Moby Dick: America’s Epic

The Modern Scholar

by Timothy B. Shutt

American writers have long sought to compose “the great American novel”, or “America’s epic”, Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn and F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby have been advanced as plausible contenders for the title, but no work can mount a more substantial claim than Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick; or, The Whale. In this engaging series of lectures, beloved Modern Scholar professor Timothy B. Shutt guides listeners on a fascinating investigation of the tale, examining the work as a whole and exploring the life of its creator, Herman Melville.

Genres: Nonfiction, Audiobook

4 pages, Audio CD

First published November 14, 2014

About the author

For eighteen years Professor Timothy Baker Shutt has taught at Kenyon College in rural Gambier, Ohio, famed for its splendid teaching, for its literary tradition, and for its unwavering commitment to the liberal arts. No teacher at Kenyon has ever been more often honored, both by the college and by his students, for his exceptional skills in the classroom and as a lecturer. Professor Shutt’s courses in Kenyon’s interdisciplinary Integrated Program in Humane Studies and in the Department of English alike are always heavily oversubcribed, and he lectures on Homer, Plato, and Aristotle, the Bible and the Greek historians, Virgil and Dante every year to a packed house.

Shutt is a native of Ohio, raised in Michigan and schooled in Connecticut, where he was honored as an All-American swimmer during his high school years at the Hotchkiss School, and devoted much of his time to drama. He majored in English as undergraduate at Yale (’72). After three years at St. Mark’s School of Texas, where he taught English and History---and coached swimming---Shutt went on to graduate school in English, specializing in medieval literature and the history of ideas at the University of Virginia as a du Pont Fellow. After earning his Ph.D. in 1984, Shutt spent two further years at Virginia as Mellon Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, and took a position at Kenyon in 1986, where he has taught happily ever since, deeply enjoying his contacts with his students and the peaceful life of the Ohio countryside.

Reviews

[Newton Nitro · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Modern Scholar - Moby Dick America's Epic | Timothy B. Shutt

Uma excelente palestra sobre a obra máxima de Herman Melville, dentro de uma pequena preparação para a leitura de Moby Dick, um dos grandes clássicos que escolhi ler nesse ano de 2017. O Prof. Timothy faz uma ótima exploração da obra e de seu autor, relacionando os temas mais importantes de Moby Dick e como eles se encaixam na tradição da literatura universal. Recomendo!

[Josh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good, not great. Way too much summarizing of plot for me. Not bad for what it is, but I wish there was much more analysis.

[Dennis Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Moby Dick: America's Epic by Timothy Shutt is a very good quick jaunt through one of the United States' notable novels from before the 1900s. I am not sure I like that the Modern Scholar drops the material the moment the recounting is done, leaving little room to reinforce lessons to be learned or drawn from the text. Thankfully, Shutt does a good deal of that in the beginning, where he does much to sell the book to us as worthy of engagement and exploration. The book is put in the broader context of Melville and his times, with several of the allusions spelled out. That the novel is put in the same literary milieu of older epic poetry like the Odyssey was a fascinating choice, if not entirely persuasive. Still, its a good introduction, and it does as much to explore the text as it does to justify its position in the US literary canon.

[Hunter Ross · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a generous 4, maybe 3-3.5. I did enjoy the lecturer and he is obviously knowledgable but this seems more like one of those "A Very Short Introduction" series. It is very short, way too short. Some useful tidbits but not the in depth and insightful lecture series I was hoping for.

[Liz · Rating 1 out of 5]

Tried to stick with the rather dull, plodding lecturer but after his lascivious comments I ended it.

[Gr1972 · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 out of 5

[Brian · Rating 2 out of 5]

All Things Shining made me want to delve a little deeper into the symbolism of Moby Dick. This isn't that.

[Linds · Rating 4 out of 5]

8 Lectures on Moby Dick by a college professor. He’s engaging and informative and perfunctory and accomplished the goal of teaching.

[Erika · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very helpful!

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked the way the lectures gave more context to the book. And helped me see deeper into the book and its rich symbolism. Lecture 4 was something worth listening to more than once.
Same with Lecture 7 on Ahab. The professor does great voicings of the text.
Lecture 8 and the end : “Thus ends Moby Dick and the quest to overcome all that enchains and enrages human striving.”

[Dork · Rating 1 out of 5]

Abandoned when lecturer made particularly gross comment about Polynesian women.

[Glenn Bowlan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not as deep or penetrating as I was hoping; but there is some interesting background material on Melville.