# Y'all, can we talk about Moby Dick? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 31, 2015, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yall-can-we-talk-about-moby-dick/741840 "2015-12-31T18:26:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2016, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yall-can-we-talk-about-moby-dick/741840/41 "2016-01-01T01:34:34Z")
600 pages? Bro, someone gave you the ABRIDGED edition. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2016, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yall-can-we-talk-about-moby-dick/741840/42 "2016-01-01T01:50:22Z")
Did you know it was based on a [true story](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Essex_(whaleship))? (Did the book include the cannibalism?) ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2016, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yall-can-we-talk-about-moby-dick/741840/43 "2016-01-01T01:58:52Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > **Left Hand:**. Try the short stories. And “Benito Cerino.” > > Wait, forget “Benito Cerino.” Having to read it twice (see my above post) might irritate you to madness. I’ve already started it based on your previous post. So any resulting madness is on you. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2016, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yall-can-we-talk-about-moby-dick/741840/44 "2016-01-01T02:06:25Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > **Left Hand:**. Try the short stories. I would prefer not to. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2016, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yall-can-we-talk-about-moby-dick/741840/45 "2016-01-01T02:27:27Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Melville had done more with the homosexual subtext (but, of course, he wouldn’t, not only for propriety’s sake, but because “homosexual” was not a word (nor was “subtext”)). In _Billy Budd_ he needed a shovel to bury the subtext better because it was mostly just the text. And Bartleby was a finely crafted character study of either a scrivener (copyist) or draftsman: OCD with a touch of Aspie. I recognized Bartleby because I worked with him. Before modern meds I _was_ him. ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2016, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yall-can-we-talk-about-moby-dick/741840/46 "2016-01-01T02:32:52Z")
I would say it is historically significant given the basic subject matter. I actually liked the scenes and exchanges onshore, whether at the inn, at church, to haggling for a 1/77th share. Also loved the whale taxonomy and description of the ship. Flensing a nd blubber processing was a singular reading experience. I didn’t like the chapters that had too many whaling terms. I tend to get lost. Also I recall three gay experiences by the narrator, although seemed honestly narrated without vulgarity. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2016, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yall-can-we-talk-about-moby-dick/741840/47 "2016-01-01T02:56:12Z")
N/m woosh ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2016, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yall-can-we-talk-about-moby-dick/741840/48 "2016-01-01T03:58:41Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Did you know it was based on a [true story](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Essex_(whaleship))? (Did the book include the cannibalism?) Unflinchingly. It’s definitely worth a read. ---
**Author:** ![Hermione](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/cdc98d/32.png) [@Hermione](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermione)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2016, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yall-can-we-talk-about-moby-dick/741840/49 "2016-01-01T05:55:50Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Gregory Peck returned to play him Father Mapple in the Patrick Stewart remake (also excellent). Apparently Stewart was intrigued by the quote in the _Star Trek: First Contact_ script, read the book, decided he just had to play Ahab, had his people do lunch with their people, and so on. I liked the tagline for that version of Moby Dick: “The story of a crazed beast…and the white whale he pursued.” ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2016, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yall-can-we-talk-about-moby-dick/741840/50 "2016-01-01T06:28:25Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > That was, I think, the chapter where I said, “Of, fer the love a Christ,” and gave up. All respect to Melville for his mad chops and all, and there were great bits of the book up to that point, but god help me, I need a plot, and long before the chapter called “Some Things Are White,” I’d decided that the white whale was a metaphor for the book’s plot: rarely seen, mostly submerged, surfacing only once in a great while and then all too quickly diving back down to unknown depths, leaving me with only the unbroken sea of random contemplations on how there are crow’s nests in ships, and here’s a really detailed description of one, but after three pages of description, oh no, that’s not actually the one on our ship, the one on our ship is much simpler, here’s a page of description of this thing sailors stand on, and did I mention that there are other things people stand on? here’s a list, and speaking of which, there are other things that other things stand on, like, oh, say, pedestals, let’s brainstorm what those are! > > God help me, I need a plot, and unlike Ahab, I’m not obsessed enough to pursue the plot across all seven seas or seven hundred pages hoping against hope I’ll catch one more glimpse of it. Show me a chapter called “Did You Know There Are Some Things That Are White,” and I’ll say, “Oh, fer the love a Christ,” and go find a different book. > > But seriously, I’m very glad other folks like Melville, and I wish I could, too. Thank you. 🙂 Can we talk about Hemingway next? ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2016, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yall-can-we-talk-about-moby-dick/741840/51 "2016-01-01T12:59:05Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > 600 pages? Bro, someone gave you the ABRIDGED edition. Oh no, it was one of those little Oxford editions with tiny print. Pleasing to the hand though. I actually read In the Heart of the Sea some years ago when I was reading a ton of nautical nonfiction. Did a sailing course on a traditionally rigged schooner too. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2016, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yall-can-we-talk-about-moby-dick/741840/52 "2016-01-01T15:28:07Z")
I don’t have \*much to add, but here are two anecdotes: In the 1956 movie, they make a passing reference to the Sulu Sea (either during Father Mapple’s sermon, or shortly thereafter). Supposedly, Gene Roddenberry picked that name for Ensign Sulu by just picking a place on the globe at random. In an episode of Eddie Murphy’s series “The Pjs,” Thurgood (Murphy’s character) sits down to list to a “Book on Audio 'Moby Dick,” as narrated by Weezy Jefferson. You can hear \*\*Weezy reading, in her deep, husky voice, “Call. . . me. . . Ishmael. . . . My. . . God. . .! This. . . book. . . is. . . eight. . . hundred. . . pages. . . long!” \*Whom am I kidding? I don’t have _anything_ to add. \*\*OK, an actor imitating Weezy. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2016, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yall-can-we-talk-about-moby-dick/741840/53 "2016-01-01T17:17:51Z")
I repeat the advice I have long given to every high school or college student: if your teacher ever requires you to read anything by Herman Melville, tell her flatly but politely, “I would prefer not to.” She’ll get the joke, and you’ll save yourself a highly unpleasant experience. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2016, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yall-can-we-talk-about-moby-dick/741840/54 "2016-01-01T18:13:52Z")
Do English speakers outside the US read Moby Dick? ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2016, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yall-can-we-talk-about-moby-dick/741840/55 "2016-01-01T19:37:44Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > Do English speakers outside the US read Moby Dick? I have no idea if Melville is required reading in schools overseas, but I do know he was an idol of French existentialists, who considered him kindred spirit. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2016, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yall-can-we-talk-about-moby-dick/741840/56 "2016-01-01T20:05:38Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > Do English speakers outside the US read Moby Dick? The professor who did my grad seminar was British, visiting our university from the U of Canterbury. Melville was his specialty, and I assume he taught _Moby Dick_ and so on to British students on a regular basis at home. ---
**Author:** ![Memnon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f1d935/32.png) [@Memnon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Memnon)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2016, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yall-can-we-talk-about-moby-dick/741840/57 "2016-01-02T00:11:34Z")
I’ve just started reading it because of this thread. So far, so good. I’m only on chapter 7, but it’s quite enjoyable. Just out of curiosity, when does it get to the massive treatise on whaling? ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2016, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yall-can-we-talk-about-moby-dick/741840/58 "2016-01-02T01:53:29Z")
It’s interspersed. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2016, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yall-can-we-talk-about-moby-dick/741840/59 "2016-01-02T02:48:51Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > You could strip out all the whale-blogging and have a tight novella about going to sea, Ahab, revenge, monomania, God, the Devil, and the meaninglessness of it all. … No mamma, no pickup truck or hound dog? It ain’t no country song, thas for sure. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2016, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yall-can-we-talk-about-moby-dick/741840/60 "2016-01-03T01:09:56Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > That was, I think, the chapter where I said, “Of, fer the love a Christ,” and gave up. All respect to Melville for his mad chops and all, and there were great bits of the book up to that point, but god help me, I need a plot, and long before the chapter called “Some Things Are White,” I’d decided that the white whale was a metaphor for the book’s plot: rarely seen, mostly submerged, surfacing only once in a great while and then all too quickly diving back down to unknown depths, leaving me with only the unbroken sea of random contemplations on how there are crow’s nests in ships, and here’s a really detailed description of one, but after three pages of description, oh no, that’s not actually the one on our ship, the one on our ship is much simpler, here’s a page of description of this thing sailors stand on, and did I mention that there are other things people stand on? here’s a list, and speaking of which, there are other things that other things stand on, like, oh, say, pedestals, let’s brainstorm what those are! > > God help me, I need a plot, and unlike Ahab, I’m not obsessed enough to pursue the plot across all seven seas or seven hundred pages hoping against hope I’ll catch one more glimpse of it. Show me a chapter called “Did You Know There Are Some Things That Are White,” and I’ll say, “Oh, fer the love a Christ,” and go find a different book. > > But seriously, I’m very glad other folks like Melville, and I wish I could, too. The thing is, it wasn’t “some whales are white”, it was “what does whiteness mean? Why is whiteness perfect and also abominable?” I mean I get why you’d give up on this book, don’t mistake me. It’s a mess. But my god, I was so struck by the whiteness. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yall-can-we-talk-about-moby-dick/741840.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yall-can-we-talk-about-moby-dick/741840.md?page=4)