Melville on my Mind

Just back from a Barnes & Nobles run on their last day of Teacher Appreciation Week (25% off!).  I hold in my hands a copy of Moby Dick.  I turn Forty (40!) in a few weeks and Melville has been on my mind.

First off, both my brother and I have attempted the reading at various points only to inevitably fizzle out.  It calls us back for we both know the book as "the only work of fiction that Dad has read twice". 

Then, last December, in one of many "my favorites" lists, a contemporary writer listed Moby Dick as one of his favorites but with the caveat "no one under 40 should really read it since they wouldn't get it".

A few weeks back there was a brief blurb I read somewhere about an artist who was drawing his way through Moby Dick, a page at a time. I haven't checked out the blog of his work, but I am thinking of checking on it as I read the book.

Finally, just this morning, in the Ideas section of the Boston Globe there was an interview with the author of a new book on whales.  But the interview seemed to be all about Moby Dick once again.

Call me Foolish, but I think the Universe has launched me on a quest.  Certain enlightenment awaits, no?

Or, maybe, it is all about the journey and not so much the result.