Redbeard's Progress, 40-53
From Chapter 40 - Midnight, Forecastle:
"Our captain stood upon the deck, A spy-glass in his hand"
I was reading this line, and I couldn't help but think of the opening theme of Gilligans Island. I'm sure it's unintentional, but..
"Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale, the tale of a fateful trip."
That's the only part of the two that seem to sync up, but interesting all the same.
From Chapter 41 - Moby Dick:
"..half-formed foetal suggestions.."
In my version of the text, the 'o' and 'e' of the text are combined in a ligature (Œ). Thats what those strange letter combinations are called. One mark of well-set type (in my opinion) is if ligatures are present. It means the typesetter (or designer) has taken the time to look for these few letter combinations and use a special character in place of two. (Some design programs do this automatically now, so there's really no excuse for not having ligatures.) So, next time you're reading a book, check those ligatures. Ligatures also occur in fl, ff, fi combinations. There's more here, if you're interested.
And, what a creepy line. To use fetal in that way. Sort of like a dingy, flourescent-lit operating room, in the early hours of the morning. *shivers*
Chapter 42 - The Whiteness of the Whale:
Degolar didn't seem too keen on this chapter, but I liked it. There's something to be said for the color white. I was thinking about how hard white clothes are to keep clean, and even now, a pure white is hard to come by, especially to have it stay in it's pristine form. The idea of whiteness as being for the wealthy makes sense to me that way. They can afford to have their clothes professionally cleaned, and if they start to get dingy, they can just buy a new one.
From Chapter 43 - Hark!
"Hist! did you hear that noise, Cabaco?"
"There it is again - under the hatches - don't you hear it - a cough - it sounded like a cough."
"There again - there it is! - it sounds like two or three sleepers turning over, now!"
What could be down in the hatches? More foreshadowing. Building suspense. Maybe Elijah from Nantucket was onto something.. ghostly shapes. Have you guys found out what's down there yet?
From Chapter 44 - The Chart:
"While thus employed, the heavy pewter lamp suspended in chains over his head, continually rocked with the motion of the ship, and for ever threw shifting gleams and shadows of lines upon his wrinkled brow, till it almost seemed that while he himself was marking out lines and courses on the wrinkled charts, some invisible pencil was also tracing lines and courses upon the deeply marked chart of his forehead."
I love that paragraph. Very visual. You can picture it in your mind, the rocking boat, the growing shadows on Ahab's forehead, illuminating and deepening the furrows on his brow as his mind works with plotting the white whale's course..
From Chapter 45 - The Affidavit:
"Like some poor devils ashore that happen to know an irascible great man, they make distant unobtrusive salutations to him in the street, lest if they pursued the acquaintance further, they might receive a summary thump for their presumption."
Haven't we all known someone like this? Patrons at the library that we see day after day, we know their quirks, but dread getting too familiar because then they'll take an interest in us. Better just to nod as they walk by.
From Chapter 48 - The First Lowering:
"Smuggled on board, somehow, before the ship sailed. (Strong, strong, boys!") in a whisper to his crew, then speaking out loud again: "A sad business, Mr. Stubb! (seethe her, seethe her, my lads!) but never mind, Mr. Stubb, all for the best. Let all your crew pull strong, come what will. (Spring, my men, spring!)"
I love how Starbuck whispers so urgently to his men. To fully capture this, I think you've got to listen to the audio version. But it's such a cool character quirk, the whispering. And it's so fittingly Starbuck.
And, now we know who was belowdecks.
From Chapter 51 - The Spirit-Spout:
"..his turban and the moon, companions in one sky."
Again, very easy to visualize.
And, how about that whale, taunting them for days with his ghostly white spout. Makes you want to find out what happens next. Sort of a subdued chase scene.
Chapter 53 - The Gam:
I think the whole reason that this chapter is in the book is so Melville can explain it someplace and then just use 'gam' in the next chapter without having to stop the flow of the story. An interesting way to do it. Would something like this be done now? Would it be relegated to a footnote, or a glossary entry?
