I loved the Basketball Diaries which I didn’t read till I was 63 or something. I found my copy in a junk store. On the back was a pic of the, Stones, endorsing the book which I found kinda funny.
I have to also wonder where, how Melville was educated, that he could channel his thoughts so well on paper? The above passages remind me of some Borges, who loved Melville btw, and who taught Moby Dick at U of Texas as a guest lecturer (I think.)
I also think that there is an age, a time, when us humans, artists, are most likely to find transcendence in ourselves, miraculously rising above who we are in our discipline, all pistons on, timeless; a heightened state of creativity and being. I bet Melville was having one of these moments as he wrote and meditated on the above...and took us around the world with images from history and cultures to express himself. His palette, his imagination...so liberating to read.
I'd love for you to have a copy of my chapbook of prose poems addressed to Melville. It was hand bound and a limited run, but I would be honored to mail you one. Just let me know how where to mail it!
Amazing synchronicity! I finished reading Moby Dick yesterday and then saw this post. I knew nothing about Melville so thank you for enlightening me. The book is surprisingly readable, considering its age, subject and archaic language. It has a lot of humour and a great cast of characters.
The best thing about your posts for me is learning something new each time I listen. I also love reading your posts silently to myself as there’s a serenity that comes through. What a jewel you are, Patti Smith.
Thank you! And for sharing those facts about Melville, most especially. I did not know this sad story and it made me sad to hear it. About 5 years ago I decided to finally read Moby Dick and took the book with me to Montauk during a short winter reprieve. I thought the wildness of the ocean during wintertime, and the roaring fireplace in my little inn to be the perfect setting! I became so engrossed in this book that it ended up taking me nearly a year to complete it (I went back and re-read so much of it in the process)! I finally finished it the following October just before my 60th birthday, which I decided to celebrate in Nantucket, with the aim of visiting some of the areas mentioned in the book, in addition to the Whaling Museum. I loved reimagining those days and Melville's sources of reference for that incredibly beautiful and deeply moving tale. I love your enthusiasm about this book and The Scarlet Letter, which I re-read last year, as sadly it is in some ways still relevant for our times.
As always, such fascinating stories. Thank you, Patti, for sharing them with us. It gives me a whole new appreciation of Melville's work . . . tragic that he never knew the impact his writing would have. And how fortunate that his niece came upon the treasure in the cookie tin. Amazing.
dear Patti, your thoughts today - and the piece from Melville made me go back to look at Poe's The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym. and also brought to mind the work of a friend of mine, Jane Lazarre whose many books deal with race, motherhood and whiteness (as in Beyond The Whiteness of Whiteness.
thank you so much for sharing your thoughts, music, scholarship and yourself!! You are such a generous and special human being and it is so great to be able to "tune in" with you when so much in our world fills us with terror.
Happy Birthday to Jim, Gerry and Herman. What a wonderful story about Herman Melville. I had no idea that it had such a sad start. Here in Britain it is of course a classic novel which we read usually at school . Thank you for the excerpt from Moby Dick it took me right back to reading it in terror, hiding under the sheets! Such a beautiful creature this huge white whale and l remember being really happy when he escaped!
I was lucky enough to visit Herman Melville's home in Massachusetts. Beautiful house and yard. It was very exciting to see the desk he wrote on and also the window view of the fields and mountains he had while he was writing MOBY DICK. We also saw the small room that Nathaniel Hawthorne slept in when he visited Melville.
I loved the Basketball Diaries which I didn’t read till I was 63 or something. I found my copy in a junk store. On the back was a pic of the, Stones, endorsing the book which I found kinda funny.
I have to also wonder where, how Melville was educated, that he could channel his thoughts so well on paper? The above passages remind me of some Borges, who loved Melville btw, and who taught Moby Dick at U of Texas as a guest lecturer (I think.)
I also think that there is an age, a time, when us humans, artists, are most likely to find transcendence in ourselves, miraculously rising above who we are in our discipline, all pistons on, timeless; a heightened state of creativity and being. I bet Melville was having one of these moments as he wrote and meditated on the above...and took us around the world with images from history and cultures to express himself. His palette, his imagination...so liberating to read.
Oh my goodness. How could Moby Dick not have been appreciated. How awful for him. That is truly heartbreaking.
Such a privilege to learn about this and what awesome writing
The writing is brilliant. What a mind he had. So sad he wasn't recognized in his own time. Thanks for turning us on to this.
I'd love for you to have a copy of my chapbook of prose poems addressed to Melville. It was hand bound and a limited run, but I would be honored to mail you one. Just let me know how where to mail it!
Here's info on the chapbook from the publisher:
https://ghostproposal.com/Letters-to-Melville
Thank you so much for sharing this with us. Always learn a lot and that is great and interesting about Melville.
Moby Dick is a
fantastic adventure story, divinely inspired. Thanks for the text.
Amazing synchronicity! I finished reading Moby Dick yesterday and then saw this post. I knew nothing about Melville so thank you for enlightening me. The book is surprisingly readable, considering its age, subject and archaic language. It has a lot of humour and a great cast of characters.
Melville! How gorgeous to hear you lovingly speak of ytbdd as t tortured genius. Thank you!
The best thing about your posts for me is learning something new each time I listen. I also love reading your posts silently to myself as there’s a serenity that comes through. What a jewel you are, Patti Smith.
Thank you! And for sharing those facts about Melville, most especially. I did not know this sad story and it made me sad to hear it. About 5 years ago I decided to finally read Moby Dick and took the book with me to Montauk during a short winter reprieve. I thought the wildness of the ocean during wintertime, and the roaring fireplace in my little inn to be the perfect setting! I became so engrossed in this book that it ended up taking me nearly a year to complete it (I went back and re-read so much of it in the process)! I finally finished it the following October just before my 60th birthday, which I decided to celebrate in Nantucket, with the aim of visiting some of the areas mentioned in the book, in addition to the Whaling Museum. I loved reimagining those days and Melville's sources of reference for that incredibly beautiful and deeply moving tale. I love your enthusiasm about this book and The Scarlet Letter, which I re-read last year, as sadly it is in some ways still relevant for our times.
As always, such fascinating stories. Thank you, Patti, for sharing them with us. It gives me a whole new appreciation of Melville's work . . . tragic that he never knew the impact his writing would have. And how fortunate that his niece came upon the treasure in the cookie tin. Amazing.
dear Patti, your thoughts today - and the piece from Melville made me go back to look at Poe's The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym. and also brought to mind the work of a friend of mine, Jane Lazarre whose many books deal with race, motherhood and whiteness (as in Beyond The Whiteness of Whiteness.
thank you so much for sharing your thoughts, music, scholarship and yourself!! You are such a generous and special human being and it is so great to be able to "tune in" with you when so much in our world fills us with terror.
LOVE LOVE and thank you
Happy Birthday to Jim, Gerry and Herman. What a wonderful story about Herman Melville. I had no idea that it had such a sad start. Here in Britain it is of course a classic novel which we read usually at school . Thank you for the excerpt from Moby Dick it took me right back to reading it in terror, hiding under the sheets! Such a beautiful creature this huge white whale and l remember being really happy when he escaped!
I was lucky enough to visit Herman Melville's home in Massachusetts. Beautiful house and yard. It was very exciting to see the desk he wrote on and also the window view of the fields and mountains he had while he was writing MOBY DICK. We also saw the small room that Nathaniel Hawthorne slept in when he visited Melville.