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u/DkWarZone

▲ 2 r/HermanMelville

Greetings, fellow Melville community whale watchers.

We invite you once again to participate in our recurring thread: “ROTW or, Readings Of The Week”—a space designed to foster thoughtful exchange around recent cultural, intellectual, and artistic engagements.

These threads are meant to offer a reprieve from the routine of our professional and personal lives—a moment to reflect on the books, films, performances, music, games, and other media that have recently captured your attention, challenged your thinking, or simply brought you joy. The cadence of these threads will be determined by community interest—weekly, biweekly, or monthly as participation suggests.

We encourage you to share:

  • What have you been reading—Melville or otherwise? Has it stimulated, disappointed, provoked, or puzzled you?
  • Have you attended a noteworthy stage production—live or recorded—that’s worth discussing?
  • Listened to an album, artist, or composition—new or archival—that’s lingered with you?
  • Encountered a film or television series that’s expanded your aesthetic or critical horizons?
  • Immersed yourself in a video game, board game, or role-playing system that merits intellectual or narrative attention?

Your reflections and recommendations are not only welcome but essential to cultivating a vibrant and inquisitive culture here. Engage with one another, ask questions, draw connections.

So, to the community:
Share your ROTW.

reddit.com
u/DkWarZone — 13 days ago
▲ 8 r/HermanMelville

In the summer of 1847, fresh from the success of Typee and Omoo, Melville began collaborating with the humor weekly "Yankee Doodle" (the American counterpart to the British "Punch"); this provides us with a glimpse into another side of this eclectic writer. The theme of his contributions (published anonymously but certainly attributable to him) consists of a series of anecdotes about General, and future President, Zachary Taylor, who at the time had achieved great notoriety following his successes in the Mexican-American War.

The anecdotes describe his habits, his appearance, and his contempt for danger, which is exaggerated to the point of being ridiculous or surreal; another target is the figure of Phineas Taylor Barnum, a man balanced between fraud and charlatanism. In these writings, we can find a satirical vein that would later reappear in Mardi and The Confidence-Man. Furthermore, we can deduce that the anonymous satirist is Melville because the anecdotes mention, for example, Johann Kaspar Lavater—who is also cited in Redburn and Mardi—or the Battle of Buena Vista, which is mentioned in The Confidence-Man.

  • First image: Portrait of Zachary Taylor in uniform as commander of the U.S. Army during the Mexican-American War.
  • Second image: A caricature appeared in "Yankee Doodle" in which Taylor is intent on mending his clothes.
  • Third image: First anecdote about "Old Zach" published in "Yankee Doodle".
  • Fourth image: Portrait of Phineas Taylor Barnum.

Useful link: [Melville's "Old Zack" Anecdotes, in Yankee Doodle and some newspapers] (https://melvilliana.blogspot.com/2016/04/melvilles-old-zack-anecdotes-in-yankee.html)

u/DkWarZone — 25 days ago
▲ 3 r/HermanMelville

Greetings, fellow Melville community whale watchers.

We invite you once again to participate in our recurring thread: “ROTW or, Readings Of The Week”—a space designed to foster thoughtful exchange around recent cultural, intellectual, and artistic engagements.

These threads are meant to offer a reprieve from the routine of our professional and personal lives—a moment to reflect on the books, films, performances, music, games, and other media that have recently captured your attention, challenged your thinking, or simply brought you joy. The cadence of these threads will be determined by community interest—weekly, biweekly, or monthly as participation suggests.

We encourage you to share:

  • What have you been reading—Melville or otherwise? Has it stimulated, disappointed, provoked, or puzzled you?
  • Have you attended a noteworthy stage production—live or recorded—that’s worth discussing?
  • Listened to an album, artist, or composition—new or archival—that’s lingered with you?
  • Encountered a film or television series that’s expanded your aesthetic or critical horizons?
  • Immersed yourself in a video game, board game, or role-playing system that merits intellectual or narrative attention?

Your reflections and recommendations are not only welcome but essential to cultivating a vibrant and inquisitive culture here. Engage with one another, ask questions, draw connections.

So, to the community:
Share your ROTW.

reddit.com
u/DkWarZone — 28 days ago
▲ 2 r/HermanMelville

Greetings, fellow Melville community whale watchers.

We invite you once again to participate in our recurring thread: “ROTW or, Readings Of The Week”—a space designed to foster thoughtful exchange around recent cultural, intellectual, and artistic engagements.

These threads are meant to offer a reprieve from the routine of our professional and personal lives—a moment to reflect on the books, films, performances, music, games, and other media that have recently captured your attention, challenged your thinking, or simply brought you joy. The cadence of these threads will be determined by community interest—weekly, biweekly, or monthly as participation suggests.

We encourage you to share:

  • What have you been reading—Melville or otherwise? Has it stimulated, disappointed, provoked, or puzzled you?
  • Have you attended a noteworthy stage production—live or recorded—that’s worth discussing?
  • Listened to an album, artist, or composition—new or archival—that’s lingered with you?
  • Encountered a film or television series that’s expanded your aesthetic or critical horizons?
  • Immersed yourself in a video game, board game, or role-playing system that merits intellectual or narrative attention?

Your reflections and recommendations are not only welcome but essential to cultivating a vibrant and inquisitive culture here. Engage with one another, ask questions, draw connections.

So, to the community:
Share your ROTW.

reddit.com
u/DkWarZone — 1 month ago
▲ 2 r/HermanMelville

Greetings, fellow Melville community whale watchers.

We invite you once again to participate in our recurring thread: “ROTW or, Readings Of The Week”—a space designed to foster thoughtful exchange around recent cultural, intellectual, and artistic engagements.

These threads are meant to offer a reprieve from the routine of our professional and personal lives—a moment to reflect on the books, films, performances, music, games, and other media that have recently captured your attention, challenged your thinking, or simply brought you joy. The cadence of these threads will be determined by community interest—weekly, biweekly, or monthly as participation suggests.

We encourage you to share:

  • What have you been reading—Melville or otherwise? Has it stimulated, disappointed, provoked, or puzzled you?
  • Have you attended a noteworthy stage production—live or recorded—that’s worth discussing?
  • Listened to an album, artist, or composition—new or archival—that’s lingered with you?
  • Encountered a film or television series that’s expanded your aesthetic or critical horizons?
  • Immersed yourself in a video game, board game, or role-playing system that merits intellectual or narrative attention?

Your reflections and recommendations are not only welcome but essential to cultivating a vibrant and inquisitive culture here. Engage with one another, ask questions, draw connections.

So, to the community:
Share your ROTW.

reddit.com
u/DkWarZone — 2 months ago