***Group Read: Moby Dick (Spoiler Free)

Calling all land lubbers: this is where Moby Dick begins January 15th. Everyone is invited to join in the fun.

Please note that for the group reads this year we are setting up both Spoiler Free and Spoiler threads in the hopes that discussion will be stimulated, so please post to the appropriate thread.

I'm in. I planned to finally read this book anyways so I might as well do it with my friends!

I am glad to know someone else is along for the ride! I still have to locate my copy of the book, though.

I'm thinking about doing this, as I've always wanted to read it. I'm not sure yet. It won't count toward my 1010 categories, nor my Books off the Shelf challenge, and I'll need to get a copy from the library.

Count me in...

>3 alcottacre:: I just pulled my copy of the shelves this morning. I had to blow the dust off of the top o.O

I've long wanted to read this so I might give it a try.

Ditto what Linda just said. I'm trying to avoid over-committing for group reads and challenges, but can't pass up the chance to try this book again.

I am definitely reading this one! :)
--BJ

Oh, I'm in--when I discovered last year that I somehow had three copies (??) and had never read the complete novel, I was thoroughly abashed! See you on January 15.

THREE copies???? :)

Oh, my, you definitely have to read it . . .

I'm in. This will be my third or fourth try at it, and I'm determined to do it this time.

I'm in, too. Is there a "deadline" for finishing it?

#13: Darryl, we do the book in 100 page increments from January 15th-? depending on how many pages are in the book. If it is 900 pages, the deadline would be October 15th. Does that help?

Thanks, Stasia; that definitely helps. I'll probably pick up a copy from Borders between now and Monday.

#14 Stasia, how will that work with everyone reading different editions?

#16: Even with different editions, it will average to 100 page increments. I just give assignments based on the edition I am reading - I give both page number increments (for people using the same edition I am) and chapter number increments (for people using different editions).

I'll do it. Been meaning to anyway. And I actually like Melville. Looking forward to it.

Glad to see there is so much interest in the book! Welcome aboard the Pequod everyone!

I'll be joining as I bought Moby Dick (in translation) in February ans have not started to read it yet.

Glad to see you joining us, Anita!

I would like to join this group read. Please tell me how to join.

You just did! alcottacre will set up a reading schedule for us, and we'll read sections together. We'll discuss the book either here or on the thread for spoilers.

You're also welcome to start a thread to track your reading this year. It's not a requirement to join in by any means, but it's fun to tell others what you're reading and what you think of your books. Plus, you'll probably get some great recommendations!

Just as an FYI, there's no way I am going to read Moby Dick so slowly that it will take me until October to finish. That would drive me crazy. So, I plan to read at my own pace and join in with the discussion as it happens. Thanks!

#25 Raises an interesting question - Stasia, what is the pace you will be setting for us? 100 pages per week, per month? I picked up my book at the library yesterday - with renewals, I can keep it 12 weeks. Will that be long enough, or should I be thinking about buying my own copy?

#26: It is 100 pages per month, Sandy. I would suggest getting your own copy unless you plan to do as JoseBuendia is doing and read ahead of the group.

#27 As it happens, I got a lovely Visa gift card from one of my clients with instructions to spend it something just for me. :-)

I've tried reading this book on my own several times and failed each attempt. There's no reason to think this time would be different - I'm counting on the group to get me through!

Sandy, how long is it? I got a nice B&N gift card from my boss that I plan to turn into a copy of Moby Dick.

Linda, I don't have the book in front of me, but the library catalog lists it as 527 pages. It is the Oxford University Press edition from 2008. Plus it has a long introduction and preface and lots of notes and stuff in the back, too. I'll be looking to buy the same edition if I can find it.

Thanks, Sandy. I was wondering if there was a standard edition that everyone is buying. (I'm definitely planning on a real book, not the Kindle edition.)

Oxford's is as good as any. I was going to venture out into the snow today to go to B&N to get it but decided I could wait for a drier day.

