Call me enamoured but I love the opening line "Call me Ishmael" in Herman Melville's "Moby-Dick", perhaps the most instantly recognisable first line in all of classic Western literature. And you don’t have to be a bible scholar to recognise the many allusions, so rich and varied that it would take you a lifetime of rereading to catch them all.
According to the three Abrahamic religions, Ishmael is Abraham’s first son, but despite this, it’s Isaac, his second son, who becomes a patriarch of the Israelites. Ishmael is definitely playing second fiddle to Isaac, and so too in "Moby-Dick", where he plays second fiddle to Captain Ahab, the monomaniacal man on the hunt for his white whale. Ahab, for the record, is the name of a wicked king in Hebrew scripture.
I don't know if I could tackle all of the 135 chapters of Melville's book, but, thankfully, these days there are alternatives available, such as these chapter-by-chapter recordings by the University of Plymouth:
Click here for the next chapter, and the next, and the next ...
People put a lot of pressure on themselves when it comes to reading the "classics". They may find it more enjoyable to read the book about the book, such as "The Whale", written by Philip Hoare, the same man who narrates the above documentary. I picked it up at Vinnies last Monday for a mere two dollars which means I had no excuse not to buy it.
I've since discovered another book on the subject on ebay with an even more alluring title. It's for sale in Mishawaka, Indiana, and the postage is more than the book, but I'ved pushed the BuyItNow button anyway.
Coming from Mishawaka, Indiana (wherever that is!), I'm in for a long wait, so don't call me, Ishmael — I'll call you! In the meantime, I watch this interesting clip of "The True Story of Moby Dick" (incidentally, it's 'Moby-Richard' to all but a small group of its most intimate friends 😀).
