Moby Dick by Herman Melville
May 2nd, 2008 by Laura Moncur in Literature
If you haven’t seen them yet, you should click on over to Sheldon and read their comics about Herman Melville:
In case you didn’t get all the knee-slapping jokes, Herman Melville was the author of Moby Dick. It’s the famous story of Ahab, the obsessed whaler, who chases after Moby Dick, an elusive whale and ends up sacrificing all in the quest.
I’ve never read it.
I don’t know what’s stopping me. I could read the book for free here:
When I started writing this entry, I thought the most famous quote from Moby Dick was this one:
I quickly found out that I was wrong and poor Samuel Taylor Coleridge didn’t get enough attention from my public school education. Instead, I found that the most recognizable quote (at least for me) is this one:
Of course, I thought Khan said it to Captain Kirk in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Little did I know that Star Trek II was really a re-imagination of Moby Dick. Here is a good summation of Moby-Dick references in Star Trek and other sci-fi:
Sheldon had a well-read laugh at Herman Melville, but the truth of the matter is, despite all the references to the book in our society, I suspect that few of us have read it. I, for one, am putting it on my list and will start it as soon as I’m finished with my current book.