Actually, I'm pretty relieved that it's 100 pages per month. I had it in my mind somehow that I was supposed to read it all by January 15th.

#31 I thought we were beginning on January 15! I got my book early to browse the supplementary material, and maybe read ahead just a chapter or two. Plus, I normally need to have a book sitting around for a week or two before I start reading.

I didn't think about a standard edition - since it's not a translation, I didn't think it would matter which edition anyone read, except for some of that extra stuff like mine has.

Sounds good, Sandy. I'll probably start after the New Year in whatever edition I get.

Most likely, I'll pull a bunch of them off the shelf and take a look and decide at that point.

Can you tell that I've not done a group read before on LT?

#33 This is my first time, too. Maybe Stasia will chime in with a clarification

I just checked Borders online, and this edition is not available in stores - plus it is on backorder and won't ship for 2-4 weeks. Glad I've got the library book to be getting started with!

The group read begins January 15th. That way holidays are out of the way, kids are back in school, etc.

Okay.. I have it on my sony reader and will read it while I am cruising the hawaiian islands. I will be back in town on the 17th and will join you all then.. Happy holidays all...

I don't know how this will work for me. I don't intend to purchase the book.

Our public library has two copies. They don't circulate much. I'll probably just check one out each month for just a few days or a week, however long it takes to read 100 pages, then return it and hope that there's not a sudden demand for Moby Dick that leaves me without a copy available the next month!

That will be good for our library circulation statistics, too, with the title going out each month! :)

#37: If both copies are out at the same time when you are needing them, Terri, there is always Project Gutenberg.

#38 Yes, I used their website for part of the Dracula read last fall! Not my favorite way of reading, but good enough.

#37 I thought about doing that, too.

#39: I figure it would work as a stopgap measure for a month. Not my favorite way of reading either.

Just a heads up sjmccreary (sandy?). I rec'd a visa gift card as a gift and I recommend using it as soon as possible. There is a fee charged against the card every month of around $5.95 per month. After I used the card and had a small remaining balance I called to cancel the card and get my small balance. If you don't close the card they will continue to charge you each month!

#42, good point. The new federal law involving gift cards doesn't take effect until August 2010 and, in the meantime, Missouri doesn't have any laws in place regulating gift card fees.

i'm going to try to read this. I have been wanting to try to read some of the classics and this would be a great way to start. 100 pages a month is not bad at all... I can interlace it with my other just -for-fun books.

Oh, this is one of my all-time favorites! I'm not sure I'll be up for a re-read this early in the year, but I'm interested to see what you guys think of it. Good luck!

I'm in. Started it once before but I wasn't really "feeling it" so I put it down.

I'm fairly new to this site. This looks like a good place to start. Nice to meet everyone :)

Everyone is free to join in the fun! I am glad to see so many people interested in reading Moby Dick.

Stasia, my copy of Moby Dick (Dover Giant Thrift Edition) has 450 pages, instead of the 800+ pages that your copy has. Instead of counting pages, could we count chapters (which I would assume would be the same in each edition) instead? My copy has 135 chapters plus an Epilogue; if we count the one-page Epilogue as a chapter, and divide by 8, I count 17 chapters per month. The problem with my suggestion is that it assumes that all of the chapters are of equal length, which of course they won't be, so we would end up reading more pages in some months and less in other months. What do you (and others) think?

Darryl, I will be posting both page and chapter numbers, but I see your point. Differences in print sizes alone could account for such a wide variation in page numbers, however I think in this case you may have your books confused. My copy of Moby Dick has only 502 pages; my copy of Anna Karenina is the one over 800 pages.

