My New Year's resolution this year will be to read 100 books in 2011. That's about 2.5 books a week. Merciful Zeus, but that's a crapload! After reading "Moby Dick" in the span of a few days, I apparently caught the 'monomania' that Ahab is plagued by (though thank the gods neither of my legs has been chewed off by a whale), and in my madness, I decided to set off on my own voyage and try to land 100 books in a year. I might die.
Explanation for the crazy theme: Melville's "Moby Dick" is all about the problem of representation, and trying to pin down the meaning of a book (and you thought it was about whales, silly ol' you). The whale is (drumroll, please)....a book. Not literally, of course, that would be a silly novel indeed. Imagine reading the whole damned book only to find out, at the end, that Ahab drags a wet novel onto the deck of the Pequod. It would be almost as bad as the finale of 'The Sopranos", kind of a middle finger from the author. I digress. Back to whale = book business. Books/whales are mysterious things: it is hard to observe their true nature within their environment. They are always obscured and submerged within their surroundings. In order to really get to the nitty gritty mechanics, we have to pull it out of the water, dissect it, and extract its meaning, or 'spermaceti', in the case of the whale (oh yes, lots of sperm is bandied about in the novel; double entendre, anyone?). This can be a dangerous and deadly, as in the case of (SPOILER ALERT!) the Pequod. BookWhales have a tendency to thrash about and refuse to be taken easily.
So, I going all-aboard into my adventure, and seeking to conquer 100 BookWhales this year. Will it end in ruins? Will I find myself floating atop a coffin amongst the wreckage of my ship? Or will I return to land victorious covered in sp... well, let's not go there. Stay tuned to see if I survive!
Random fact: "Starbuck's", our most beloved parasitic yet oh-so-delicious coffee chain is named after a character in Moby Dick. One of the founders orginally wanted to call it "Pequod's" after the ship, but a friend suggested that the name might not be the best choice. As my friend Katie would say, "Anyone wanna head to "Peqoud's" for a Spermaceti Latte?". Mmm, Frothy goodness.
