mobydickvox's blog

Interlude: Online Annotated Moby Dick

Wanna read along with me?  Here is an AWESOME online edition of Moby Dick with annotations to help you understand some of the old language.

http://www.powermobydick.com/Moby0001.html

Enjoy! :)

Moby Dick: Chapter II - The Carpet-Bag

Chapter 2 - the adventure begins.  Ishmael sets off to set sail from Nantucket, but misses the initial boat and must wait for a day and two nights before he can sail again.  So, he is left to find some cheap lodging.

I enjoy this chapter because the description puts me right in that street, the sounds, smells, sights...the cold Ishamel is feeling...all of it I sense as well.  :)

I like how Ishmael is a traditionalist. He wants to set out from Nantucket, gosh darn-it and he's not gonna settle for anything less. Nantucket or bust! lol He doesn't want to give in to the commercialism of it all.

It's December in Massechusetts. Cold! Since he missed his boat, he has to find lodging in the area until Monday (it's Saturday night), so he's off down the street to find a cheap inn.  I love the inner voice when he's investigating how much money he has in his pocket:

"So, wherever you go, Ishmael, said I to myself, as I stood in the middle of a dreary street shouldering my bag, and comparing the gloom towards the north with the darkness towards the south—wherever in your wisdom you may conclude to lodge for the night, my dear Ishmael, be sure to inquire the price, and don't be too particular."

I can see him there, thinking to himself, chuckling darkly, while looking up and down the dark road.  "and don't be too particular"...I don't know why, but I just love that line...it kind of reminds me of the Lord of the Rings - perhaps something Bilbo would say? Or maybe the Inn Keeper at the Prancing Pony?  :)

He passes various inns along his way, deciding they are too jolly and warm - so they must be expensive.  He doesn't even bother going inside.  The description of the packed snow is lovely - really gives us a picture of the street he's walking down.

I imagine Ishmael is rather cold and tired at this point - and he's in a strange town.  This whole chapter is much like a dream to me, a bombardment of new sights, sounds, smells, and feelings.  The warmth of the "jolly" inns juxtaposed against the cold of the snow and wind...the sounds described coming from inside the various buildings along the street - it all flows together and swirls around, like a snowflake on the wind.  And he says he finds himself taking the streets that lead toward the water.  I imagine cobblestone streets, dark buildings and corners, warm lights shining from windows onto bitter cold snow banks, and Ishmael is a little, unnoticed snowflake, swirling through the air, downhill, toward the water on a cold, dreary, tired night.  :)

It's fun that he says the cheapest inns should be the cheeriest - a way of saying that those people who have become too overly worried about how plush their pillow is and how fancy their teacups are, might just miss out on some of the simple joys in life.  ;)

I like how, with no warning, we are thrust, with Ishmael, out of the street and into a loud and passionate church meeting.  And the way he describes it... "wailing"  "beating a book on a pulpit"... all of these things are so alarming when you were expecting a half-asleep Inn keeper and a few tired seaman sitting enjoying a drink.  Ishmael is already unnerved that he missed his boat and must find lodging.  It's cold.  It's dark.  And now, he's suddenly in the middle of an excited crowd!  No wonder he backed himself right back out the door.  haha!  I think Melville did a great job describing the energy of an excited church meeting like that one.  And certainly, it was through Ishmael's startled point of view - so it was an exaggerated version: the "Angel of Doom" at the pulpit.  hehe :)

The Sprouter Inn is described so beautifully - dilapidated, palsied, gable-ended, creaky - and all these things left Ishmael certain it was the best place to lodge and find some good pea-coffee.  HILARIOUS.  Again, I like this Ishmael.  He's a good soul.  :D

I love the passage about Euroclydon.  Just imagine Ishmael standing there in the cold, his bones shivering, his feet tired, believing he had finally found lodging for the evening - somewhere to put his feet up and rest....his little ode to the wind is like a stomp of the foot in the snow. "I shall stay here! Listen, you cold, whipping wind! I will be warm and cozy tonight despite your attempts to freeze me through! Even if this is the worse place on Earth, I shall stay here! Do you hear me wind? I will not stand in your presence any longer...you are no worry to me on the inside of a window, near a warm fireplace!"  I just love that. :D

