#Moby Dick

[ltwilliammowett]

Moby Dick, by Andy Thomas (1957-)

[falseficus]

the two assumptions that make moby dick readable:

the entire book is being spoken aloud to you in line at the dmv

every detail queequeg told ishmael about his culture was a complete lie for his own amusement

[shear-in-spuh-rey-shuhn]

GERARD DUBOIS Moby Dick

[calvinandhobbes]

[my-name-is-not-kimmy]

[archaic-stranger]

dracula daily for moby dick but it takes three years bc that’s how long they were on the pequod

edit: go subscribe (link in bio)

[bloodybellycomb]

Someone today will read Shakespeare's hamlet and say omg he's just like me fr. Another person will read moby dick and proclaim Ishmael as an adhd king.

A person grieving for their recently deceased lover reads the iliad and they watch as Achilles rages and rages and god how righteous anger fueld by love is so devastating that it's ramifications still affect the world several thousand years later.

We might one day settle down and read the epic of gilgamesh and watch as a king has to accept the death of the person he loved the most. One of the very first stories ever written and it was about coping with death, and how to grieve.

We don't read classics because they're old, we read them because they remind us that we are never alone. That a character created over 500 years ago struggled with the exact same problems we all still have today. That even a king from centuries past had to deal with death just like me. That's what makes stories so powerful--they prove to us that we are never truly alone in what we are feeling.

[call-me-moby-dick]

source

I think Moby Dick might be cosmic horror. Captain Ahab is like "YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND it's not a whale. God is an evil master controlling every living human like a puppet, free will is an illusion, we are caught in a cruel trap made by god. THAT WHALE IS THE MASK OF THAT GOD"

HE THINKS HE THINKS if he can kill the whale, he can break humanity free of the bonds of GOD. and our narrator boy Ishmael is like "uh...i think it might just be a big whale and you have trauma" BUT THEN AT THE END ISHMAEL SEES IT and he's like "oh no. it's god"

and like. IT KILLS EVERYONE IT EATS AHAB AND DRAGS HIM INTO HELL SCREAMING. it IS god. nature is god.

god what a good story

i love too that if you know it from pop culture you know Ahab's leg was eaten by the whale? well thats the more soft version, in the story proper you hear he was basically CHEWED ALIVE, his whole body is held together with HATE and THE WILL TO KILL GOD and WHALE BONE PROSTHETICS.

AT SOME POINT he just HOLDS SOME LIGHTNING and everyone is like "Captain ahab is so cool i'd die for him" and the only one going "hey this seems weird" is the main character

but yeah every time i'm like "GOD MOBY DICK IS SO GOOD" people are like "the whale hunting story?? with the stinky boring men???" and i get sad.

Talk not to me of blasphemy, man; I’d strike the sun if it insulted me!

[kafkastan]

at the request of @fierifreak, here is a chart i originally posted on twitter that inexplicably did numbers (credit to OP of the blank graph in the corner!)

[virulenthealing]

You guys really finished Dracula Daily and went and made up a fake Martin Scorsese film to obsess over when we could easily ruin people's lives for the next ✨two years ✨if we all collectively agree to sign onto Whale Weekly.

[loveology2022]

ok obsessed with this one too

[mikedotfoster]

A boggy, soggy, squitchy picture truly, enough to drive a nervous man distracted. Yet was there a sort of indefinite, half-attained, unimaginable sublimity about it that fairly froze you to it, till you involuntarily took an oath with yourself to find out what that marvellous painting meant.

-Herman Melville

[velvet-jellyfish]

My favorite game to play when I am bored at work is pretending to be Ishmael from Moby Dick. Because Moby Dick is about a great many things but it’s also about being bored at work when you have ADHD and I find that very relatable.

This is how you play:

1. Narrate* whatever boring task you are currently doing, describing it in vivid detail.

2. Explain, in depth and at length, how said task is actually a metaphor for society and what it can teach us about the human condition. (Bonus points for any philosophers or theorists you quote and any historical events you use as an example.)

You may also add a passionate argument for why your job is the noblest of professions, and explain why it is in fact superior to other similar (higher regarded and better paid) jobs in your industry

The important thing is passion, conviction, flowery archaic language, literary allusions, and interesting facts of questionable accuracy. Feel free to make your monologue as long as you want, you have a lot of time to fill.