While I will not be aboard, I hope someone will share some of the contemporary reviews -- I think I have seen some interesting ones in the back of the Norton classic version (mine is marooned with 99% of my library on the other side of the world). And I would love to know of contemporary books doing a good job of alternating metaphysical musings or news with fictional narrative. As an editor in Japan, I tried to convince a top nature writer to do it for his fictional book (Winter Notes) in translation, but he thought it would make the fiction less enchanting. I guess, I would like to peek in now and then if you start a Talk about the non-fiction chapters of the book.

Is this is what you call a "spoiler"?

#50 So we ought to be finishing up around the end of May?

#52: Yep, pretty much sometime between May 15-June 15.

Sounds like we'll be in the harpoon boats a lot of the months to come...

Thanks for setting up this group read! I have often thought about reading Moby Dick and now I have no excuse to procrastinate further. Is there room on the boat for 1 more passenger? Do I need my own life preserver or harpoon?

You might want to bring the harpoon, lol. Life preservers are a good idea as well.

Welcome aboard the Pequod.

Count me in.

Great! The more the merrier.

Hey all! I'm on board! Have book, harpoon, line and life jacket and am ready to set sail!

FYI, readers of Moby Dick may want to check out the website powermobydick.com. It is an online version of the novel with annotations. Very well-organized, with lots of M.D.-related things.

My previous "read" of Moby Dick was via audiobook, so I've been meaning revisit it in book form for a while now. So, I'll be joining y'all.

#59/61: Welcome aboard the Pequod!

#60: Thanks for that link, Jose. I am sure we will all find it helpful.

Count me in!

#63: Glad to have you on board!

I have tried and tried to read this book and every time I pick it up I enjoy the writing. Then after a chapter or three I put it down and never seem to pick it back up. I'm joining in so that maybe this time I'll actually get through the whole thing!

annekiwi

#65: Hopefully we can give you a push to complete it this year. Glad to have you join us!

OK, sailors of the Pequod, tomorrow is my daughter's birthday and since I fear I will be caught up in the festivities, I am posting the first reading assignment today for those who have not already started the book: Chapter 1 Loomings to Chapter 26 Knights and Squires, which in my copy of the book is pages 1-99.

Any questions, please ask!

Argh!

Was that a question? Commentary on my post? Commentary on the book?

68 Looks like pirate talk to me.

And we are off!!!!

Yea!
--BJ

LOL! It's the result of waves breaking over harpooner's boats. I have my book ready to pick up tomorrow. Not meant for pirates, just for sailors on the high seas when the waves really rolled the commercial ships like whalers.

Stasia;
I have tried to read Moby Dick so many times and failed that to me Melville has become "the dreaded" one.
Having said that, I would like to join in the group read and hope that I will have more success in that setting and with the support that a group read provides.
Thank you Stasia for setting the read up. I will order my copy today.
Hi everyone.
belva

Yea, Belva!! I was hoping you would want to join in!
--BJ

Stasia, I have a question. Do we read Chapter 26 or stop before reading it? My page numbers are different than yours. So far, I am liking it, though!!

Hope that the birthday festivities are going great!!
--BJ

#74: Glad to have you with us, Belva!

#76: BJ, the reading is to chapter 26, so stop before you read it.

Thanks!
--BJ

No problem!

Stasia, I'm feeling a little slow this evening. I'll read the first 25 chapters, but what is my "deadline" for having it finished?

You have until February 15th. I figure I will be done with this month's reading on Valentine's Day :)

It may take me that long, too!

I started this last night and I was surprised. So far the language has been more readable than I expected. I got the Cliff Notes for Moby Dick because I was convinced I would have trouble understanding what was going on! So far I wouldn't have needed them.

The Cliff Notes go on and on about the 'deeper meaning' of what Melville was writing, but I'm not too worried about that. For now, I just want to understand the plot!

The Cliff Notes go on and on about the 'deeper meaning' of what Melville was writing, but I'm not too worried about that. For now, I just want to understand the plot!

LOL! I agree wholeheartedly!

I hate those 'deeper meaning' books. Can the whale not just be a whale?

