A summer institute where one buries oneself in books is my version of James Hilton’s Shangri-La.
Tag Archives: Moby Dick
An Ideal Place to Study Lit
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Business, continuing education, Herman Melville, James Hilton, Lost Horizon Comments closed
Does Moby Dick Await Us?
Is America headed for the same fate as the Pequod?
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged consumerism, environmental devastation, global warming, Herman Melville, materialism Comments closed
Lamentation and Weeping in Newtown
The Sandy Hook killings recall the Biblical massacre of the innocents, referenced in “Moby Dick.”
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Greater Love", Bible, Herman Melville, massacre of the innocents, Sandy Hook shooting, Wilfred Owen Comments closed
Defeating the White Whale of Race Hatred
With a little imagination, “Moby Dick” can be dramatized as a story about race relations.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged GOP, Herman Melville, Mitt Romney, race relations Comments closed
Campaign 2012: Assorted Lit Allusions
Literary allusions are flying fast and free in this primary season.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Alice in Wonderland, Herman Melville, John Bunyan, Lewis Carroll, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Pilgrim's Progress, Presidential campaign, Scarlet Letter, William Blake Comments closed
Captain Ahab, a Tyrant for All Seasons
Nathaniel Philbrick describes “Moby Dick” as a “metaphysical survival manual” which helps us understand the nature of tyrants.
Mold Causing Problems? Bring in a Ship
Our students, displaced by mold, are being housed in a cruise ship. A campus production of “As You Like It” may have given administrators the idea.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged 2000 Leagues under the Sea, As You Like It, Beatles, Education, Herman Melville, Jules Verne, Katherine Anne Porter, Mold, Ship of Fools, St. Mary's College of Maryland, William Shakespeare Comments closed
Peyton Manning as Moby Dick?!
Sports Saturday In anticipation of football’s “Wild Card Weekend,” which begins today, I see that a sports writer has invoked Herman Melville’s masterpiece. Dan Graziano believes that Indianapolis Colt quarterback Peyton Manning has become Rex Ryan’s Moby Dick. He has beaten the New York Jets coach so many times that Ryan has become obsessed with […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Fuzzy-Wuzzy", Alfred Lord Tennyson, East of Eden, Football, Herman Melville, John Steinbeck, Jungle Books, Rudyard Kipling, Sports, Ulysses Comments closed
When Nature Wreaks Its Revenge
Randy Kennedy has written a superb article in the New York Times that points out parallels between the Gulf oil spill and Herman Melville’s Moby Dick. Kennedy says that, in the 19th century, New England whalers had to venture further and further afield to find oil-producing whales (they had depleted the local stock). Melville’s apocalyptic vision is eerily prescient.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Albee (Edward), Edward Albee, Goat or Who Is Sylvia?, Gulf oil spill, Mark Twain, Nature, Oil Spill Comments closed
