I have not read the whale book. I should. I've read other Melville.
See, Vera? Dress yourself up; you get taken out somewhere fun.
Jayne ,'Our Mrs. Reynolds'
We're Literary 2: To Read Makes Our Speaking English Good
There's more to life than watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer! No. Really, there is! Honestly! Here's a place for Buffistas to come and discuss what it is they're reading, their favorite authors and poets. "Geez. Crack a book sometime."
P.M. Marc - Jun 17, 2005 9:31:34 am PDT #7937 of 10002
So come, my friends, be not afraid/We are so lightly here/It is in love that we are made; In love we disappear
Kathy A - Jun 17, 2005 9:37:11 am PDT #7938 of 10002
We're very stretchy. - Connie Neil
I liked Billy Budd. I might have to revisit MD, just to give it a read outside of the classroom requirement.
Matt the Bruins fan - Jun 17, 2005 10:11:16 am PDT #7939 of 10002
"I remember when they eventually introduced that drug kingpin who murdered people and smuggled drugs inside snakes and I was like 'Finally. A normal person.'” —RahvinDragand
I have not read the whale book. I should. I've read other Melville.
Having lost many hours of my life that I can never get back to the quintessential boredom of Billy Budd and Bartleby the Scrivener, I can't imagine this encouraging you to read more rather than conditioning you against it.
Nutty - Jun 17, 2005 10:46:07 am PDT #7940 of 10002
"Mister Spock is on his fanny, sir. Reports heavy damage."
I've read "Bartleby the Scrivener" and "My Kinsman Major Molineux." I always meant to get to Typee and haven't; I think it's in the queue right after the rest of Joseph Conrad.
I saw the 1960s movie of Billy Budd, and am reliably informed that the book version can't possibly compete with Terence Stamp's girlish loveliness.
P.M. Marc - Jun 17, 2005 11:07:57 am PDT #7941 of 10002
So come, my friends, be not afraid/We are so lightly here/It is in love that we are made; In love we disappear
I saw the 1960s movie of Billy Budd, and am reliably informed that the book version can't possibly compete with Terence Stamp's girlish loveliness.
Sadly, this is true.
Ginger - Jun 17, 2005 12:08:55 pm PDT #7942 of 10002
"It didn't taste good. It tasted soooo horrible. It tasted like....a vodka martini." - Matilda
I've read a good chunk of Melville, and Billy Budd is the one thing I really disliked. Typee and the other Polynesian novels are fun, but nothing like Moby Dick, which is why his audience was more than a little miffed by Moby Dick. They were expecting more fun with native girls and got a grand, overwhelming, psychedelic mass of words carried on a sea of whale blubber.
("My Kinsman, Major Molineux" is by Melville's very good friend, Nathanial Hawthorne. They'd both be flattered by the confusion.)
Amy - Jun 17, 2005 12:14:27 pm PDT #7943 of 10002
Because books.
The only Melville I liked was Bartleby the Scrivener.
t /Melville heretic
ChiKat - Jun 17, 2005 12:16:49 pm PDT #7944 of 10002
That man was going to shank me. Over an omelette. Two eggs and a slice of government cheese. Is that what my life is worth?
Standing with AmyLiz's heretic corner.
Sophia Brooks - Jun 17, 2005 1:00:21 pm PDT #7945 of 10002
Cats to become a rabbit should gather immediately now here
billytea - Jun 17, 2005 2:34:48 pm PDT #7946 of 10002
You were a wrong baby who grew up wrong. The wrong kind of wrong. It's better you hear it from a friend.
FWIW, I've read Moby Dick too. I recall enjoying it, but couldn't say much more than that. I've also read 100 Years of Solitude, and loved it. One of my favourite books.