I seem to see Moby-Dick all over the litblogosphere, not too surprisingly. If you didn’t hear enough from me, check out some of these others.
- The following links are all from the excellent Infinite Zombies readalong that finished recently. You should certainly read the whole thing, but these were my favorites:
- Daryl L.L. Houston discusses front matter and end matter, and how one should read the etymologies and extracts.
- As I briefly did, he also notes how direct Ishmael can be in his meaning, and discusses whether Moby-Dick feels old-fashioned or avant garde.
- Jeff Anderson responds to the entry linked above, arguing that the extracts are absolutely required reading, and discussing how “Moby-Dick is the earliest novel I know of that tries to be about everything.”
- A meaningful post on meaning.
- On narration and the “Cetology” chapter.
- On great authors, self-indulgence, and epic simile. I love this one.
- Possibly my favorite entry in Matt Kish’s project to illustrate every page of Moby-Dick is this one on the ships.
- On the compositional shift in the novel.
- More on the book about everything.
- A great post on one of my favorite topics, how much Melville likes to talk about language.
- On reading the doubloon and interpretation.
- On Jonah, a topic that doesn’t so much strike my personal fancy but which is certainly a thing.
- A tantalizing list of of things left undiscussed.
- Also, summaries and commentary at I Just Read About That….
- Eva at A Striped Armchair conquered Moby-Dick earlier this year.
- So did Clare at Kiss a Cloud.
- Richard at Caravana de recuerdos wishes the novel were twice as long, he loves it so much.
- A vast look at “the vastness of Moby-Dick and at the majestic style Melville employed in this philosophical novel” as well as an essay on “The Whiteness of the Whale” at The Mookse and the Gripes.
- The Quarterly Conversation interviews Damion Searls on his book ; or The Whale, made up entirely of what didn’t make the cut of an abridged version of the novel. I haven’t read the book yet myself but I’m certainly interested.
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