Althouse: At the Moby Dick Café...

January 21, 2021

At the Moby Dick Café...

... you can pursue your dreams.

67 comments:

Lucid-Ideas said...: Trump is Moby Dick.
Pelosi is Ahab.
Biden is QueeQueg.
Tucker Carlson is Starbuck.
The nation is the Pequod.
Ishmael is the future.; 1/21/21, 12:09 PM
Churchy LaFemme: said...: How To Analyze Classic Literature.; 1/21/21, 12:17 PM
Chuck said...: I like to share things. I’m a sharer. A sharing kind of guy. So I wanted to share with you this completely delicious column from Kevin Williamson in National Review Online:

https://www.nationalreview.com/2021/01/witless-ape-rides-helicopter/; 1/21/21, 12:29 PM
wildswan said...: Has anybody, while the plague raged, read or reread both Moby Dick and the Brothers Karamazov?Recently, I was in group in which those who liked Russian novels, pretty much did not like Moby Dick. Discussion: whether those who like Russian novels can like Moby Dick. If not, why not? Is it worse to read how to render a whale or to read about characters with five or six names, and who uses which name when is vital information about the situation of all in relation to each other and the past, in other words, is the novel. And they are discussing philosophy in the Brothers Karamazov and not discussing it in Moby Dick. Which is worse?; 1/21/21, 12:31 PM
AZ Bob said...: Here's the best tweet of the day.; 1/21/21, 12:31 PM
Joe Smith said...: Call me...

Another...; 1/21/21, 12:37 PM
Joe Smith said...: "... you can pursue your dreams."

Vote for Pedro!; 1/21/21, 12:39 PM
Rick.T. said...: Good timing. I just watched the light but very enjoyable Fisherman's Friends last night and listening to a live concert on my commute which I like immensely. The only sour note was a jibe at Trump for building the wall.

I think it was someone here who mentioned it so thank you.; 1/21/21, 12:43 PM
wildswan said...: Did Biden say:

"Biden opposes racism"

or did he say:

"Opposing Biden is racism."

As if there were just one set of policies which are actually anti-racist. Republicans oppose abortion which disproportionately impacts the babies of the black community (70% of the black children conceived in Dc are aborted); support charter schools and vouchers to save those born from failing inner-city schools; support an America First industrial policy keeping manufacturing in the US in order to create good jobs for the 40% of young black men in the big Democrat-run cities leaving high school without a degree; support a strong economy and believe it is possible to achieve a strong economy with jobs for all reducing bitterness; support a safe community. Supporting life, good schools, good jobs and safe communities isn't being racist. There may be more to do but it can be argued that what Republicans stand for must be done and isn't on the agenda of the other party. Unity - get the whole job done.; 1/21/21, 12:46 PM
Iman said...: Teh White Supremacist Whale; 1/21/21, 12:51 PM
Iman said...: Mopey Dick; 1/21/21, 12:52 PM
Narr said...: Prof's a neatnik! Or does she just arrange like one on the Interwebz?

Never read the Mobes. The only Russian novels I've enjoyed are Nabokov's . . . Turgenev . . . and Aksyonov's "Say Cheese!" was funny.

Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky never did a thing for me--whether poor translations are to blame I can't say. It's probably me-- some things resonate and some things don't, notably Orthodox spiritualism. I did like the observation of Tolstoy's somewhere in W & P about the self-assurance of different nationalities: the Frenchman knows he is charming, the Englishman knows his system of governance is best, the Italian is excitable and forgets himself, the Russian knows nothing can be known, but only the German believes he has mastered objective truth through science.

Narr
A dig at Humboldt, or Marx, or both?; 1/21/21, 1:17 PM
Wince said...: I heard Bannon posited the following scenario:

Trump runs for congress from Florida in 2022.

Republicans take back the House of Reps.

Republicans elect Trump Speaker (taking gavel from Pelosi).

Trump runs for president in 2024!; 1/21/21, 1:19 PM
StephenFearby said...: Overreach that is sure to backfire. Republicans in both the House and the Senate should sponsor legislation that would thwart such stupidity. For the Democrats who vote against, the 2022 election is less than two years away:

The Federalist January 21

On Day One, Biden Destroys Women’s Sports With Anti-Science Executive Order

President Joe Biden issued an executive order on his first day in office, mandating that any schools that receive federal funding must function as if biological males who claim to be females are the same, and vice versa, or risk losing that funding. This pro-transgender policy extends to male athletes who claim their gender identity as a female should allow them to compete on women’s teams, receive women’s scholarships, and be admitted in women’s locker rooms.

