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Tag Archives: Moby Dick
“He who has never felt, momentarily, what madness is has but a mouthful of brains.” — Herman Melville
“Old nineteenth-century New England must have been fearful–in what other country would Thoreau, Melville, Whitman and Dickinson have been so overlooked?” — Robert Lowell, letter to Elizabeth Bishop, December 12, 1958 Herman Melville was born on this day in 1819. … Continue reading
The Books: Aspects of the Novel: ‘Prophecy,’ by E.M. Forster
On the essays shelf (yes, there are still more books to excerpt in my vast library. I can’t seem to stop this excerpts-from-my-library project. I started it in 2006!) NEXT BOOK: Aspects of the Novel, a series of lectures by … Continue reading
Today In History: November 14, 1851
Moby-Dick, by Herman Melville, was first published in New York as one volume. It had already appeared in London, the month before, in a highly censored version, and had already generated some comment by the time it hit the United … Continue reading
Today in history: November 14, 1851
“Give me Vesuvius’ crater for an inkstand!” Melville apparently shouted as he sat at his desk writing Moby Dick, which was published on this day today. It was not a success, to put it mildly. Here’s an example from just … Continue reading
Happy birthday to Herman Melville
Herman Melville was born on this day in 1819. Moby-Dick is one of my all-time favorite books – so I figured I wouldn’t just re-hash that old territory – but compile here 5,000,000 quotes about Melville. They come from everywhere … Continue reading
Happy Birthday, Herman Melville
Herman Melville was born on this day in 1819. Moby-Dick is one of my all-time favorite books (my essays and excerpts are linked at the bottom of this post) – so I figured I wouldn’t just re-hash that old territory … Continue reading
Posted in On This Day, writers
Tagged E.M. Forster, Hart Crane, Herman Melville, John Huston, Michael Schmidt, Moby Dick, Nathaniel Hawthorne
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Images of Moby Dick
Some are the famous Rockwell Kent illustrations (I have the copy of the book with those images in it – and more haunting images you will never see! He has created the looming leviathans of nightmares) … others are from … Continue reading
The Books: “Ahab’s Wife” (Sena Jeter Naslund)
Daily Book Excerpt: Adult fiction: Even the title kind of embarrasses me. There is a lot that is embarrassing about this book. However I read it, and enjoyed it and also retained almost NONE of it. Ahab’s Wife: Or, The … Continue reading
Blood Meridian: The Judge
I finished Blood Meridian: Or the Evening Redness in the West last night. My only regret is that someone wasn’t there to hold me when it was all over. The last 50 pages of Blood Meridian read like a bat … Continue reading