Moby ****

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The whale sinks the ship and kills Ahab. No one lives happily ever after.

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Not even the whale?

[Although I own a copy of Moby Dick, I reached my boredom threshold soon after they finally went to sea, and stopped reading it. The only thing that had held my interest up to that point was the variant of American English in which it was written].

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Originally posted by central:
Could someone explain to me in laymans terms, what this is about?

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I have no idea what they are on about.

It is a drum solo by Jon Bonham of Led Zep. Long and boring (natch), but notable because he played much of it using his hands instead of sticks. It was used as the theme tune for the excellent BBC music prog. which pre-dated the Old Grey Whistle Test, Sounds of the Seventies (I think).

I see you have remembered to take your happy pills this morning Doc

Many references to Moby Dick throughout Star Trek funnily enough. It is just a long way to illustrate that hatred and determination to revenge will eventually destroy you. Very relevant to the days of the cold war.

I always thought that Moby Dick was an obscure type of STD caught by humping whales - but maybe the Doc could clarify?

David

I suppose it also gives us hope in respect to Al Qaeda

Yawn, I meant the subliminal meaning's, stupid.

It's a book with essentially no plot but a lot of obvious and symbolic doomladen prophecy on its way to a conclusion. Ahab obsesses over the whale that got away, and so pursues it despite all the portents. All the usual literary themes - sex, death and pride-going-before-destruction writ large. There's a very simple commentary here.

Unlike Tom, I found the whaling info a lot more enjoyable than the rest of it.

[Edit following rasher's comment below - see section in commentary on chapters in range 84-100)

[This message was edited by Martin Clark on Wed 12 May 2004 at 12:32.]

There is a poke at religion in there and also a very weird sexual undertone. His obsession with the whale that destroyed him represented his sexual partner somehow.

Gregory Peck did'nt apparently get the sexual partner thing from the script, though he obbsessed brillantly.

On the whole they did a good job of throwing buckets of water over everybody and creating a gaint white whale for the film.

OK so I'm showing my age.

GEOFF

It is comforting to know that you lot are all as thick as me and don't understand it.
Actually i am to lazy to read the book but i have seen the film.
Don't see the sexual reference at all, oh hang on it's in the title Moby DICK.

I didn't know there was a film. I can't imagine that you get any real depth from a film, so you had better start with the book.
With the long preamble and battle of wills at the end, it sounds a bit like 2001.