“Children should be able to learn without worrying about whether they will be denied access to the restroom, the locker room, or school sports,” the executive order reads, promising that the Biden administration is committed to “prevent and combat discrimination on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation.”

Biden previously promised to pioneer a radical transgender agenda, telling the mother of an 8-year-old, gender-confused child at a town hall that he would “flat-out change the law” and eliminate former President Donald Trump’s executive orders concerning sex and gender identity. His pledge received support and encouragement from now-Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.

“Joe Biden said that on his first day of office, he will give transgender students access to sports, bathrooms, and locker rooms in accordance with their gender identity in all federally funded schools. Do you think he has the ability to do this, and do you agree with his decision?” a reporter asked Schumer.

“I agree with the decision, and I know he’ll check things out thoroughly, legally,” Schumer said.

During his campaign, Biden also vowed to use the Department of Education to investigate and address any violations of transgender students’ civil rights, including removing federal school funding or risking legal action. His new executive order also mandates that every agency must act to ensure the enforcement of this new rule within 100 days of Jan. 20.

Under Trump, the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights found that a Connecticut policy that allowed biologically male student-athletes who identify as female to participate in female sports violated Title IX. Democrat Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii introduced legislation in the House in December that prevents biological men from participating in female sports.

https://thefederalist.com/2021/01/21/on-day-one-biden-destroys-womens-sports-with-anti-science-executive-order/; 1/21/21, 1:19 PM
wendybar said...: Unlike if you are a Trump supporter in Joe Bidens America.; 1/21/21, 1:23 PM
tim maguire said...: Churchy LaFemme: said...How To Analyze Classic Literature.

"And then the whale got rid of Ahab's friends and his boat"

Started a little slow, but that part was brilliant.; 1/21/21, 1:25 PM
daskol said...: Moby’s Deck was a great seafood shack just at the beginning good the Jersey shore. As a kid I used to think it was called Moby’s Dick to the amusement of my parents and their friends.; 1/21/21, 1:27 PM
daskol said...: I enjoyed the book and eventually recognized the humor in there, but could not shake the feeling that Melville was just fucking with me for a lot of the book. I don’t think he liked people or his readers much.; 1/21/21, 1:29 PM
mockturtle said...: A good way to develop a distaste for classic literature is to analyze it.; 1/21/21, 1:36 PM
iowan2 said...: WOW!
Trump running for the House is a HOOT! I cannot think of anything that would make me more happy. (and the Hawkeyes are ranked 5th right now and have 8 guys that are capable of going on a 20 point rampage); 1/21/21, 1:36 PM
Lawrence Person said...: Biden promised change and he delivered!

instead of antifa attacking a federal courthouse, they're now attacking Democratic Party Headquarters.; 1/21/21, 1:36 PM
h said...: In pre-registering for the vaccine in my state, we are required to report our race (and age).

Is it legal (or under what circumstances would it be legal) for the state to discriminate on the basis of race in establishing vaccine priority?

And that got me thinking, everyone accepts the validity of a priority plan that discriminates based on age. Is the justification for that the same as the justification for race?; 1/21/21, 1:40 PM
Ann Althouse said...: "Has anybody, while the plague raged, read or reread both Moby Dick and the Brothers Karamazov?Recently, I was in group in which those who liked Russian novels, pretty much did not like Moby Dick. Discussion: whether those who like Russian novels can like Moby Dick. If not, why not?"

I would hypothesize that the difference is in what you're required to envision. With the Russian novels it's very much about how everyone is feeling inside — the internal world. With "Moby Dick," you have to picture outward things — complicated actions and objects that are not familiar to you at all, which you could be eager to understand and thrilled to visualize or irritated and over-challenged. I think people who read novels with the feeling that they are finding out what people are like and a desire to get into other people's head are going to get what they want from Russian novels.; 1/21/21, 1:53 PM
n.n said...: The big white whale. Phallus envy.; 1/21/21, 1:54 PM
narciso said...: I mentioned the russian novel, written by that turkish writer nermin bezmin, based on her grandfather who was an cavalry officer in the Czars army, kurt seyit ye sura, which was on netflix now available on daily motion,; 1/21/21, 2:00 PM
Clyde said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 1/21/21, 2:04 PM
Clyde said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 1/21/21, 2:05 PM
Wince said...: And that got me thinking, everyone accepts the validity of a priority plan that discriminates based on age. Is the justification for that the same as the justification for race?

Under constitutional equal protection analysis, race is a suspect classification that invokes strict scrutiny of the discriminating law. Age is not.

