I've heard this book referred to as 'The Greatest Novel in the English Language' or 'The Greatest American Novel.'
How can I judge. It was very interesting at parts, but at others I got pretty bored. The first chapter is titled "Loomings" and begins, as many great novels do, with a very memorable first paragraph that is very close to a poem unto its self.. "Call me Ishmael. Some years ago -- never mind how long precisely -- having little or no money in my purse, and nothing particular to interest me on shore, I thought I would sail about a little and see the watery part of the world. It is a way I have of driving off the spleen, and regulating the ciruclation. Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul; whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses, and bringing up the rear of every funeral I meet; and especially whenever my hypos get such an upper hand of me, that it requires strong moral principle to prevent me from deliberately stepping into the street, and methodically knocking people's hats off -- then, I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can."
I *love* these lines!
But they're about as good as it gets. Not that there aren't plenty that are equal. But surely there are many that aren't so beatiful, and only a few that are more so.
I guess this story is so well known by everyone (but me) that it probably won't due at all to waste time explaining the plot, but there are a few twists in there; a few observations that I couldn't help but make while musing it over.
What is the relationship between Ishmael and Queequeg? They sleep together. Queequeg holds Ishmael like a lover and afterwards shares everything with him, as if it were some sort of dowery. The author seems to be hinting at homosexuality the same way he hinted of incest in Pierre . What is the purpose of this relationship in the broader context of the story? Is the author really wanting the reader to draw such a conclusion? It seems obvious enough to me, but I'm not sure what's going on in these literary guys' heads.
Ahab is a biblical character who really pissed god off. For starters he married Jezebel who came from a tribe that worshipped Ba'al. So then Ahab erected all these false idols (false, according to the bible) to Ba'al. And god was really pissed off. This prophet named Elijah comes before Ahab and his people and suggests a contest between himself and the prophets of Ba'al. He wins the contest and has the all of the other guys put to death. Ahab comes home in a funk and Jezebel finds out what happened. She then has a lot of the prophets of JHWH put to death, but she misses Elijah, who is sort of a thorn in Ahab's side. I sense a vague connection between one's rejection of the god of Israel and worship of Ba'al and the other's rejection of his own moral upbringing and his worship for (hatred of) the white whale. There might be a tenuous connection between the 'false' idols that the Bible's Ahab erected and the Ivory paraphernalia to be found about the ship (to include the captain's own leg).
In any case, Ahab is a perfidious fellow and his wife is evil, too. Melville's Ahab ... this fellow has what seems to be a lovely wife and a son, but he rejects this wife (or ignores her) in favor of another wife (the sea, perhaps, or maybe his chase of Moby Dick).
The Ahab of the bible goes into battle and, knowing that the soldiers of the other side will try to attack him outright, dawns the clothes of someone else. But he is found out in the end and is killed. This other Ahab is different -- in a way. He goes to do battle with the whale himself, but he gets, from early on, the crew's commitment to hunt and the whale as their solemn promise.
Starbuck warns Ahab to stop. But Ahab won't listen. Is Starbuck a representation of Elijah? or Micahai? I have a tendency to think that the mendicant who prophesied their doom from shore was Elijah.
And this deal with Ishmael surviving by staying afloat in Queequeg's coffin...what's the connection there? Queequeg thinks he's going to die and has a coffin made for himself. But he lives and doesn't use it ... and that coffin is the very thing that keeps Ishmael afloat till he's found floating in the sea. So this vessel that was to carry Queequeg to his final 'salvation' ends up carrying his dear friend to his salvation. This is an odd twist.
When Ishmael first meets Queequeg, they're eating this oyster stew. But they're not eating one kind of stew. They're eating kinds of stew. Is this some sort of sacrament? Are they breaking bread together? Are they eating of each other's flesh? (Seriously, I'm never sure what kind of connection these authors expect to draw.)
And there's these rumors the sailors hear tell of. For example, the fight between Radney and Steelkilt. How does this stuff fit into the scheme of the things? It's a good story in its own right, but it doesn't seem to have much to do with the rest of the plot, other than perhaps Radney's petty attempts to humiliate Steelkilt bearing a vague resemblance to Ahab's attempts to do the same with his entire crew. Was the fact that such an ill befell that crew to be taken as a harbinger for the evil that was about to befall the Pequod?
Why was Ishmael saved and no other? Is Ishmael Jehoshaphat (king of Judah when Ahab was king of Israel)? The soldiers came for Jehoshaphat first, thinking him Ahab. As they drew closer, they realized he was not Ahab and allowed him live. (The story of Ahab is related in the Bible in I Kings and II Chronicles.)
I'm not sure if I'll ever read this book again. It was long and I'm sure I missed a lot of it. But I am curious what I missed. I may some day read a literary review of the piece and see what I can cull from that.
