I read Kant in high school. And Sartre. We were insufferable little - well it was the seventies. Only in my middle age did I discover the pleasure of mysteries, and romance and even trashy novels. Now I aspire to write them.
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I reread and loved The Scarlet Letter, which makes a lot more sense with maturityā¦
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Actually, the English accents would have sounded more American the farther back you go in time. Thereās a phenomenon where the more people move about, the more they hang onto their way of speakingāand vice versa. A population that has been in the same place for a long time experiences the most changes in pronunciation.
Actually, this all only applies pre-20th century. Since broadcasting began, all bets are off. 
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I decided I wanted an annotated source to consult.
http://www.powermobydick.com/Moby001.html
is very helpful and easy to use.
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Iāve heard that before! How interesting!
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this is awesome. thanks!
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Thatās so cool, Alice. Iām using my high school edition of Moby-Dick, which is giving me weird shivery flashbacks. It has footnotes. I think about when I read this book in high school, and I realize how little I understood about what Melville is up to. It is so RICH to read this now, at this moment in history so very far from 1851. It is so fresh, so topical. Itās speaking to themes of tolerance, prejudice, and religion that are every bit as urgent today as they were back then. Iām on Chapter 16, āThe Ship,ā read by Chad Harbach, author of the 2011 novel The Art of FIelding.
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I am on chapter 3 and I feel much the same way. It is so sharp, the humor so sly. Why am I always surprised when great books turn out to be great reads?
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Thank you Ann for launching this. I was hooked from the weirdly appropriate excerpt in your post about The Big Read. I had already bought an Audible version with good intentions, but wondered when Iād ever have the gumption to begin. Who knew it was so wonderful?
Iām not quite sure how Iāll like the shifting readers, but loved the first chapter, and so Iām in. Iāve suggested it to my book group as a sort of interregnum read for our break between the December and February books, and hope at least a few will join me.
My spinning group has a thing we call āfive oāclock somewhereā where we link a daily spinning routine to a television show or other regular entertainment. I think that Moby Dick will be my spinning accompaniment for the duration. Itās unlikely to work out every day, but calling it a scheduled event helps it happen. I think of it as teatime or cocktail hour and usually do have one or the other. Now maybe it will be grog. Just what is grog, anyway?
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The wind in St. Paul (sleety rain) is a perfect background for chapter 16!
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I just got to the description of āblue pilot cloth.ā Fiber arts
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Thank you for the annotated text link. Just what I was hoping for. Nice to look at, too.
I am continually struck with how Melvilleās writing is way ahead of its time ā as fresh today as it must have been over 100 years ago. I wonder how the book clubs of yore interpreted some of his themes? So very striking to me, in ch. 18, is Ishamelsā defense of Queequeg as being a member of the First Congregational Church - the church of the āwhole worshipping worldā. (a very different sort of wwwā¦.) He defends his friendsā faith, though it seems clear that only Christians will be allowed on board. Itās only when Queequeg shows his prowess with the harpoon, that the ship owners relent ā ah, the almighty buck wins every time over true faithā¦there are so many parallels today.
Iāve just finished ch. 24 ā and spent most of the rest of the afternoon (abed with a bum knee) researching the āwhale oil mythā and how this is used/misused in US energy policy. So very interesting, and again ā so very of this moment. Melville ā you are something else. I at last begin to understand why this is such a rich read.
p.s. is this the correct place in the lounge for comments like this? itās seems less about a game plan for listening now, and more about book club opinionsā¦thank you.
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Iām listening to Chapter 18 right now, had the same thought. This small
inquisition about Queequegās religious beliefs is so on point!
Iāll cook up new topics for discussion of the bookādo you think I should
make a topic for, say, Chapter 1-30, 31-60, etc? Trying to figure out how
best to set this up.
i like your idea of splitting discussion up into a spread of chapters - i wondered if i should have put in a spoiler alertā¦
i wonder if we should shorten the spread? perhaps 5 chapters at a time?
re: new topics - iāve never been in a book club, so iām not sure how they are run - but it seems like these types of comments would fall under a book club-type topic?
Must avoid spoilers! So rightā5 chapters sounds good.
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What a wonderful idea this is! Given that I have all sorts of free time in my schedule now since I have stopped watching and reading all news - this is one of the wonderful,affirming ways to be entertained while knitting.
My goal is one chapter per day. I listened to Tilda today and it went quickly. Maybe I can squeeze in some more this week since Iāll be cooking a lot for Thanksgiving.
Iāve always wanted to read this book and I so appreciate you all facilitating this.
Chapter one was fantastic!
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Grogās the daily naval ration of rum, mixed with water (& ideally lime juice, against the scurvy.) Daily until 1970! History, never that far in the past.
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I had a hunch that rum was involved. Good to know. Thanks.
I have no self control so I have no game plan. Started listening yesterday and zoomed through 20 chapters while playing around with a zigzag shawl. Love the changing voices and like others am delighted by the humor.
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