In the summer of 2022, I chanced upon a reference to CLR James‘ “Mariners” in Noel Ignatiev‘s posthumously released collection of essays. I was fascinated & so I resolved to read Moby Dick, which took me 4 months during that fall & winter. Almost exactly year after finishing Moby Dick, I‘ve finally read “Mariners” and I truly feel like I‘ve completed some sort of visionary quest. Full circle moment for sure!
batsy This actually sounds like a good book to read once I finally get around to Moby Dick. 10mo
breadnroses Moby Dick is my favorite novel, and I definitely recommend reading “Mariners” afterward! James‘s interpretation is very fresh, if not a bit stubborn, and the context in which he wrote it is fascinating. James penned this book while detained at Ellis Island, to protest his deportation & prove via his literary analysis of “the greatest American novel” that he was a worthy candidate for American citizenship 😯 @batsy 10mo