April 29, 2008

Last week, I wrote about the relevance of Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina in modern day society. As we said before, WNW believes that, to understand the literary industry, you need to know the classics. To make this happen, we have decided to take a step back in time and examine the books that made us want to become writers, and perhaps more importantly, realize the significance of these works today.

Our mission to appreciate the classics will begin this week, when Edward Correia takes an insightful look at the American classic Moby Dick by Herman Melville. Edward’s review of this classic, which is posted in Book Reviews, compares the decision maker on the Pequod to the decision maker in the United States. Whatever your political stance may be, there is no denying that Melville’s portrayal of leadership, power and victory parallels the position our country is in today. After reading his review, the staff here at WNW feels inspired to re-read Moby Dick with our new lenses on, and to garner a new appreciation for this classic.

For those who haven’t read Moby Dick, consider this question: If Ahab does succeed in his quest for the whale, what next? What else do you think there is for him to conquer? For those who have read the novel, what do you think Melville would say about the current situation our country is in? As you are reading (or re-reading) Moby Dick, I ask you to consider these questions. Do you agree with Edward’s critique of Moby Dick? Email your thoughts to editor@writersnewsweekly.com