Amen to that... :)

Have read to Chap 6. I like the ironical tone of the narrator.

#87: I am glad you are enjoying it!

I just finished chapter 27.
If I am reading a book I usually can't stop until I have finished it. Especially when I like the book!

And Stasia yes, for me a whale is a whale, although there may exist different species ;-)

I'm surprised by how much I'm enjoying this so far! I love the tone he sets, the intriguing descriptions of everything he encounters.

I finally started Moby Dick this morning. I think this is one I will have to read somewhere quiet without distractions. He talks in circles too much. I have never heard of Adam and Eve refered to as orchard thieves before.

#91 -- Mark Twain came close to the same thought.

I made it to chapter 10. I liked the image of Father Mapple climbing the ladder up to the pulpit and pulling the ladder up behind him.

Just joined LibraryThing today and right away stumbled upon this intriguing page. Moby Dick! I've started and stopped this book twice already. I get bogged down in all Melville's minutiae. But if others are willing, I just might give it a third try. But why oh why didn't Melville let someone EDIT this book for him? I wish he would just stick to his plot and character development. I can't believe how many side-chapters there are. Oy vey.

> 94
I love the side tracks Melville takes. They give a nice insight in knowledge back then and about whales ;-)

#94: Welcome to LT! You are certainly more than welcome to join in our expedition on the Pequod.

If you have any questions regarding LT, the group, or whatever, just ask. We are pretty friendly around these parts!

#93 I liked the image of Father Mapple climbing the ladder up to the pulpit and pulling the ladder up behind him.

Me, too! In my lifetime, I've seen some heated congregational meetings where the pastor might have wished he could do that! ;)

#94 Welcome! Just jump right in with us, and we'll swim through this book together! :)

I've gotten a copy of The Wreck of the Whaleship Essex (the true story which inspired Melville to write Moby Dick) as a companion read. But I left it at the library when I left work today!

Oh, I can pick it up when I go to book discussion group tonight.

#98: I hope you like it, Terri. It is not very lengthy, but I was surprised at how readable it was.

Made it to chapter 26 tonight! It's ok so far.

#100: Congratulations! That is where this month's reading ends, unless you just want to keep going that is.

Well, if nothing else I have learned a new word from Moby Dick - cenotaph.

Cenotaph - a tomb or monument erected in honor of a person or group of persons whose remains are elsewhere.

Thanks, Alcottacre! I'm not sure I understand how we are organized here. Are we all "on the same page," so to speak? Where is the particular discussion, if there is any, about questions, reactions, vocabulary, etc.? I wonder, is Moby Dick considered to be Melville's masterpiece, or just his most famous book? Also, can I add this page somehow to my homepage?

#103: What we do is read an 'assignment' - approximately 100 pages per month until the book is finished. The months run from the 15th to the 15th. January, for example, we are reading from Chapter 1 to Chapter 26, which in my edition is pages 1-99.

We do have a 'spoiler' thread set up here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/78999. The only proviso for posting to the 'spoiler' thread is that someone not discuss beyond the point to which the group is reading. Several people are continuing on past the 100 page point - what I am trying to avoid is someone who has read to page 300 already mentioning that so-and-so gets keelhauled and the rest of us are still back at page 15.

Any general discussion, such as vocabulary, can be discussed on this thread. I fail to see how there is anything spoilerish about my not knowing what a 'cenotaph' is, so that kind of thing can be posted here.

As far as Moby Dick being considered Melville's masterpiece, I believe that is the case. I could be wrong there however, since I am not an American literature scholar.

On your LT profile page (I am guessing that is what you mean by home page?), you can copy the internet address line into whichever section you would like to put it in on the profile page. I keep my thread listings in the 'About My Library' section, but that is just my personal preference.

I hope that answers your questions!

I did read on past the 'assignment' and finished Moby Dick today, as I was totally in love with the book.
I have tried to avoid spoilers in my review (at my own thread).

