Materfamilias: Moby Dick: Why All the Hate?

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Moby Dick: Why All the Hate?

Sheepishly regretful for my disparaging remarks about Moby Dick, I decided to give poor Mr. Melville a chance. I should judge the book for myself after all, and not by what people (everyone I know who has read it and comments from other sources) say about it.

Having now reached the half-way point in Moby Dick, I fail to understand the loathing I've heard about this novel. It seems to have it all: vivid characters, humor (yes, quite a bit), well-crafted prose, and surprising dose of tension.

One of my favorite passages so far is a most unsettling converstation between second mate, Stubb and third mate Flask concerning Captain Ahab's mental state.

"D'ye mark him, Flask?" whispered Stubb;
"The chick that's in him pecks the shell.

'Twill soon be out."

2 comments:

AnonymousFebruary 14, 2011 at 9:24 AM
Reading this made me want to read it. 8-D I will now add it to my to be read list 8-D
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AnonymousFebruary 17, 2011 at 10:51 AM
I liked it Miss Deanna! Well, as much as I could....I don't really remember any of it! *gives sheepish grin*)
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Pretty Good

There once was a pretty good student,

Who sat in a pretty good class;
Who was taught by a pretty good teacher,
Who always let pretty good pass-

He wasn’t terrific at reading,
He wasn’t a whizbang at math;
But for him education was leading,
Straight down a pretty good path.

He didn’t find school too exciting,
But he wanted to do pretty well;
And he did have some trouble with writing,
and no one had taught him to spell.

When doing arithmatic problems,
Pretty good was regarded as fine-
5 plus 5 needn’t always add up to be 10
A pretty good answer was 9.

The pretty good class that he sat in
Was part of a pretty good school;
And the student was not the exception,
On the contrary, he was the rule.

The pretty good student, in fact, was
Part of a pretty good mob;
And the first time he knew that he lacked was
When he looked for a pretty good job.

It was then, when he sought a position,
He discovered that life could be tough-
And he soon had a sneaking suspicion,
Pretty good might not be good enough.

The pretty good town in our story
Was part of a pretty good state,
Which had pretty good aspirations,
And prayed for a pretty good fate.

There once was a pretty good nation,
Pretty proud of the greatness it had,
Which learned much too late, it you want to be great,
Pretty good is, in fact, pretty bad.

~Charles Osgood