I am reading Moby Dick for the first time and I am loving it, however I am having isues with visualizing some imagery in this book. I am on the chapter “Cutting In” where the process of cutting open a sperm whale is described and I am having a hard time seeing it. I cant see images in my head, but I can almost feel them; its hard for me to come up with images unfamiliar to me. Anyone know a place I can find visuals for Moby Dick? Or a place that describes some of the imagery in easier ways to understand?
On another thought,
For people who cant see thing in your head how do you “visualize” unkown pictures because that is something I struggle with.
by iateaskag
4 Comments
I looked everywhere for a good primer on whale boats, whaling, sailing terminology, etc. There’s no one great source that I’ve yet found. The Nortong Critical Edition is pound for pound the best, it has a glossary and illustrations so you can understand the layout of the ship and the whaleboars, etc. And it’s period-accurate. The New Bedford Whaling Museum has some helpful YT vids. If you familiarize yourself with whaling ships and their terminology, it becomes easier to form images.
Surely there are Moby Dick graphic novels. And also probably horrifying videos online.
….why do you need to see it? Just read it.
​
That said, there are like fifteen film adaptions of Moby Dick movies out in the world.
​
Also here is a British Paté doc from back in the day on how to harvest a whale: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATLe41T3D7c
Did you see The Revenant where Leo gets in the horse? Like that, but with a whale.
If I remember, the Gregory Peck Moby Dick has some whale dismembering— and I’d be surprised if In the Heart of the Sea doesn’t (I only read the book though).