Wow, that really gets me excited about the rest of the book! Yea!
--BJ

Re. 104, I am not a lit. scholar either, but I recall that Annie Dillard in American Essays (maybe 1988 or there-about) and others elsewhere have called it the greatest American book, period.

Re. 94 and 95 and sidetracks, I, like 95, love them while people who do not like my writing agree with 94. If only I could write fiction, I would follow Melville. I wanted Dillard to try; instead, she went from nonfiction straight to novel. I wanted Barry Lopez to allow me to add Melvillean(?) additions between the chapters of the Japanese translation of his Winter Notes (my excuse being that Japanese might not know of the extent of Buffon's denigration of things American as tiny -- to which we reacted -- or of the continued existence of snow-Buffaloes etc.) and he responded that he wanted nothing as such information would kill the mystery.

I do not think mystery so easily killed, but as an outsider to this mass-reading, I will drop in now and then to see if anyone else comments on the "side-chapters."

Hi All - I've just ordered the Penguin Popular Classics version and plan to join in as soon as it arrives.

Man overboard! I've tried now for the fourth or fifth time to get through Moby Dick, but it just isn't for me. I like Melville's short stories but can't slog through his magnum opus. Good luck everybody, I'm moving on. At least I tried (again!).

#109--I'm ROFL because this is the first time I've gotten past the first paragraph! I've managed quite nicely with Melville's shorter works (and I love Billy Budd which many do not), but this one has always been out of reach. I'm not quite at the "assignment" but actually getting closer.

I finally learned what ROFL means. I saw 5 minutes of that silly show, I'm not sure if it's called Cash Cab or Cash Taxi. It's where they ride around New York in a taxi and earn money for answering trivia questions. The meaning of ROFL was one of the questions.

I'm just waitng to start the next bit of reading. The lonely book has been sitting on the coffe table.

#108: Glad to have you with us, Liz.

#109: Sorry the book is not for you, Jose, but thanks for attempting it again.

#110: Laurie, I am glad the group read is kind of spurring you on. We still have another 10 days until the 'assignment' is due, so you have plenty of time.

I have a copy that I have to be careful with, one of the nice bound ones with glossy pictures that my grandmother left to me in a set, so I can't take it out of the house. I've only made it a few pages, but we're about to be big-time snowed in (DC area, and Washingtonians are afraid of snow), so maybe I'll make some progress this weekend.

#113: Wow! What a treasure you have in your grandmother's book. I would be afraid even to touch it :)

I know. I kinda am, but she didn't have many possessions to leave when she died b/c many had been burned in a fire years earlier, and even though she had 9 children and a gazillion grandchildren, I was one of the few who got a bequest, simply because we both loved books, so I figure it's my duty to read them. I'm not usually careful with books, so it's kind of a new experience. I have to remind myself: be careful where you put it down, no eating, forget the bathtub, and try not to breathe too hard.

#115: I think I would be tempted to buy a cheap paperback copy for the group read!

I last read Moby Dick in High School - I was the only person in my class who liked it.
I'm in - 1st 100 pp by the 15th?

#117: The assignments are doled out in approximate 100-page increments. The first 'assignment' is reading the first 25 chapters.

Glad to have you with us, Jennifer!

OK, landlubbers, how did the first 100 pages go? Not nearly as unreadable as I had been lead to believe in my case!

So the reading 'assignment' for February 15-March 15, read chapters 26 to the beginning of chapter 49. In my edition, that is pages 99-200.

The spoiler thread for Moby Dick is here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/78999 so be sure and drop by and let us know what you think so far.

I can not believe that I am actually reading Moby Dick. I have tried so many times and failed. This time it feels almost like reading poetry. (even the parts that are not) I am already 201 pages into the book and am so excited that I am actually sticking with it. I was hoping that reading it in a G/R setting might help and it seems to be doing the trick.
Thanks for letting me "horn in".
belva

I am glad you are finding it easier to stick with this time, Belva!

