Day Forty-Eight

5/19

The Book: Moby-Dick by Herman Melville

ISBN: 978-1-59308-018-1

Suggested By: Patrick Garcia

Where: Home

When: 7:45-8:15P

Music: None

Company: The Family

Pages: 237 - 292 (55)

The Lead In: Melville uses several points of view in this book. The dominant one is that of Ishmael’s, obviously. But he also uses an omniscient narrator and another voice as well. The third point of view is obviously Melville, himself, especially in the chapters where he hammers out his research and lays out scientific facts.

The 411 on the 55: I love the beginning of today’s reading, where Melville discusses humanity’s attraction to the color, white. Very metaphysical and interesting. He fills it with examples that inspire belief, even though I think its a load of crap (at least, as to why men hunt whales).

In one of Melville’s asides he discusses actual times that ships have been attacked, primarily the story of the Essex. More on the Essex in today’s FotF. He also mentions some specific whale names: Timor Tom , New Zealand Jack, Morquan (of Japan), and Don Miguel (of Chili). Loved that part, as I had suppressed some doubts about whales having names (like Moby-Dick) 

The first whale is sighted and everyone hits the boats. Even Ahab, who has a secret crew of foreign looking guys who have been stowed away all trip long (much to the surprise of the crew), heads into the hunt. Queequeg aims at a whale, misses, but grazes it. The whale reacts by bumping the boat and capsizing the crew. By the time they regain their craft, a storm has blown in and their lamp is too damp to light. They despair for a bit, but Queequeg hears the creaking timbers of the Pequod  and just in time, too, as it is bearing down on them. In fact, they are forced to bail out while their whaling boat is smashed to bits under the ship. Luckily, they all make it to safety.

As they continue their search, they meet another ship and have a gam. (Check the Twitter for a definition of gam!)

Line of the Day: (wanted to use the whole paragraph but it was too long) “And of all these things the Albino whale was the symbol. Wonder ye then at the fiery hunt?” pg 238

The Fact on the Fiction: Before reading this book, I read In the Heart of the Sea which discusses the whale-ship Essex which was attacked by a whale (true story), leaving the men stranded in the middle of the Pacific. It tells the story of their survival, which included cannibalism and murder. Really great book to read, especially for people who don’t read non-fiction often. It flows well. Apparently, the story of the Essex greatly inspired Melville’s story. He extensively interviewed the remaining members of the crew for information to use in Moby-Dick.