Moby-Dick discussion

Hi all,

For anyone interested, this is the folder for adding and/or discussing books dealing with Moby-Dick or its author Herman Melville.

I can't find the Pearl Solomon title mentioned in the discussion thread, "Dickens and Melville in Their Time." If Charles has a link, that would do it, too.

Thanks S, that will be really useful.

Thanks for directing me to this thread. The Solomon book is OP. Your library or a used book dealer like Alibris or Powell's Here's an Abebooks link for a $4 copy, if it works: http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookD...

I happened upon a book that jumped out at me at the local Library, "The Whale: In search of the Giants of the Sea" by Philip Hoare. It has a deceptive title. It is NOT a book specifically about "Moby Dick," although MB and Melville are mentioned on almost every page. It is more an informal history of the interactions between man and whale. Extremely fascinating and almost a necessity for a landlubber like me to try to conceive of the utter immensity of these creatures. A real enjoyable and enlightening read!

Charles, I took the "Dickens and Melville" book out of the Library on your recommendation. Looks like a straightforward and interesting read. I opened the book at random and came to a page that proved interesting to me and had nothing to do directly with Dickens or Melville. Lord Byron had written about Daniel Boone in the 8th Canto of "Don Juan," a poem I've never completely finished but enjoyed just the same.(Byron's one of the greatest rhymers in English Lit and quite a wit!) It had something to do with, I guess, the Romantic image of frontier America by the British of Byron/Dickens time!

The Passages of H.M.
Not a critical work, but here's a novel by Jay Parini about Melville. It sounds very interesting. I may bite. Here's a review: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/...

This edition has a nice cover, no?

S, Haven't read it yet, it's presently on my "If I live to be a hundred.." list. Parini, for those that don't know is a pretty all-around writer: Novelist, poet, critic and Biographer - I have his Frost biography, would like to read his one on Roethke! I think his Novel about Tolstoi is making the movie rounds.

Yes, the Tolstoy book looks more interesting than the Melville. I have a book of his on poetry, which I enjoyed.