Something that I found interesting is that in the text of this past month's reading, Melville refers to Owen Chase's account of the whaleship Essex tragedy, which I did not realize he did. I knew that Moby Dick was based in part on that, but did not think that Melville would mention it so openly.

OK, on to this months assignment: chapters 42-65, which in my edition is pages 164-264.

Hi, Stasia!
Thanks for keeping us on track. Do we read to the end of 65?
--BJ

I am currently reading In search of Moby Dick. Quest for the white whale by Tim Severin.
It cought my eye at the library. Interesting read after Moby Dick :-)

Another book people might like to read after Moby Dick is Ahab's Wife, by Sena Jeter Naslund. This is a fairly recent book, and is a completely separate story from Moby Dick, but cleverly weaves Ahab and some of the other characters into the story of a strong woman's life - she doesn't even have a name in Moby Dick, just one reference I believe - but you who are reading it can keep an eye out for her along the way.

#123: No, to the beginning of chapter 65.

I'm really enjoying this read. The book is so many things--history, drama, textbook, and even sometimes reads like a play script (very visual).

I'm actually ahead--I had the mistaken notion that we were to read through ch. 48. So, I have a little head start!

Karen O.

#127: I am enjoying it more than I expected as well. I am glad to know you are too.

One of the newspapers (NY Times?) recently had a review of a book on whales-- The Whale: In Search of the Giants of the Sea by Philip Hoare. I've just requested it from my library, and here's what they had to say about it: "Explores the troubled history of man and whale, traces the whale's cultural history, and seeks to discover why these strange and beautiful animals continue to exert such a powerful grip on human imagination."

Well, Melville seems to be doing quite a bit of those things in Moby Dick!

Karen O.

#129: I already have that one in the BlackHole. I will be interested in seeing what you think of it if you get a chance to read it, Karen.

I agree with you about Melville!

#130: I've got The Whales book on request, but my library has only just ordered it, so who knows how long it will take until I actually get my hands on it.

I'm actually moving ahead, and will probably finish Moby in a week or so. I'm having a difficult time reining myself in (complete opposite of my usual finishing-at-the-last-minute). This is a very readable book!

I have always found myself on the side of the whale. It's really painful to read about the whale hunts and kills.

Karen O.

OK, everybody still liking the book? I hope so!

For April, we are going to read chapters 65 to chapter 93 (stop at 93). In my edition, that is page numbers 264-363. Happy reading!

Ack! I got behind. I've got to spend some time on this... I've been keeping it in my purse and reading at dr. offices and in carpool lines, but it's clearly not enough time.

I got behind, too. But I am definitely going to be all caught up by the 15th! :)
--BJ

#133/134: We all get behind some time or other, so do not stress out over it! One of the reasons we go slowly with the book is to allow plenty of time to get it read. I am sure you will both be back with us in no time at all.

I'm behind too -- on Moby and Anna Karenina. Sometimes other things -- and even other books -- wind up getting priority.

I am passing along a recommendation from Joanne (coppers):

I just wanted to recommend a wonderful PBS program I just watched, an episode of American Experience called "Into the Deep: America, Whaling and the Deep". Anyone who's read Moby Dick or In the Heart of the Sea or just enjoys learning about the whaling era would enjoy it.

Woot! We are wrapping up the book this month! Chapter 93 to the end. In my edition, that is pages 363-502. I realize that this is about 140 pages, but I figured we might as well wrap up the book.

How exciting!!!
--BJ

Whew! Am I behind (but much further than I have read before)! I had to figure out the Roman numeral chapter listings before I realized exactly where the group read is. In any event, I am enjoying this read very much and thank you, alcottacre, for the lead.

Finished today! I liked parts of the book, but it was about 150 pages too long.

This novel is like a great white whale. Pretty hard to land without losing a leg or something.

142...lol...