Highly recommend. Hours of fun

*you can do this out loud or in your head, depending on how much you like your coworkers

[mobydyke]

maybe if I keep telling the story, it will never have to end. that way I can keep you alive. If the story lasts forever, so will you. yes, you die in the end. yes I am the only one who remembers. yes I am the only one who knows. But if I never say it aloud, maybe you won't die. maybe this time orpheus won't turn around. maybe peter won't deny him. maybe when I reach the end, you will have had time to come up with a clever solution and escape. maybe this time we survive it together. and the next time, you can tell this story with me. maybe everyone survives and we don't have to tell the story at all. maybe they don't. if I never finish, I'll never have to know. let me speak for a little bit longer. let me live in a world that you are also in for just a moment more. sometimes your memory feels like a noose. I'm sorry. I'm not ready for you to die

[calvinandhobbes]

[im-an-aesthetic-mess]

EMAIL BOOK CLUBS MASTERLIST !!!

alright, there are a lot of email book clubs now, so here's ALL of them, in one convenient list

NOTE: IF YOU FIND MORE PLEASE SEND !!! put them in the notes, my ask box, dm them to me, just notify me in SOME way and i will edit this base post so they all remain in one place

without further ado:

Dracula Daily - dracula, the one that started it all || real time

may 3, 2022 - november 10, 2022

Whale Weekly - moby dick || real time

starting december 2022, continuing for 3 years

Frankenstein Weekly - frankenstein || wednesdays and sundays

begins february 1, 2023

Letters from Watson - sherlock holmes

begins january 1, 2023

What Manner of Man - a new original work by st john starling (its gay vampires click the link)

begins january 2023

Edgar Allen Poe Daily - the works of edgar allen poe || weekdays where dracula daily does not post

began may 13, 2022

The Penny Dreadful - penny dreadful

begins TBA

Ovid Daily - the works of p. ovidius naso (note: these are in latin but they contain a translation)

dates depend on the in-progress work (from what i can tell)

Werther Rewritten - the sorrows of young werther, slightly modernized || real time

may 4, 2022 - christmas 2023

The Sorrows Of Young Werther - the original of the above || you pick the dates

from what i can tell, it begins when you subscribe and you pick the frequency of emails

Carmilla Quarterly - carmilla, just click the link its lesbian vampires

begins TBA

Literary Letters - lesser known public domain works

begins november 12, 2022

Pride and Prejudice Weekly - working title, im doing pride and prejudice now || mondays and fridays

march 10, 2023 - october 6, 2023

The Woman In White Weekly - the woman in white || sundays

begins july 31, 2022

Musketeers Daily - the three musketeers

begins march 14, 2023

LOTR Newsletter - lord of the rings || real time (i think)

september 15, 2022 - march 2023

Rizal Weekly - jose rizal's works (these are in filipino, i don't see a full translation but please correct me if im wrong)

began may 26, 2022

Divine Comedy Weekly - dante's divine comedy || begins on good friday, then updates tuesdays and thursdays

april 7, 2023 - march 5, 2024

Austen Weekly - jane austen's works

find more info on the posting schedule here

The Case Files Of Sheridan Bell - new original fantasy detective novels from em rowene

begins may 29, 2022

Big Dalloway Energy - mrs. dalloway by virginia woolfe || commentary encouraged

begins june 1, 2022

Nightly Knights - excerpts from arthurian texts

posted at random

Samuel Pepys's Diary - daily entries from samuel pepys's diary

the site posts a new entry at the end of each day

Dangerous Liaisons Daily - dangerous liaisons || real time

august 3rd, 2022 - january 14, 2023

Les Chroniques de Choderlos - dangerous liaisons, but in the original french || real time

august 3rd, 2022 - january 14, 2023

Wilde Weekly - oscar wilde's works

begins june 12, 2022

Logbooks of the HE-631-CORDELIA - a new original sci-fi series about a pilot and her robot by loreley

begins july 21, 2022

Les Mis Letters - les misérables || daily

january 1, 2023 - december 31, 2023

The Worst Journey in the World - r.f. scott's diaries + supplemental readings from cherry-garrard’s the worst journey in the world and others’ diaries

intro began july 12, 2022. diary entries begin november 25, 2022, and end in march, 2024

Daily Kafka - franz kafka's letters

began august 31, 2022