Read 44 reviews from the world's largest community for readers. The book CALL ME ISHMAEL is regarded as a "classic of American literary criticism" (to quote the back cover); several of the previous Amazon reviews suggest it might be THE classic of American literary criticism. Click here for info on how to call from outside the United States. In the book, Olson takes on Melville, as Melville, or so, Olson argues, took on Shakespeare’s Tragedies, especially Lear. After viewing product detail pages, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in. Also his controversial assessment of the two Moby Dicks, the second version a rewrite following Melville's discovery of Shakespeare. Sorry, I don't agree. Ishmael Leseur is a fourteen year old boy attending St ... One of the most hilarious books I have ever read; Don’t Call Me Ishmael gives ‘fun to read’ a whole new meaning. Reading Herman Melville is like hanging out after class with that freaky teacher who is a well of information and smells a little bad. get to the bottom of what Moby Dick is all about. After reading Call Me Ishmael you may want to move on to the compendium of criticism. Top subscription boxes – right to your door, © 1996-2020, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. YES! The best and most rewarding literary analysis I've ever read (not that I've read much). By reading Melville against the background of Shakespeare, he, like Lear, like Ahab, tries to strike through the mask, tries, like Pip, the cabin-boy aboard the Pequod, who, washed overboard, sank to the watery depth where ‘he saw God’s foot upon the treadle of the loom, and spoke it, and, therefore, his shipmates called him mad’. Disabling it will result in some disabled or missing features. The author, an accomplished poet himself, gets neck-deep into Melville's universe. I especially like Olson's discussion of the connection between Lear and Moby Dick. Charles Olson ... "the first book did not contain Ahab," writes Olson, and "it may not, except incidentally, have contained Moby-Dick." . In that respect I assume Olsen achieved his purpose. Her... First published in 1947, this acknowledged classic of American literary criticism explores the influences—especially Shakespearean ones—on Melville's writing of. There was an error retrieving your Wish Lists. Those who find this book more "lyrical" than elliptical and enigmatic, should read the section on Moby-Dick in. Consequently, many postmodern groups, such as the poets of the Language School, include Olson as a primary and precedent figure. It’s as if written not with a pen but with Poseidon’s Trident. By reading Melville against the background of Shakespeare, he, like Lear, like Ahab, tries to strike through the mask, tries, like Pip, the cabin-boy aboard the Pequod, who, washed overboard, sank to the watery depth where ‘he saw God’s foot upon the treadle of the loom, and spoke it, and, therefore, his shipmates called him mad’. Don't Call Me Ishmael! What a weird, poetic, and inspired take on one of my favorite books. Reviewed in the United States on February 7, 2015, Insights like Lightening Bolts On Every Page, Reviewed in the United States on April 9, 2020.