30 December 2016

Moby Dick Book Club: Week 9













Meagan 

Some of these chapters were wayyyyy too frigging long. Chapter 81 for example was a jillion pages and just described the straight up torture of whales that just end up sinking. How sad and what a waste to kill a huge whale and you can't use it at all... It also made me think about logistics. If you had a whale tied up to the boat as they do and it by chance was a sinker, wouldn't it capsize the whole ship? How do they control for this?

I skipped chapters 82 & 83 (sucks to be you Meghan) because I don't care about the honour of whaling or about Jonah or whatever those things were so...


I like the bits about the importance of the whales' tails. For example, since it's horizontal it never wriggles it's only for propulsion which is cool. Ishmael makes the comment that wriggling is a sign of inferiority in humans and whales alike, which makes THE most sense and explains why my fidgety ass never gets any respect. They smell the inferiority from my squirming. I also liked the line "no ribs of boat or man can withstand it [the tail]". It makes me think of the poster for In the Heart of the Sea where they're all in the water staring at the huge tail... what a poster.

This passage from chapter 87 is my favourite in the whole book so far:


"And when he [Ahab] glanced upon the green walls of the watery defile in which the ship was then sailing, and bethought him that through that gate lay the route to his vengeance, and beheld, how that through that same gate he was now both chasing and being chased to his deadly end; and not only that, but a herd of remorseless wild pirates and inhuman atheistical devils were infernally cheering him on with their curses; - when all these conceits had passed through his brain, Ahab's brow was left gaunt and ribbed, like the black sand beach after some stormy tide has been gnawing it, without being able to drag the firm thing from its place," (378-9) CHILLS.

I also really loved the part about the twin whaling laws and I can see myself referencing them a lot in daily life annoyingly. Ask yourself- are you a loose fish or a fast fish? Lol.

                                               Meghan

Sucks to be me? Well, I didn't read the last three chapters ... I feel like it is odd for a book club to be bragging about how much of the section they did not read. To be fair, I only didn't read it because I completely forgot that Moby Dick was due today .. Meg had to text me from Florida to remind me to write it. 

Also I was kind of hoping we would get like a Christmas vacation from Moby Dick but I guess our tyrant leader Meg Puterman won't allow for that. May God have mercy on us all.

Wow I wish I could end this section review here.. Anyways ... the things I did like:

I mean I also did not care at all about the overly detailed history of whaling but what a great chapter title eh? I liked the part where he mentions that when the true form of the whale was unknown to artists "St. George's whale might have crawled up out of the sea on the beach." Can you imagine only hearing stories from these whalers and having no idea what these creatures actually looked like?? This also made me think of my favourite Simpson's Halloween episode where the dolphins become evil and can walk on shore and flood the city.. Clearly inspired by Moby Dick amirite???

Meg said all the good stuff about Chapter 86 ... Also is there any better gift on this godforsaken Earth than a short Moby Dick chapter? 

Here is a favourite section from The Tail and maybe a good source of motivation to hit the gym in the new year?:

"Real strength never impairs beauty or harmony, but it often bestows it; and in everything imposingly beautiful, strength has much to do with the magic." 

This could be a very beautiful passage if you forget it is about a whale's tail. Or maybe it is just as beautiful knowing so? Who knows, who cares. I hate reading this book.

Buuuut, we are getting so close to being done!! I feel like I might actually cry when we finish it. Like when Captain Phillips is saved in the end and is just so overwhelmed and disoriented. 

lol....

1 comment:

  1. There are no breaks in moby dick just as there are no breaks in life and besides DONT YOU WANT TO FINISH???

    ReplyDelete