrying around a copy will protect you from gunfire and will make any old men who see you reading it more kindly disposed to you.<\/p>\n

With that said, let us now dive straight into the hungry mouth of what is often called The Greatest Novel In The English Language (or, as Goodreads puts it, 3.4 out of 5 stars).<\/span><\/p>\n

PART ONE: ISHQUEG, A LOVE STORY<\/strong><\/p>\n

I think we can agree that \u201cCall me Ishmael\u201d is the greatest opening line of all time, suggesting as it does both a friendly confidence and a certain amount of mistrust in the narrator (he only wants us to \u201ccall\u201d him Ishmael; he never says that is his <\/span>name<\/span><\/i>). But since this is <\/span>Moby Dick<\/span><\/i> we’re talking about, the book would never be so abrupt as to start without <\/span><\/p>\n

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  1. An etymology of terms<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. A note lamenting or perhaps toasting the fate of sub-sub-librarians<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. PAGES AND PAGES OF IRRELEVANT QUOTES ABOUT WHALES. JUST, IF YOU GOOGLE \u201cWHALES\u201d THESE ARE THE SEARCH RESULTS FROM PAGE 89.<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. A frankly embarrassing dedication to Nathaniel Hawthorne, for whom Melville harbored an ardent crush.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    And then we get going for real, as our narrator, \u201cIshmael,\u201d decides to go to sea, for no other reason than that he is bored, really. I’m serious. Even knowing that he will by signing up for four years (which is a very long time when you think about life expectancies back then) trapped on board a boat with a bunch of hygenically-challenged strangers, is as likely to die as live, and can’t even expect to make any money at this enterprise, his basic attitude towards this voyage is:<\/span><\/p>\n