A Literary Guide to Christmas, Verse 1

  From Moby Dick, Chapter 22: Merry Christmas, by Herman Melville At last the anchor was up, the sails were set, and off we glided. It was a short, cold Christmas; and as the short northern day merged into night, we found ourselves almost broad upon the wintry ocean, whose freezing spray cased us in [...]

“The whale lives!”

It was on ths day in 1851 that Herman Melville’s now-iconic novel Moby Dick was first published. How iconic? Just watch this clever commercial, a modern-day retelling of the literary classic through the features and functionality of the BlackBerry® Torch™ phone.

Class Distinction, via Herman Melville

“There are classes of men in the world, who bear the same relation to society at large, that the wheels do to a coach: and are just as indispensable. But however easy and delectable the springs upon which the insiders pleasantly vibrate: however sumptuous the hammer-cloth, and glossy the door-panels; yet, for all this, the [...]

Moby Dick, Chapter Eight, Conclusion

What could be more full of meaning?- for the pulpit is ever this earth’s foremost part; all the rest comes in its rear; the pulpit leads the world. From thence it is the storm of God’s quick wrath is first descried, and the bow must bear the earliest brunt. From thence it is the God [...]

Moby Dick, Chapter 8, Part III

  I pondered some time without fully comprehending the reason for this. Father Mapple enjoyed such a wide reputation for sincerity and sanctity, that I could not suspect him of courting notoriety by any mere tricks of the stage. No, thought I, there must be some sober reason for this thing; furthermore, it must symbolize [...]