Age discrimination in employment is a statutory violation, not a constitutional violation.; 1/21/21, 2:05 PM
Clyde said...: Biden* wants everyone to wear a mask for 100 days. What is the scientific significance of 100 days? Why not 73 or 118? Is 100 some kind of "magical" number? It doesn't sound scientific to me.

Also, I looked at Biden*'s EO about wearing masks on federal property. The language of the EO is a bit odd: It says that federal workers and contractors "should wear masks." Note that does NOT say "must wear masks," "shall wear masks," "will wear masks" or "are required to wear masks." Those are the kinds of words used in orders; "should," on the other hand, is a suggestion word. "You should obey the speed limit." "You should quit smoking." "You should drink in moderation."

"Should" is a word that requires buy-in and compliance. I don't feel compliant with the new regime.; 1/21/21, 2:06 PM
Readering said...: Parler TRO application against AWS denied in an opinion that reads as if Parler will not survive a motion to dismiss its 3 claims.; 1/21/21, 2:17 PM
Readering said...: I don't think you can discriminate based on race but I think the question is aimed at aimed at ensuring no discrimination based on race.

I'm okay with just missing the cutoff for preferential treatment based on age, even if it is the product of our arbitrary system of counting by tens.; 1/21/21, 2:22 PM
stevew said...: Moby Dick, the novel, is excellent. The movie from 1956 with Gregory Peck is terrific and scared the crap out of a <10 year old me in the mid 1960's. I really enjoyed Philbrick's "In the Heart of the Sea" about the whale ship Essex, which is said to be Melville's inspiration.; 1/21/21, 2:27 PM
TheOne Who Is Not Obeyed said...: I just answer "black" when asked my race since that's the closest thing they ever offer to multiracial whiteness.

For gender, always answer "unknown". You apparently never know your gender until you do.; 1/21/21, 2:28 PM
narciso said...: this was the source material for both

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/163507.The_Loss_of_the_Ship_Essex_Sunk_by_a_Whale#:~:text=The%20book%20The%20Loss%20of%20The%20Ship%20Essex,,survival%20took%20over%20their%20humility%20for%20each%20other.

it's rather remarkable how much melville stuffed into that book,; 1/21/21, 2:30 PM
MadisonMan said...: This kinda summarizes what I think of the Media and the new Administration.; 1/21/21, 2:40 PM
Michael K said...: Blogger Readering said...
Parler TRO application against AWS denied in an opinion that reads as if Parler will not survive a motion to dismiss its 3 claims.

The ghoul celebrates the end of freedom and free speech.; 1/21/21, 3:03 PM
Heartless Aztec said...: When I was a public school teacher some ten years ago I finally decided that I needed to read Moby Dick. I found a copy and kept my volume on my teachers desk at the inner city high school where I taught Civics, Geography and American history to joj (just off the jet) refugees, immigrants and the American children who lived in the surrounding neighborhoods.
One day LeCharles was at my desk and spied Melville's book. He asked."Mr Aztec? Why you be having a book about dicks on yo' desk?" I attempted to explain that no it was a book about a white whale... That immediately morphed into laughter about a book of a big white dick on my desk. Cutting my losses I just dropped the explanation and we went on with the Bill of Rights as the day's subject matter.
Later in the day students would come up to me in the halls teasing me about being Gay because I had a book about white dicks on my desk. No explanation would be understood or suffice at this point. As the final bell rang and the students exited the class the Principal stuck her head into my classroom, waited for the last student to leave and asked if it was true that I had a book of racist Gay pornography on my teachers desk. I held up my dog eared copy of Moby Dick put it in her hand and waited while she inspected it. I didn't have any explanations left in me at this point. She handed it back and suggested that in the future I keep my personal reading matter tucked away in a drawer.
There's a lot I could say but won't. I sent my daughter to Catholic School and I'm not even a Catholic. To have sent her to the public schools in my city would have been parental malpractice.; 1/21/21, 3:08 PM
readering said...: "The ghoul celebrates the end of freedom and free speech."

I've been inspired to be better.; 1/21/21, 3:15 PM
MadisonMan said...: Mom was an English Major, so our basement had a lot of "English Literature" books. At one point I tried to read Tristram Shandy. Oh my. Didn't get very far. Later, I was pleased to discover that was the book Harriet Vane was reading when she nodded off, before waking to find the corpse in Have His Carcase. I thought Dorothy Sayers' views on Shandy were spot on.
I somehow got through High School without having to read Melville.; 1/21/21, 3:24 PM
stevew said...: Anyone who predicted this in the past would have been labeled a conspiracy theorist and nut job. Yet, here we are. Any bets on the over/under for victory over the Covid Pandemic?

