At last, we have begun the journey of Ahad, narrated by Ishmael, told by Herman Melville. Prefacing the novel itself is the Etymology and Extracts sections, lovingly composed with information regarding whales and their importance to literature throughout time. The first thing that struck me when reading through the excerpts provided was the idea of how much longer it would be had it been written today as opposed to the 1800’s. Would there have been a companion collection instead? Would it have included transcriptions from the scripts that are read during whale watching excursions? Would it have included information about the Orcas and other whales that are intentionally capsizing ships around the world? What about moments from serialized shows or episodes from Dimension20’s NeverAfter storyline when they fought the whale from Pinnoccio’s story?

Perhaps it would have included all of the above examples, as it had included missives such as “Here they saw such huge troops of whales, that they were forced to proceed with a great deal of caution for fear they should run their ship upon them” (xliii). Unsurprisingly, an excerpt from Owen Chase’s account of the Essex was included – a dramatic line, though with little description of the whale itself. The most stunning edition, in my opinion, was the inclusion of J. Ross Brown’s Etchings of a Whaling Cruise, 1846. Some part of me had always wondered if the phrase “Thar she blows!” came from Moby Dick, as it is ubiquitous with whales to this day. The inclusion of this excerpt both disproves that notion and shows that the phrase further predates the novel by a few years at least.

Beyond the preface, into the beginning, the first chapter truly left me thinking deeply about the novel we were embarking on. Within the first page, I had more questions than I had started. Ishmael treats voyaging out to sea as though it is both a necessity and a means to keep himself from depression. “Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul…then, I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can” (3). Was this a common form of escapism at the time – a way to change your scenery and improve your moods? Did those who suffer from depression tend to go to sea as a means of improving their mental health? How many more died at sea due to their depression worsening with the extreme isolation? Many questions without answers.