Victoriana

Saturday, before logging out of SL, I'd made myself a sort of faux-19th century outfit, hoping to get to the next day's discussion of Moby Dick in Caledon.

I had heard about this monthly book-discussion---or rather, had 'seen' about it---when touring the Caledon installation/exhibit at SL5B. (I'd particularly enjoyed the MushroomRoom, but also had been intrigued by the idea that Second Life might contain people who, ya know, READ BOOKS.)

I had somehow never read Moby Dick. Though I'm no youngster, I did grow up well after that period in which schoolchildren were expected to read anything more demanding than "My Weekly Reader". (I remember my parents being apalled that we were reading Tom Sawyer in the 9th grade---and still hadn't progressed to Huckleberry Finn by the 12th.)

So I started in on my lovely "Library of America" copy, which I'd bought by mail order back when they were offered by mail order. (Yes, I AM that old.)

I like Melville. I'm sort of assuming, here, that the narrative voice of Ishmael in MD is the same narrative voice of all Melville's first-person narrators----that Godly gamesomeness of his shines through. I always did like the Cheerful, Positive characters. "Augustus" in I, Claudius; Special Agent Dale Cooper in Twin Peaks; Ed Grimley. Melville has a very similar presence.

Anyway, though I've made it only about halfway through the book (just past the Town Ho chapter) (!), I still intended to go to the discussion. So I made myself an outfit with full skirt, a la 1850s Britain, and suitably upswept hair, and overall gray/black scheme, in line with Serious Womanhood of the era.

But, I ended up having a schedule conflict, and didn't make it.

(So I need to go into Caledon again and find out what the August book is.....)