WHO Admits their testing grossly overstates Covid positives; 1/21/21, 3:24 PM
Francisco D said...: Lucid-Ideas said...
Trump is Moby Dick.
Pelosi is Ahab.

ALL the Democrats and some Republicans were Ahab.

They decided that had to control Trump. Ergo, the Mueller Inquisition, the Schiff Soviet-style Impeachment and the latest three second Impeachment.

Republicans were forced to choose sides when it became clear that Trump was doing a good job despite all the sabotage. Romney was the only honest one. He hated Trump and made it very clear. Sasse, Murkowski, Burr, Flake, Collins, Toomey and others didn't lift a finger to help because they hated Trump. Some like Graham and McSally pretended to be supporters.; 1/21/21, 3:29 PM
Clyde said...: @ Stevew
Victory over COVID will take place on May 1, 2021, at the end of the sciency 100 days of masking, and not a day sooner. You can take that to the bank.; 1/21/21, 3:47 PM
stevew said...: Thank you Clyde, duly noted and recorded. I think that is an excellent prediction. With the new rules we will see steadily declining positive rates such that Slo' Joe can declare his stewardship and leadership over the virus a success. The only risk I see is that the numbers fall so much that victory must be declared sooner.; 1/21/21, 4:03 PM
Matt said...: I tried to read Moby Dick, but it was so thick I had to stop. It was humiliating and I feel like I lost a little bit of myself in the process. But I'm going to try again and persevere and nothing on heaven or earth will stop me from finishing Moby Dick. I'm going to finish Moby Dick even if it kills me.

Moby Dick is my Moby Dick.; 1/21/21, 4:19 PM
narciso said...: well the footnoted version, helps isolate some of the background info, from the main story, he did put years of research on everything from north american culture and politics to sightings of whales, going back to the justinian era,; 1/21/21, 4:43 PM
tcrosse said...: There is a very rich history of illustrations for Moby Dick. A search of "Moby Dick Illustrations" is quite rewarding.; 1/21/21, 4:56 PM
William50 said...: Biden defies his mask mandate the same day he signed it.
Jen Psaki defies the mask mandate today at the White House press conference.; 1/21/21, 4:57 PM
J. Farmer said...: @wildswan:

Has anybody, while the plague raged, read or reread both Moby Dick and the Brothers Karamazov?Recently, I was in group in which those who liked Russian novels, pretty much did not like Moby Dick. Discussion: whether those who like Russian novels can like Moby Dick. If not, why not?

I know there's no shortage of analyzing Melville's symbolism, but an interesting perspective is given in Writing the Republic: Liberalism and Morality in American Political Fiction by Anthony Hutchison.; 1/21/21, 5:09 PM
Michael K said...: I sent my daughter to Catholic School and I'm not even a Catholic. To have sent her to the public schools in my city would have been parental malpractice.

Back in the 50s I went to Catholic school with lots of kids who were non-Catholic.

By the time I had my own kids, Catholic churches had lost interest in schools and I sent my kids to a private Episcopal school. Eventually, they began to realize that was a mistake and two of my daughters went to a Catholic high school.; 1/21/21, 5:15 PM
Chuck said...: Dr. Fauci just torched the Trump Administration. You will want to find the video of his entire portion of this evening’s White House press briefing.

Including the first question, a kind of knuckleball from Fox News’ Peter Doocey, that Fauci hammered over the left-centerfield wall. And the last question, in which Fauci agreed that for him, he feels “liberated” to be done with the Trump Administration.

In between, it was the most scientific briefing I have ever seen on the subject of COVID from the White House press room.; 1/21/21, 5:35 PM
rhhardin said...: Biden signs executive order allowing men in women's sports.

Next they'll be letting men in women's chess.; 1/21/21, 5:41 PM
Joe Smith said...: "Biden signs executive order allowing men in women's sports."

I want everyone to feel the consequences of their vote.

It might sound mean, but I am hoping for the end of all women's sports in all age groups within the next ten years.

Let's have a proper reckoning.; 1/21/21, 5:55 PM
stevew said...: Dr. Fauci is a liar. He is a politician, gave up medicine and science a long time ago (circa the Aids epidemic). He cannot be trusted. Press briefings are propaganda.; 1/21/21, 6:14 PM
daskol said...: Recently, I was in group in which those who liked Russian novels, pretty much did not like Moby Dick. Discussion: whether those who like Russian novels can like Moby Dick. If not, why not?

