Big Book Club's "What the Whale!"

Arlington VA Public Library

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Big Book Club's "What the Whale!"

Arlington VA Public Library is reading "Moby-Dick" this summer, and we're going to have a seriously good time while we do it. Each week on the podcast, librarians Jennie, Megan, Pete and special guests will discuss the reading, drop pop culture references, and ask or answer questions that come up during the Sunday discussion.

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Prologue: So What Do We Know About Moby-Dick?

We're ready to set sail with plenty of whale puns... Don't have your book yet? The Library has unlimited copies in eBook and eAudiobook. Or you could listen to the Moby-Dick Big Read podcast produced by the Arts Institute at the University of Plymouth. And don't forget to join the What the Whale! Facebook group before Sunday night's online discussion at 8 p.m. Palate cleansers: Jennie - "Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland" by Patrick Radden Keefe Pete - "Emergency Contact" by Mary H. K. Choi Megan - "Bookish Boyfriends: A Date with Darcy" by Tiffany Schmidt Alex - "Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps that Explain Everything About the World" by Tim Marshall

19분
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Who exactly is this Ishmael guy?

This week we realize that running off to sea and adopting a nome-de-mer is usually a sign that you're trying to escape from something... PSA: You can learn pirate in the Mango Languages app, free with your library card. Palate cleansers: Megan - Lore Olympus web comic Pete - "Good Omens" by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett Jennie - "Comrade Detective" comedy TV show on Amazon Prime and "Chuck Norris vs. Communism" documentary Alex - "Voices from Chernobyl: The Oral History of a Nuclear Disaster" by Svetlana Aleksievich

25분
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Our Cast Is Introduced, and We are Underwhelmed...

180 pages in, and we've barely left port... This week we discussed knowing that we're reading a "Big Book," and therefore expecting more drama out of Ahab as character. We also wondered whether, if we'd read Moby-Dick when it first was published, would we have been bored out of our minds by this point? Books we reference: "A History of the World in Six Glasses" by Tom Standage "Banana: the Fate of the Fruit that Changed the World" by Dan Koeppel Palate cleansers: Megan - "Educated: A Memoir" by Tara Westover Pete - Watched the film "Burning" based on the Haruki Murakami short story "Barn Burning," which is based on the William Faulkner short story "Barn Burning." Jennie - This Land podcast and Galavant TV show Alex - Apollo 11: Beyond the Moon podcast and the Apollo 11 documentary film

25분
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To read all of Melville's Cetology, or to skip that chapter...

Who got the gold star for reading all about whale-fish, including the footnotes? Who is actually caught up on the reading? Who thinks Ahab is headed for a reconning of, well, mythic proportions? And who is ready to read something completely different this week? We referenced: "I''ll Make a Man Out of You" from the Disney musical, Mulan. On the tv show Friends, couple Ross and Rachel "take a break," and then have a fight about what it meant to "take a break" after Ross slept with another woman during the break. Palate cleansers Megan - "Queenie" by Candice Carty-Williams and "Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors: a novel" by Sonali Dev Pete - "Convenience Store Woman" by Sayaka Murata Jennie - "I Love You So Mochi" by Sarah Kuhn and "Dear Los Angeles: the city in diaries and letters 1542 to 2018" edited by David Kipen Alex - "Josh and Hazel's Guide to Not Dating" by Christina Lauren

23분
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Herman "Not Suble" Melville

In discussing chapters 42-59, we mentioned "The Card Turner," a YA novel by Louis Sachar. Also, giant squid are scary, Fedallah's whaleboat crew are eerie, and and Melville is not subtle. Palate cleansers: Jennie - "Ayesha At Last" by Uzma Jalaluddin and "The Lady and the Highwayman" by Sarah M. Eden Alex - "Storm of Locusts" by Rebecca Roanhorse Pete - "Bukowski in a Sundress: Confessions From a Writing Life" by Kim Addonizio

21분
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Whaling: Not for the faint of heart

This week we tackled the most action packed reading yet, chapters 60-70, in which we encountered bloody whale killing, racial stereotyping, and ugly power structures. Palate cleansers: Megan - "Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nuter, Witch" by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman Jennie - "Sixth The Musical" Alex - "Somewhere Only We Know" by Maureen Goo Pete - "The Pandemic Century: One Hundred Years of Panic, Hysteria, and Hubris" by Mark Honigsbaum and "Circe" by Madeline Miller

