The 16th New Bedford Moby-Dick Marathon -- Second Day (Part Two)

Immediately after the "Stump the Scholars!" program, the scholars headed over to the Lagoda Room to conduct a reading of the Extracts that preface Moby-Dick.  This was the first time in the history of the New Bedford MDM that the Extracts have been included in the reading.  In prior years, the Marathon has always skipped the Extracts and begun instead with Chapter I ("Call me Ishmael" etc.) -- something that we and other fans have deplored in the past.

Wyn Kelley reads an extract.

The idea behind this Extracts reading was excellent.  The plan was to begin the Extracts at 11:30 a.m. and get through as many of them as possible before noon.  That way, the Marathon formalities could still commence on schedule at the same time as in every other year, without the necessity of determining precisely how long it would take to read all the Extracts.  The scholars stood around the balcony of the Lagoda Room and took turns reading one extract each, an arrangement that made it easy to separate one extract from another and that spared the readers the trouble of reading the source after each extract. 

Jennifer Baker reads; Mary Bercaw Edwards waits her turn.

There was just one problem, which I don't think anyone could have foreseen:  The audience did not seem to grasp that this was part of the reading of Moby-Dick.  Instead of listening quietly as they do to every other part of the book, the audience members talked over the readers as if Melville were just background noise.  As a result, it was nearly impossible to hear the Extracts.  I don't know whether this happened because most people didn't understand what was going on, or because a small number of talkers caused everyone else to give up and talk too, or because most people just don't like the Extracts.

Whatever the cause, I hope the Museum will continue to include the Extracts in future years.  Perhaps if they began the Extracts reading by having someone ring a bell or blow a bos'n's whistle from the podium, and announce what is about to take place, the audience will be more attentive.

After the Extracts, I went out to grab some lunch and take pictures around town.  Gansevoort stayed on and later attended a sort of round-table discussion with the scholars and other serious fans, something I'm sorry to have missed and expect he will write about in the days to come.

The Extracts, yes!

Announced on the Whaling Museum's blog:

At 11:30 a.m. in the Bourne Building, Melville Society members will read many of the 80 brief "Extracts" related to whales and whaling, which Melville included before Chapter 1.

Is someone at the Museum reading this blog? Both Lemuel and I have argued that the MDM curiously omits two chapters of Moby-Dick: Etymology and Extracts. (And the Iron-Bound Bucket concurs!)

Now it appears that the MDM is, at least partially, addressing our pleas. (Why not read all of the Extracts? Why skip Etymology?)

Still, it's clear, the Marathon gets better every year!!

Note: The Bourne Building is that older part of the museum, which houses the Lagoda.

Etymology and Extracts at the New Bedford Moby Dick Marathon

What is the single most shocking thing about the Moby-Dick marathon at the New Bedford Whaling Museum?  It's that they skip the etymology and extracts with which Melville begins the book. 

I guess I can see the logic behind this choice.  The marathon, which now starts dramatically with an Ishmael impersonator (for lack of a better term) reading "Loomings" in the museum's Lagoda Room, would probably turn off many would-be participants if they had to sit through 15-20 minutes of non-narrative quotations from other authors before even getting to "Call me Ishmael." 

Nevertheless, it doesn't seem right.  A Moby-Dick marathon without "Etymology" and "Extracts" is like a Scarlet Letter marathon without "The Custom-House," or a Giles Goat-Boy marathon without the comic editors' statements on why they should or should not have published the manuscript.  Is it really a marathon if you intentionally omit part of the text?

When I first raised this issue with Gansevoort, he suggested doing a "guerrilla reading" of "Etymology" and "Extracts" in front of the museum before the regular marathon begins.  I like that in theory.  But in the hour before the marathon, most people are too busy getting settled with their gear and what-not inside the building to have any time or attention to spare.  Plus, New Bedford in January is not the best place for standing around reading or listening to yet more Melville. 

Another possibility, now that the museum has started streaming the marathon, would be to have a virtual reading of the introductory material.  Thus, even if it didn't happen live, a reading of the etymology and extracts would at least be part of the marathon in some sense.  And I suppose a third possibility is simply to arrive early and read the etymology and extracts silently by oneself, while waiting for Ishmael to begin.  Who knows, maybe some attendees do that already.