Althouse is probably right about interior/exterior locus of attention, but my first reaction was humor. Melville is arch and there's a lot of it, including some at the reader's expense. I'm far from an expert on long Russian novels, I've read one Tolstoy and two Dostoevksy, and maybe it was the translation or an under-appreciation for whatever Russians find humorous, and there were very few, maybe no, laughs for me..; 1/21/21, 7:02 PM
William50 said...: "Whether it was that Tashtego, that wild Indian, was so heedless and reckless as to let go for a moment his one-handed hold on the great cabled tackles suspending the head; or whether the place where he stood was so treacherous and oozy; or whether the Evil One himself would have it to fall out so, without stating his particular reasons; how it was exactly, there is no telling now; but, on a sudden, as the eightieth or ninetieth bucket came suckingly up - my God! poor Tashtego - like the twin reciprocating bucket in a veritable well, dropped head-formost down into this great Tun of Heidelberg, and with a horrible oily gurgling, went clean out of sight!"

Moby Dick Chapter 78 - Cistern and Buckets

I don't know why but I always loved this "oh shit" moment.; 1/21/21, 7:05 PM
daskol said...: That shit is funny. It's open ocean, crusty old heathen whaler slapstick, with a "born again" metaphor and innuendo and a dig at Christianity in there if you squint a little.; 1/21/21, 7:36 PM
daskol said...: I had no idea what the Tun of Heidelberg was until I downloaded a free kindle of Twain's Tramp Abroad, which is a bit of slog at times, but is vat its best in Heidelberg.; 1/21/21, 7:39 PM
ken in tx said...: To a teenager in 1965, Melville's 'Billy Budd' seemed like thinly disguised homosexual porn.; 1/21/21, 9:00 PM
Narr said...: "Melville's 'Billy Budd" seemed like thinly disguised homosexual porn."

That probably struck Britten and Forster and Peter Pears too.

Narr
There's some lovely music, though; 1/21/21, 9:20 PM
C R Krieger said...: Lucid-Ideas, first up, said It all.

Regards — Cliff; 1/21/21, 9:55 PM
The Godfather said...: When I was a senior in high school "honors English" we (were supposed to) read Moby Dick. I read the Readers Digest condensensed version of the book. The teacher (a very smart guy) never spotted what I'd done. Yes, I was then and still am a good bull-shitter, but still . . . .

When I was around the same age, or a couple of years older, I read the Brothers Karamozov. I think I was inspired by the movie with Yul Brynner. I won't say I "got it", but I read it. Recently, I tried to read the Bros. K again, but I just don't have the patience anymore.; 1/21/21, 9:57 PM
Drago said...: Pro-marxist LLR-lefty Chuck takes time out of a busy day full of lauding child sex grooming psychos and far left policies to declare Fauci a national treasure.

Discuss.; 1/21/21, 10:36 PM
Drago said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 1/21/21, 10:54 PM
Drago said...: Interestingly, Fauci calls pro-marxist LLR-lefty Chuck a full blown liar just today.

Recall that our #StrongWhitmerFanboy Chuck declared, as all the leftists did, that Trump had no plan at all.

What did Fauci have to say about that?

Asked if Biden is “starting from scratch,” Fauci says, “We certainly AREN’T starting from scratch”

Admits “taking some ideas from the previous administration”

OUCH Chuck! That's gonna leave a mark!

Looks like Fauci just lost his invitation to the LLR-lefty Chuck/Lincoln Project Child Sex Grooming Event!; 1/21/21, 10:55 PM
donald said...: Fauci is a lying piece of shit that is only interested in his own personal power. Chuck is a lying piece of shit cocksucker who’s only interest is Donald Trump. Chuck thinks that that fat piece of shit Kevin Williams matters in some way. Because Chuck is a piece of shit.; 1/22/21, 6:35 AM
daskol said...: To a teenager in 1965, Melville's 'Billy Budd' seemed like thinly disguised homosexual porn.

Yeah, that and a "better" version of the Christ story than the bible--Melville saying more or less, you rubes worship Jesus and love his story, think it's so great, well, I can do better. I think that's the bigger sacrilege if we're looking for it, and it does make me wonder why my American Lit teacher in high school included it (maybe because she correctly thought the porny gay stuff would keep our attention?). I didn't understand a thing about that little book until about 10 years after I first read it, in any event. But it made an impression.; 1/22/21, 7:37 AM
Rusty said...: About a whale, right?; 1/22/21, 8:03 AM