23분
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Stuck in the Doldrums with Melville

In chapters 71-86, no amount of action could keep us from feeling sedated by the seemingly endless chapters on phrenology... Although maybe all of Moby-Dick would improve if read like a jazz poem? Chapter 79: The Prairie - read like an experimental jazz poem by the Mob-Dick Big Read project Before Dave Malloy's new musical Moby-Dick makes its world premiere at the American Repertory Theater at Harvard University in December, the American Museum of Natural History will present staged excerpts from the production. "Ahab’s Rolling Sea: A Natural History of Moby-Dick" by Richard J. King - publication date October 2019 Palate cleansers - Jennie - "Cinnamon and Gunpowder: a Novel" by Eli Brown Pete - "Midsommar" (Still in theaters) and "Hereditary" Megan - Moonrise - The Washington Post’s podcast on the history of the space race, and "Packing for Mars: the Curious Science of Life in the Void" by Mary Roach Alex - "Breach" by W.L. Goodwater and the BMA exhibit "Hitching Their Dreams to Untamed Stars: Joyce J. Scott & Elizabeth Talford Scott" Sparknotes on Instagram and Twitter

29분
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Whale Bones Are Not Made of Ivory

This week, half of Arlington is on vacation, so Jennie and Pete set sail on their own. The two cover chapters 87-101, discussing the unpleasant topics (racism, whale slaughter) and the absurd (Stubb's nose, the ineptness of whale ship captains.) And with no co-hosts, there's no one to stop them from making references to The Simpsons but also no one to correct Pete when he calls whale bone "ivory" repeatedly. Get Well Soon by Jennifer Wright Palate cleansers - Jennie - Derry Girls on Netflix Lore Olympus Pete - The Terror on Hulu (though based on a book)

25분
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Ahab Turns Up the Insanity

The gang's all back in town again! In this week's discussion of chapters 102-121, we contemplate biblical history and prophecy, and Megan solves the meaning of Moby-Dick once again. Want to listen to an early version of The Pacific, from the Moby-Dick musical? Visit Dave Malloy's website. Read a review of the Moby-Dick performance Megan attended. Palate cleansers- Jennie - Derry Girls on Netflix Pete - 16 Bit Bar and Arcade (sadly, not local) Megan - "Say Nothing: a true story of murder and memory in Northern Ireland" by Patrick Radden Keefe Alex - "A Reaper at the Gates" by Sabaa Tahir

26분
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The End!

And so we come to the conclusion of our voyage... was the destination worth the ride? Opinions vary... Palate cleansers: Pete - "What We Do In The Shadows" - available on DVD Jennie - "The Business of Bees" from Bloomberg Podcasts and "Blown Away" glassblowing show Megan - "Cover-Up" podcast from People, "The Drop Out" podcast from ABC Radio, and "Hot Dog Girl" by Jennifer Dugan Alex - "Ghost Map: the story of London's deadliest epidemic-- and how it changed science, cities, and the modern world"

34분
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Interview with Richard King, author of "Ahab's Rolling Sea"

As a special post-Moby-Dick bonus, Jennie and Megan previewed the new book, "Ahab's Rolling Sea: A Natural History of Moby-Dick," and interviewed author Richard King by phone from his home in Mystic, Connecticut. Rich's book does a great job of putting Moby-Dick in context, with lots of maps and photos. And for anyone who might fear that King's style would take after his subject matter, the writing is is compelling and accessible, and we suspect that it may become required reading for anyone tackling Moby-Dick in the future... Rich mentions the website "Melville's Marginalia" during the podcast. Palate cleansers: Rich - "Fortunate Son" by Walter Mosley Jennie - Gavin & Stacey - British tv show, watching on Hulu Megan - "Three Women" by Lisa Tadeo

29분
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What's next for the Big Book Club?

We're starting a new adventure, a monthly Big Book Club Podcast... http://bigbookclubarlington.libsyn.com/

3분

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Arlington VA Public Library is reading "Moby-Dick" this summer, and we're going to have a seriously good time while we do it. Each week on the podcast, librarians Jennie, Megan, Pete and special guests will discuss the reading, drop pop culture references, and ask or answer questions that come up during the Sunday discussion.

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Big Book Club's "What the Whale!"