http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Topic: Call me ishmael en Tue, 19 May 2026 16:24:26 +0000 http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=19452#post-301245 Tue, 12 Feb 2019 14:26:43 +0000 I were right about that saddle 301245@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p><em>the luxurious discomforts of the rich</em></p> <p>Gah. I would have stolen that in an instant. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=19452#post-301244 Tue, 12 Feb 2019 14:19:29 +0000 unhurt 301244@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>This passage now makes me think of Steveo and his bivvying proclivities:</p> <p>"We felt very nice and snug, the more so since it was so chilly out of doors; indeed out of bed-clothes too, seeing that there was no fire in the room. The more so, I say, because truly to enjoy bodily warmth, some small part of you must be cold, for there is no quality in this world that is not what it is merely by contrast. Nothing exists in itself. If you flatter yourself that you are all over comfortable, and have been so a long time, then you cannot be said to be comfortable any more. But if, like Queequeg and me in the bed, the tip of your nose or the crown of your head be slightly chilled, why then, indeed, in the general consciousness you feel most delightfully and unmistakably warm. For this reason a sleeping apartment should never be furnished with a fire, which is one of the luxurious discomforts of the rich. For the height of this sort of deliciousness is to have nothing but the blankets between you and your snugness and the cold of the outer air. Then there you lie like the one warm spark in the heart of an arctic crystal." </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=19452#post-301230 Tue, 12 Feb 2019 11:35:24 +0000 gembo 301230@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Or the harpoon Queeqweg shaves with after his night with Ishmael.</p> <p>Suggestion harpoons very sharp with one going in at the tail of the whale, travelling 40 feet and coming out at the head.</p> <p>Maybe the modern japanese ones? </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=19452#post-301229 Tue, 12 Feb 2019 10:59:56 +0000 I were right about that saddle 301229@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Just remembered the harpoon made from broken razors. That is also my favourite bit. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=19452#post-301227 Tue, 12 Feb 2019 10:43:34 +0000 paulmilne 301227@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Thanks for reminding me I must get the dusty copy off my shelf and finally read it.</p> <p>Unread books on my shelf give me plenty of "joy", thank you very much. Anticipation is at least 50% of pleasure. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=19452#post-301216 Tue, 12 Feb 2019 08:48:13 +0000 gembo 301216@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>The proprietor of The Spouter Inn, New Bedford is called Peter Coffin. Fairly sure this bobs up late on. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=19452#post-301210 Mon, 11 Feb 2019 23:58:52 +0000 wee folding bike 301210@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Second hand copy of Elephant Bill arrived here today. </p> <p>Not read it since the ‘80s. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=19452#post-301209 Mon, 11 Feb 2019 23:25:21 +0000 gembo 301209@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>May read some of it tonight </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=19452#post-301208 Mon, 11 Feb 2019 22:14:44 +0000 unhurt 301208@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>No, in the introductory pages. That part is adorable though. Also Melville totally understands the joy of a warm bed in a freezing room. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=19452#post-301207 Mon, 11 Feb 2019 21:33:14 +0000 gembo 301207@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>@unhurt, is that when the two chaps are sharing the one bed? </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=19452#post-301206 Mon, 11 Feb 2019 20:59:34 +0000 unhurt 301206@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>I am always in search of a decent annotated Moby Dick. There's one online but it's a bit hard on the eyes in a 90s website way. Any recommendations?</p> <p>Online one alerted me to the fart joke in chapter one (my classical education was lacking); “as in this world, head winds are far more prevalent than winds from astern (that is, if you never violate the Pythagorean maxim)“ - the Pythagorean maxim is, as I now know, to eat no beans... </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=19452#post-301205 Mon, 11 Feb 2019 20:23:54 +0000 gembo 301205@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>@iwrats, you are perhaps referring to a form of hyper realism that pervades Moby Dick.? A dreamscape played out as a warning against obsession? Melville only wrote classics. Bartleby prefigures modernism. The stories in Billy Budd are laced with literary laudanum. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=19452#post-301204 Mon, 11 Feb 2019 19:51:59 +0000 I were right about that saddle 301204@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>How about if you kneaded a large tub of spermaceti? </p> <p>Those are my two favourite scenes. The knife sharpening duel (which I'm convinced Peake stole for the cake duel in Gormenghast) and the soft hands. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=19452#post-301203 Mon, 11 Feb 2019 19:48:58 +0000 gembo 301203@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>That would get me barred from PY for a month until their entire staff on the early shift had turned over.</p> <p>Would get me a residence in Cult tho </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=19452#post-301201 Mon, 11 Feb 2019 19:27:01 +0000 I were right about that saddle 301201@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p><em>Did I lend my paperback copy of Moby Dick to anyone on here?</em></p> <p>Should you not just turn up at PY silently whetting a filleting knife in the corner? </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=19452#post-301192 Mon, 11 Feb 2019 18:04:13 +0000 gembo 301192@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Did I lend my paperback copy of Moby Dick to anyone on here? Just had to buy a hardback Everyman library edition to replace. Moby Dick watching I. waterstones reveals nice one with whale etching on cover £17. Paperback I have lost £6.99, v good value per page plus has slight Nick in last copy so that will get you 70p off as long as you do not ask the grumpy manager. Or in a mad world a £19.99 for paperback with very rough paper. </p>