"Moby Dick is the great American novel. But it is also the great unread American novel", says the Moby Dick Big Read project. I have to admit that it's gone unread by me.
Everyone I graduated with knew, of course, that Moby Dick is about a great white whale and one man's obsessive hunt for it, but I don't think anyone actually read it. So how cool is it that, in an attempt to make the work more accessible to a modern audience, Big Read is releasing an audio chapter of Moby Dick a day - for free, easy download - read by the likes of Tilda Swinton. But it isn't only celebrities who were asked to read. One chapter is read by a fisherman, adding to a broad wealth of voices and characters livening up this literary tome.
I'm in love with this idea - bringing a great novel alive in a new way, and making it free for everyone to enjoy. Check it out!
Chapter 1: Loomings - Read by Tilda Swinton - http://mobydickbigread.com by The Moby-Dick Big Read
I must admit--I got halfway through during a college class and ended up sparknoting it because I couldn't finish. Shameful, I know. The only book I ever did that to.
ReplyDeleteI read it once and so have a tendency to distrust people who say they loved it. (I mean, there's an entire chapter on rope. Rope.) But this sounds like a cool idea, though I think I'll leave it to Ahab this time around. :)
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