Moby Dick redux: dedicated to Melvillians everywhere

Thanks. Made me laugh.

Me toooo!

Rather have Ahab mounted on MD's wall :)

Love it!

Great !

Do you think Ahab's happy, tho? Or is he feeling a whale of a disappointment? :)

The idea of Ahab ever being happy is difficult for me. If he killed Moby Dick and mounted him, I can't imagine what he'd do after that. Kill himself, I would guess. What would he be left with if he lost the object of his obsession?

Yeah, I always thought Ahab would crumble like a husk the second he nailed his prey. And also, the universe would end. (Minding always the metaphysical storyline.)

How about we reread Moby, Macou? But this time, let's pretend everyone's a girl.

Ishmael = Abishag

Ahab = Jerusha

Father Mapple = Mother Mapple

Elijah = Eunice

Captain Bildad = Madame Captain Bildad

Captain Peleg = Madame Captain Peleg

Queequeg = Salome

Starbuck = Stardoe

Stubb = Imogen

Flask = Pepita

Moby Dick = Mabel Twat

LOL Mabel Twat, good grief that would be really, well I was going to say "epic" but of course anything concerning MD is already in that category.

>11 LolaWalser:

How did you come up with those names?! Have you been skulking in the weeds, biding your time until you could break those out on an unsuspecting public? They are brilliant but it's been too long since I read MB to get any specific references. Well, other than Mabel Twat which had me snorting out loud.

Yes, yes, my secret name is She-Who-Skulks-In-The-Weeds! Some insist it's a mistranslation of Sheep-Who-Bulks-In-Tweeds, but they are all on my hit list.

Oh dear, I better save you and other innocent bystanders the temptation to go Biblical-exegesis-wise: I just pulled those off my irregular head. (Stubb evoked Imogen Stubbs, actress. I love the image of an Imogen, on a whaler, second mating.) But, who knows, if there's anything to the science of free-associating, there are treazhures of meaning to unearth here!

:)

This comes from having to amuse oneself countless solitary hours in an odd childhood.

LoL is your little name isn't it Lola ?

I'll reread anything with you !

Salome is too feminine as a stand in for Queen Queg,

Ruf mich bei meinem Kosenamen! (Excuse the Tchermann, I didn't want to risk Dutch. Oops--Flemish!!)

In a SHOCKING coincidence (truly!), guess what I scored yesterday--a little hand printed book of something called "The Ahab Poems"! Not sure it's allowed to post from it, tho. Maybe just partially? Here are the first five lines of Fishing with Ahab:

Killifish big
Killifish white
Killifish come
Feel Ahab's pike
Killifish where ticklish?
{...}

"Ahab's pike?" I don't remember Ahab's pike.

>17 LolaWalser: "Pike" meaning spear?

Pike meaning spear ?
Prickly pear Prickly pear

Ts eliot

Kose - namen ? Mais oui Lolaaa, you have a way with words! it is as flemish as it is hoch deutschisch.

An Ahab-erlebnis expressed with : "ahaa, we need a bigger boat"

>18 Meredy:

That or something rude! :)

Having glanced at other poems--one of which imagines Ahab IN LOVE with the whale! (did any of us consider this possibility during our EPIC read? I don't think so.) I think Mac's on a good track...

>20 Macumbeira:

A bigger boat that's a love boat!

Lola, here is the joke

http://youtu.be/2I91DJZKRxs

Ha! I've never seen that movie, that's funnier than I'd have expected it to be. Great delivery...