You know those nights when you just want to get home to your pillow and shut your eyes?  This is Ishmael right now.  :)  And, I'm so charmed by Ishmael that each time I read this, I always hope he gets the fluffiest pillow in the joint. :)

By the way, in case you don't know what Euroclydon is, it's the wind that shipwrecked the Apostle Paul on the coast of Malta.  A most mischievous wind, indeed.  ;)

Melville also references the story of Lazarus and Dives from the Bible.  Lazarus starves to death at the gate of a rich man called "Dives".  Dives, in his red, rich robes - ignores Lazarus and doesn't help him and is sent to Hell (where Melville says he has even 'redder robes' - meaning the flames of the fires of Hell), but Lazarus goes to Heaven.  Melville uses this story to over-emphasize Ishmael's point - he's cold and tired and he wants to get out of the wind.  Again, Ishmael is exaggerating things - but don't we all when we are tired and ready to rest and it seems like it's taking FOREVER to get to the comfy pillow?  ;)  I like that Ishmael basically says that even Lazarus, if faced with this cold wind that Ishmael was experiencing, would probably choose the fires of Hell over Heaven just to get his feet warm again. LOL  Somebody needs a hug.  ::hugs Ishmael::

And that's chapter 2 - I love that chapter...but there is even better things to come, notably...Queequeg...whom I adore.  He's so fascinating!  The next chapter is a longer one, but it's a good one. :)

My favorite quotes from chapter 2:

"So, wherever you go, Ishmael, said I to myself, as I stood in the middle of a dreary street shouldering my bag, and comparing the gloom towards the north with the darkness towards the south—wherever in your wisdom you may conclude to lodge for the night, my dear Ishmael, be sure to inquire the price, and don't be too particular."

"Coffin?—Spouter?—Rather ominous in that particular connexion, thought I."

"...the dilapidated little wooden house itself looked as if it might have been carted here from the ruins of some burnt district, and as the swinging sign had a poverty-stricken sort of creak to it, I thought that here was the very spot for cheap lodgings, and the best of pea coffee."

"Would not Lazarus rather be in Sumatra than here? Would he not far rather lay him down lengthwise along the line of the equator; yea, ye gods! go down to the fiery pit itself, in order to keep out this frost?"

"Let us scrape the ice from our frosted feet, and see what sort of a place this "Spouter" may be."

Moby Dick: Chapter I - Loomings

The first sentence (well, second) of this story draws me right in.  Ishmael makes a simple statement: a few years ago, it doesn't really matter when, I didn't have much money and I was bored with life in general, so I decided to go on an adventure.

Ok, Ishmael - sounds like a plan! I'll come along. I always love a good adventure!  And just the way he stated it, so non-chalant, made me like the character. He wasn't looking for anything life changing, just a little something different. Like those days when you decide to take a different route to work, or try a new cafe.  Just something new.

What also drew me into the story was Melville's writing style.  I love descriptive, colorful language.  I love the old words - 'purse', 'regulating the circulation', 'hypos'.  It pulls me into another time and I get lost in the world.  And, maybe it's the librarian and academic in me, but I love learning new things when I read.  The text is so much richer with the old words - you can get into the head of the character.  I understand Ishmael.  I can hear his voice, picture him standing there. :)

Ishmael, after making this simple statement about how he decided to go on a little adventure, proceeds to describe why he felt the need for change.  He was feeling down, generally uninterested in things, bored with life, in a foul mood.  Not really depressed, but not happy.  Just...blah.  Haven't we all been there?  We need something to excite us again? Something to pull us out of our rut?  I love that he says that he gets so moody and disenchanted with life that he feels the need to start knocking the hats off random stranger's heads.  I've certainly had those days....easily annoyed.  I've definitely had days where I've imagined telling someone off, or knocking some sense into them.  But, of course, it's just my mood.  On a normal day, I wouldn't be so annoyed by someone's little unique behaviors.  I know when I need to get away from people and get my mood in order.  There is no need to take your bad mood out on someone else.

