adrianners: Medieval illuminated initial A depicting Judith and Holofernes (Default)
Adrianna ([personal profile] adrianners) wrote2022-11-23 11:43 am
Entry tags:

(no subject)

So I did the thing. I signed up for Whale Weekly, a three-year readalong of Moby Dick that just started this week. What is my tolerance for the 19th-century American novel? None. Hate it. Why am I doing this anyway? Gap in my knowledge because I kept getting assigned Hawthorne instead. My only Melville was Billy Budd secondhand via Barbara Johnson for MA theory class. Also I've learned I can get through the 19th-century Russian novel, so now I'm basically unstoppable.

I really like sailing narratives. The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle was a formative text, and I enjoyed the hell out of Black Sails (and its official pre-sequel, Muppet Treasure Island). Also OFMD, though the sailing there is even more obvious than usual about being a device for gender performance and queerness. ;) So my hope is that putting the Great American Novel on a boat will make it more enjoyable for me.

Anyway, Ishmael is a mood: "My hypos get such an upper hand of me, that it requires a strong moral principle to prevent me from deliberately stepping into the street, and methodically knocking people’s hats off."