Call me Ishmael

If any of you have taken a look at my current reading selections, you might have unconsciously winced as the words "Moby Dick" skittered across your vision. I know, I know. It's one of those novels that for years the public school system has crammed down our throats, telling us over and over again that it's a time-honored classic and a truly great American novel.

Who would have guessed that they were actually right for a change?

After some inward debate, I reluctantly came to the conclusion that I held a duty to the academic world to actually read the books listed in the literary cannon. Whether past or present makes no difference, nor does the actual inclusion on the list. . . . What actually matters is whether or not the work is or has been considered a classic piece of literature. And going by that definition, "Moby Dick" certainly should be included.

Calm down. There's no reason to roll your eyes. I'm not about to dive headlong into a long-winded, incredibly dreadful, 'I'd rather sit through an eight hour insurance seminar' diatribe about why all of us should actually read such Great works of classic literature. That's for each of us to decide on his own. But I am going to try to persuade you to pick this one up and give it a chance--assuming that you have not yet done so, of course.

Right from the first line, "Call me Ishmael," Melville introduces the reader to the main character in a warm, friendly greeting and in only a few pages you feel like you've known Ishmael for quite some time. He's an easy character to like. Simple. Straightforward. And Quite funny at times. If I remember correctly, I think I actually laughed out-loud when he met Queequeg, the island cannibal with whom he sets sail. Captain Ahab doesn't even appear until around the midway point of the book, but when he does the fact that something is wrong with his mental state is immediately apparent. The way Melville sets him up is brilliant. He has more than one secondary character drop his name in idle conversation, along with hints to the ever-present darkness that lingers around him. Even after they set sail, none of the crew see him until the voyage is nearly a week old and when he finally does emerge from below deck, he is not a disappointment. Of course, there are some things I could have done without, such as the whole chapter devoted to the different species of whales . . . and the odd section where it veers away from first person narration to be dictated in a play-like fashion . . . I admit, I nearly slept through that entire batch of writing. Overall, however, I love Melville's style of prose. It's full of imagery and symbolism that can be surmised by the above average reader, so you won't have to be a literary professor to figure out key underlying points in the story.

If any of you have read it, or decide to pick it up, drop me a line and tell me what you think about it. I'd love to know.