But, we've all imagined "knocking someone's hat off" at some point or another. :)

And plus, that sentence just makes me giggle: "methodically knocking people's hats off". :D

He proceeds to say how, instead of just giving in to the despair and foul mood and throwing in the towel, he just takes an adventure.  He talks about how the ocean is representative of the freedom and adventure all men seek at some point, deep in their hearts.  It's funny that I enjoy this book so much, actually - considering I don't like water. ;)  But, it's really about the personal, inward journey Ishmael is taking - not the actual journey. :)

It's interesting that he takes paragraphs to point out how people seem drawn to the sea - that no matter where they are, they will end up gazing at the water at some point.  It's like when we are in a rut or mood and we can look around and find something wrong with everything around us.  Ishmael is doing the same thing.  He's justifying his decision.  "See?" he says "Everyone is enthralled with the water! Look how they come in droves to look at it."

Then we get into HOW he goes on his adventure.  He doesn't go as a passenger.  He doesn't just want to observe.  He wants to be part of it, to experience it in it's raw and gritty reality.  Besides, he says, passengers aren't fixing anything.  Going to a movie isn't going to fix your overall situation in life, it will just make you feel better for a bit...but eventually you'll get restless and unhappy again.  If you get up and DO something - make actual changes - then you will see results.  I love that.  :)  He also says that he's not an expert.  He's not some great seaman - he's just a man who can do a day's work.  Nothing wrong with that.  You don't have to be the leader to be important.  You don't have to be an expert to try something new.  In fact, it's a good thing to do something that you're not used to - to have others around you who have more expertise.  It might be hard to take at first...being the peon, but if you stick with it, you'll learn something. :)  None of us are really the 'best' - we are all below God.  It's a good lesson.  All jobs are important.  All people are important. :)

I love how he discusses how great it is to be paid for an honest days work.  Even the person who complains the loudest about how horrible their job is....I bet they still love payday.  ;)  He also says that the air is better in the front of the ship, where he works as a sailor.  :)  He points out that the master may think he is getting the best of everything, but really, the servants get the first 'taste' of everything.  ;)

I love the paragraph where he ponders why 'the Fates' chose to put him on his path (a whaling voyage).  There are many paths in life, we all have a different one to follow - and they are all important and beautiful. :)

In the last paragraph of chapter one, we learn that Ishmael is a bit of an adventurer in spirit...and a bit of a dare devil.  He likes the idea of pursuing a dangerous monster of the sea, of exploring parts of the world that are 'uncivilized', and becoming friendly with those around him, even if they are different than him.  On one hand, he is a bit of a dare devil, but I think it can also be argued that he's happy to learn new things and take what comes...he's open and curious and kind. :)  I like Ishmael.

My favorite quotes from chapter one:

"Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul; whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing 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."

"Not ignoring what is good, I am quick to perceive a horror, and could still be social with it—would they let me—since it is but well to be on friendly terms with all the inmates of the place one lodges in."

Blogging Moby Dick

Moby Dick is one of my favorite books.  Truly, it is my favorite book.  I often discuss with friends and online acquaintances how much I enjoy the book.  But, I've found that most people are either intimidated by the book, or just simply hate it.

While I'm sure it's not for everyone, I do believe more people could get enjoyment out of it, if they could get past the old language and massive scale of the book.

So, on Twitter last month, I pondered the idea of doing a blog about the book.  Nothing too academic or analytical - just a reader chatting about the chapter she just read.

There is such an exciting adventure within these pages and such a wonderful under current of meaning and life lessons...I just love visiting the world Melville created.

And so, I'll blog a chapter at a time (I figure...we'll see how it goes) and try to express what makes me happy about this story.  If you decide to come on this journey with me, I do hope you are able to find some enjoyment in this book as well.

God bless you all and thanks for reading!