"Our captain stood upon the deck, A spy-glass in his hand"
I was reading this line, and I couldn't help but think of the opening theme of Gilligans Island. I'm sure it's unintentional, but..
"Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale, the tale of a fateful trip."
That's the only part of the two that seem to sync up, but interesting all the same.
From Chapter 41 - Moby Dick:
"..half-formed foetal suggestions.."
In my version of the text, the 'o' and 'e' of the text are combined in a ligature (Œ). Thats what those strange letter combinations are called. One mark of well-set type (in my opinion) is if ligatures are present. It means the typesetter (or designer) has taken the time to look for these few letter combinations and use a special character in place of two. (Some design programs do this automatically now, so there's really no excuse for not having ligatures.) So, next time you're reading a book, check those ligatures. Ligatures also occur in fl, ff, fi combinations. There's more here, if you're interested.
And, what a creepy line. To use fetal in that way. Sort of like a dingy, flourescent-lit operating room, in the early hours of the morning. *shivers*
Chapter 42 - The Whiteness of the Whale:
Degolar didn't seem too keen on this chapter, but I liked it. There's something to be said for the color white. I was thinking about how hard white clothes are to keep clean, and even now, a pure white is hard to come by, especially to have it stay in it's pristine form. The idea of whiteness as being for the wealthy makes sense to me that way. They can afford to have their clothes professionally cleaned, and if they start to get dingy, they can just buy a new one.
From Chapter 43 - Hark!
"Hist! did you hear that noise, Cabaco?"
"There it is again - under the hatches - don't you hear it - a cough - it sounded like a cough."
"There again - there it is! - it sounds like two or three sleepers turning over, now!"
What could be down in the hatches? More foreshadowing. Building suspense. Maybe Elijah from Nantucket was onto something.. ghostly shapes. Have you guys found out what's down there yet?
From Chapter 44 - The Chart:
"While thus employed, the heavy pewter lamp suspended in chains over his head, continually rocked with the motion of the ship, and for ever threw shifting gleams and shadows of lines upon his wrinkled brow, till it almost seemed that while he himself was marking out lines and courses on the wrinkled charts, some invisible pencil was also tracing lines and courses upon the deeply marked chart of his forehead."
I love that paragraph. Very visual. You can picture it in your mind, the rocking boat, the growing shadows on Ahab's forehead, illuminating and deepening the furrows on his brow as his mind works with plotting the white whale's course..
From Chapter 45 - The Affidavit:
"Like some poor devils ashore that happen to know an irascible great man, they make distant unobtrusive salutations to him in the street, lest if they pursued the acquaintance further, they might receive a summary thump for their presumption."
Haven't we all known someone like this? Patrons at the library that we see day after day, we know their quirks, but dread getting too familiar because then they'll take an interest in us. Better just to nod as they walk by.
From Chapter 48 - The First Lowering:
"Smuggled on board, somehow, before the ship sailed. (Strong, strong, boys!") in a whisper to his crew, then speaking out loud again: "A sad business, Mr. Stubb! (seethe her, seethe her, my lads!) but never mind, Mr. Stubb, all for the best. Let all your crew pull strong, come what will. (Spring, my men, spring!)"
I love how Starbuck whispers so urgently to his men. To fully capture this, I think you've got to listen to the audio version. But it's such a cool character quirk, the whispering. And it's so fittingly Starbuck.
And, now we know who was belowdecks.
From Chapter 51 - The Spirit-Spout:
"..his turban and the moon, companions in one sky."
Again, very easy to visualize.
And, how about that whale, taunting them for days with his ghostly white spout. Makes you want to find out what happens next. Sort of a subdued chase scene.
Chapter 53 - The Gam:
I think the whole reason that this chapter is in the book is so Melville can explain it someplace and then just use 'gam' in the next chapter without having to stop the flow of the story. An interesting way to do it. Would something like this be done now? Would it be relegated to a footnote, or a glossary entry?
posted by scott at 8:30 PM
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