BLOGGING THE GREAT WHITE WHALE

Here’s the deal.  I’ve never read Moby Dick.  It’s supposed to be right up there on the short list of candidates for “The Great American Novel”, it was largely written about a half hour away from where I grew up, it’s been sitting on bookshelves in the places where I’ve lived for most of my life, it’s sitting on my bookshelf now – and I’ve hardly ever cracked the spine.  I know, as most people do, what the bones of the story are (a narrator relates the tale of how a Captain Ahab obsessively pursues an albino sperm whale), I know the first line (“Call me Ishmael”) – and that’s about it.  Moby Dick is one of those books (Ulysses would be the major example here in Ireland) that is famous for being great and largely unread.  Hell – I was a double major in college (Poly Sci and English) and I didn’t even read it as part of my curriculum.  Melville’s The Confidence Man was the book of his that I read.  Moby Dick? – never bothered.  Damn shame.  Should’ve read it.

So now I’m going to.  Over the next months, years – however long, I’m going to read Moby Dick.  Yes sir, I’m going to attack that great white whale of a book and see what all the fuss is about. I’m also going to blog about what I’ve read – or at least use the parts of the book I’ve read as a jumping off point for a blog.  Evidently Melville writes about loads of things in this book, from the tattoos found on South Sea islanders to the details of the whaling industry.  I’m going to use that variety as a way to explore whatever Melville brings to mind.

Why the hell am I doing this?  Well, in my defense I’ve checked and I am not the first to set out to use the Herman Melville masterpiece as a means to start an extended blog.  There appear to be quite a few others who have set out to give a chapter-by-chapter, blow by blow (notice the way I avoided using the term “thar she” before that) account of their journey through the book.  The scope of Melville’s work is such that it makes people want to treat it as more than something to review, critique or analyse – they also want to “journey” through it.

I’ll admit to having some of that in mind as I set out on this extended session – but more than trying to write about the book in these entries I want to use it as a jumping off point to discuss not only where Melville is going, but where I have been.  The most intriguing thing about Moby Dick is not the story – I’ve seen the story retold in movies and cartoons for crying out loud, but the fact that no one quite seems able to decide “what it all means”.  What does the white whale represent, is it a symbol of – sexual desire?  Is it political?  Is it a metaphor for chasing wealth?  Is it about slavery?  Is it more about Ahab – or Ishmael?  No one seems to be able to decide – with the end result being that it can mean anything to anybody.  That’s what I need – a blank canvas – and that is what you will be, my cetacean friend.

So, yes, over the next few months/years I’m going to write about Melville’s book – but I expect as well to write about other books, breakfast cereals, hobbies, the consistency of mud, music, Presidents, Popes, pizza, higher education, lower education, middle education, stupidity as opposed to intelligence, relativity, relatives, wildlife, walking, running and standing still.  Anything really – because the book is supposed to let you do that.  I’ll tell jokes, ghost stories, prepare lists of things – just drift around in search of – well, whatever the whale is supposed to be.  Hop in the boat if you want to come along.