The unharming sharks, they glided by as if with padlocks on their mouths; the savage sea-hawks sailed with sheathed beaks. On the second day, a sail drew near, nearer, and picked me up at last. It was the devious-cruising Rachel, that in her retracing search after her missing children, only found another orphan.
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pick5/5. Based on the shipwreck of the Essex. A whaler based out of Nantucket, it was sunk when an angry sperm whale rammed it. This story was the inspiration for Moby Dick. The portrayal of cannibalism the crew was forced to resort to in order to stay alive is horrifying. (Side note-apparently cannibalism became so common after shipwrecks that when survivors were rescued they were quick to say when they hadn‘t resorted to cannibalism 😳)
#FirstLineFridays
Like a giant bird of prey, the whaleship moved lazily up the western coast of South America, zigging and zagging across a living sea of oil.
Excited to read this once I‘m done with Emma. A high school student who reads classics for fun, even after reading them for school?? Yes ma‘am.
pickInspired by one of the minor characters in “Moby Dick,” this book is a slow burn. The reader journeys across the world as 4 generations of women search for the elusive “Ishmael,” a key to their belongingness. If you enjoy women‘s lit fic with a touch of magical realism, keep this book in mind. It will take you on a slow and intentional journey, which sometimes is exactly what is needed. Full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6043190663
pickFresh and foreboding! Cold and dark as the depths of the ocean. Follows in theme the path of destruction that conflict and vengeance, violence, wreak, in the original story of Moby Dick. This is a tale told from the perspective of a whale, but it's not simply a retelling of Moby Dick from THAT whale, but rather a reframing of the needless slaughter of a hunting tradition when both whale and man are hunting.
Here's to the benefits of uncertainty.
...do not pretend there is a must. That is how evil is rationalized."
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!
