The Curse of Literature: having to read between the lines.
I can read Moby Dick once and get the gist of the story. I can read it one hundred times and fully understand the words and phrases found between the first and the last page. But, if I wish to understand the full story of Moby Dick; its symbolic undercurrents and the thoughts of its author, would I not have to look deep into the life and times of Herman Melville? Would I not need to understand heroic and romantic novels of the 19th century? Would I not need to understand the makings of a fishing community and the men who worked within them? Would I not need to understand the role that sea creatures, fables and heroes play in the oceans of which these men draw their livelihood? Without such insight I could read Moby Dick one hundred times and never truly understand the context of which it was meant to be read. I could read it one-hundred times and never know the kind of man that it’s author was or even what thoughts he meant the story to invoke in the readers mind. I could read it one hundred times and never truly understand the story. Continue reading