The End of Moby Dick

Finished reading Moby Dick tonight! So glad that one's done. The story started with such promise, being all witty and exciting in its promise of first-person adventure on the high seas... and then it turned into something weird and long and not a little bit boring in parts. Cetology is not a subject I will further investigate.

No matter - another item off my list.

Halfway Around the World

Moby Dick update: I'm halfway through, and suspect that I will have to wait till the very end of the book to meet the title character.

I like Melville's changes of pace in the novel - he often leaves the plot for a chapter or two to explain what a "gam" is (a social meeting of two or more whaling ships) or to wax philosophical:

"There are certain queer times and occasions in this strange mixed affair we call life when a man takes this whole universe for a vast practical joke, though the wit thereof he dimly discerns, and more than suspects that the joke is at nobody's expense but his own." [319]

However, the lengthy digressions in which he goes on for entire chapters about, for example, the various types of whales, are, in my opinion, boring, and only pad the story with filler which could be found in any encyclopedia should the reader develop an insatiable desire to discover the most intricate details of whales and the history of whaling in general. In another chapter Ishmael explains that the whiteness of the whale signals mystery and deception. An. Entire. Chapter. Get on with the story, man!

Considering that even readers in his own day (1851 - when there was no YouTube) thought this was a rather boggy text, I don't feel too bad for feeling like it's a bit of a slog to get through parts of this book. Fortunately there are many lines which are pure poetry, and the story is overall an excellent and intriguing adventure. Will Ahab finally find Moby Dick? Will the whale be killed? If so, what will Ahab do once his quest for revenge is over? Will Ishmael want to go wailing ever again? Will the ship even make it back to Nantucket? I guess I'll just have to keep reading to find out.

Progress on Board and In the Air

Been practicing the ball tossing while standing next to my bed and listening to Bach. The height of the bed means that when I drop the balls I don't have to keep bending over to pick them up, and the music helps to keep a rhythm. At this point I've got one rotation down - I can get all three balls in the air and catch them, but that's where it stops. So it's a slow process, this learning to juggle.

As for Moby Dick, I've reached chapter 35, which means that Ishmeal and Queequeg have finally boarded The Pequod and met captain Ahab, and I'm about one sixteenth of the way through the book. Have yet to meet the whale.

Call me Ishmael

Started reading Moby Dick a few days ago and was surprised to find that Herman Melville had a great sense of humour. I thought he would be all serious and difficult to read. (I also mistakenly thought he was British, so I've clearly got a lot to learn.) Here's an excerpt from page one:

"Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul; whenever I find myself pausing involuntarily before coffin warehouses, and bringing up the rear of every funeral I meet; and especially whenever my hypos get such an upper hand of me, that it requires a strong moral principle to prevent me from deliberately stepping into the street, and methodically knocking people's hats off - then, I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can. This is my substitute for pistol and ball." [31, CRW Publishing]

Ha ha, I like this guy. The narrator introduces himself and tells his reader that a while ago he was bored and depressed, and, as he always does whenever he feels like this, he goes to sea to "sail about a little and see the watery part of the world." That does sound like a great way to rejuvenate the soul. Makes me wish I owned a yacht.