Moby Dick, or The Rant: chapter 3

[ambrmerlinus]

What Moby Dick and The Hunchback of Notre Dame have in common (so far):

Both were written by men with agendas. Victor Hugo (HoND) wanted people to pay attention to all of the admittedly gorgeous architecture in Paris, so he wrote a book featuring it so prominently that it threatened to overwhelm the plot. Herman Melville (Moby D) noticed that no

Comments

[ambrmerlinus]

Huzzah for enjoyment!

Also, highfives for the Queequeg fanclub.

[redvelvetaddict]

Haha, I missed this part before! Dammit.

The art critic is one thing, when he gets to science and classification of whales I mostly start laughing and crying at the same time.

I ALSO LOVE QUEEQUEG *high fives all around*

BUT YES also you should watch the Gregory Peck version of the movie that Foxy mentions because it is hot :3

[ambrmerlinus]

As soon as I finish the book, I will be all up on that movie.

[la_mendacia]

Wee!Mendie was always frightened off by Moby Dick because when I asked my dad if we had a copy, he told me about an article he read in GQ that said reading Moby Dick was something everyone had to do before they died- but to do it, you had to lock yourself in your house and not shave, bathe or see anyone until the book was done.
You're making it sound pretty painless apart from the Queequeg and dear god he has a tomahawk pipe? did we really have to combine two injun stereotypes into one. Now I have to read it. READ ALONG YAY.
But where the fuck is Queequeg supposed to be from? His description had him pulling out Native American artifacts from all over the damn continent.

[ambrmerlinus]

I'm finding my Moby Dick reading surprisingly painless, but that might just be because I'm coming down from reading The Hunchback of Notre Dame. I'm also already personally attached to the story (like I was with HoND), so that helps.

And apparently I am free to die after reading this? AT LONG LAST, SWEET RELEASE!

Also HECK YEAH READ ALONG

Canonically, Queequeg is a Pacific Islander, though his specific island of origin is a fictional one.

[brand_new_lvr]

"How, exactly, would you go about sleeping in a skin other than your own? Apart from the obvious, I mean

[ambrmerlinus]

i think this book is essentially condemning racism.

Exactly!

i mean, queequeg doesn't even get offended, he merely tolerates these rude pale people like he does to the sharks.

Yes, yes, yes to this! Queequeg is too awesome to be bothered by the stupidity of others.

and the translated version i got have this annotation, which contrasted queequeg to friday in robinson crusoe, written by some vile racist.

I have not read Robinson Crusoe but everything I've read about it would suggest that whoever wrote it was, in fact, a huge racist. Friday is totally subservient and the whole situation is super gross. Whereas Queequeg is his own person doing his own thing and being super amazing all the time, not caring what anybody else has to say about it. Because Queequeg is awesome.

...am i talking too much...don't pay attention...

Not at all! This is the most fun I've had talking about Moby-Dick in ages!

[brand_new_lvr]

you're really nice, and thanks for lending that lovely picture.

also i couldn't agree more about robinson crusoe! the guy who wrote it have to be both stupid and conceited to construct such an inhumane situation. i read it when i was a kid, even then it made me feel uncomfortable. bossing other man around and "educating" him about which god to believe in, i really don't see what's to be proud of there.