Thursday, August 4, 2011

Moby-Dick

 
Book Menu for Moby-Dick, or,  The Whale by Herman Melville

ISBN of edition I read: 0142000086 (150th anniversary ed, paperback)

I just finished Moby-Dick yesterday.  It was my very first time reading it and am very proud of myself for having completed the task.  It's been on my to-read list for a while.  I never could have tackled this in high school.  It is not an easy read but I found it to be beautifully written.  Very lyrical.  I found the occasional stage directions interesting.  One of my favorite lines is "to write a mighty book, you must choose a mighty theme"(page 497). Next up for me: 1) a whale watch, 2) a trip to New Bedford, and 3) a trip to Nantucket!

Food mentioned in Moby-Dick :
Pea coffee, 11
Dumplings, 16
Coffee, 35
Hot rolls, 35
Beefsteaks, 34-5
Coconut water, 65
Chowder, clam or cod (Chapter 15)
Grog, 177
Doughnuts, 326
Foie-gras, 327
Cogniac, 351
Bordeaux wine, 445
Hot rum toddies, 480
List of ship's food/drink, 486-7

Books/Authors mentioned in Moby-Dick: (a selection)
William Scoresby, 145-6, 290, 292 
   The Northern Whale-fishery (and many others)
Thomas Beale, 146
    The Natural History of the Sperm Whale...
Frederick Debell Bennett, 146
   Narrative of a Whaling Voyage Round the Globe...
J. Ross Browne, 290
   Etchings of a Whaling Cruise
James Colnett, 290
   A Voyage for Whaling and Discovery...
Bernard Germain, 287
   The Natural History of the Ordinary Cetacea or Whales
William Shakespeare, 379
Blaise Pascal, 465
Jean Jacques Rousseau, 465
Francois Rabelais, 465