4 ms·

No, when I go to sea, I go as a simple sailor, right before the mast, plumb down into the forecastle, aloft there to the royal mast-head. True, they rather orde

No, when I go to sea, I go as a simple sailor, right before the mast, plumb down into the forecastle, aloft there to the royal mast-head. True, they rather order me about some, and make me jump from spar to spar, like a grasshopper in a May meadow. And at first, this sort of thing is unpleasant enough. It touches one’s sense of honor, particularly if you come of an old established family in the land, the Van Rensselaers, or Randolphs, or Hardicanutes. And more than all, if just previous to putting your hand into the tar-pot, you have been lording it as a country schoolmaster, making the tallest boys stand in awe of you. The transition is a keen one, I assure you, from a schoolmaster to a sailor, and requires a strong decoction of Seneca and the Stoics to enable you to grin and bear it. But even this wears off in time. What of it, if some old hunks of a sea-captain orders me to get a broom and sweep down the decks? What does that indignity amount to, weighed, I mean, in the scales of the New Testament? Do you think the archangel Gabriel thinks anything the less of me, because I promptly and respectfully obey that old hunks in that particular instance? Who ain’t a slave? Tell me that. Well, then, however the old sea-captains may order me about—however they may thump and punch me about, I have the satisfaction of knowing that it is all right; that everybody else is one way or other served in much the same way—either in a physical or metaphysical point of view, that is; and so the universal thump is passed round, and all hands should rub each other’s shoulder-blades, and be content. Moby Dick, “Loomings” (1851)

olddustytrail 4y ago
- danaris 4y ago
  The identification of the quote is appreciated. The condescending dismissal of a) (almost) all of American writing as being unworthy, and b) all Americans as being clueless drones parroting the same few works is deeply unappreciated. Yes, there are Americans who would look down their noses at you for not instantly recognizing a quote from Moby Dick, or, say, The Grapes of Wrath. They are representative of a particular category of literature snobs, not Americans in general, thank you very much.
  - olddustytrail 4y ago
    You're absolutely right of course. I was having a mild dig at the snobs: don't take it too seriously. My apologies for any offense. If it's any consolation, I've found better literary recommendations on random HN threads than in any mainstream reviews. I know Iain Banks had similar views.
    - version_five 4y ago
      I'm not an American literature expert. Just in case it helps, read Dashiell Hammet and Raymomd Chandler. They have some big similarities (differences too), and both are, at least for me, examples of solid american writing, the skill of which is made manifest through its simplicity. Chandler, I'm told, was a big influence on Hiruki Murukami (not American, though I think he here now, but another favorite). The whole idea that the novel is about the journey and not the plot. Chandler is also an inspiration for the Big Lebowski.
- Taywee 4y ago
  Or perhaps the passage itself was more relevant than the source. I strongly disagree that Americans have a dearth of decent writings. Dozens of the greatest authors of the past few centuries were American. I know it's fashionable to treat America as a punching bag for all sorts of perceived slights and shortcomings, but that's absolutely uncalled for here.
  - UmbertoNoEco 4y ago
    You of course can disagree, but my experience matches OP too. I understand every country likes to hype up its writers, but at least outside America this is more or less the assessment of its writers: - Great, incredible writers, worthy of every accolade: Poe, Melville, Faulkner and probably Whitman. - Good, solid writers, a tier below: Hemingway, Hawthorne, Steinbeck, Pynchon, Dos Passos, Gaddiss and many others...that sort of caliber, nobody will complain if one of them is included among the great writers but nobody will miss them either - Literary mediocrities, overhyped by a culture with a serious lack of good literature: Frazen, DFW, etc - All the pulpy and trashy authors.
- dang 4y ago
  Please don't take HN threads into nationalistic flamewar. That's among the dumbest and most hellish kind of writing we end up with here. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

olddustytrail 4y ago

danaris 4y ago
The identification of the quote is appreciated. The condescending dismissal of a) (almost) all of American writing as being unworthy, and b) all Americans as being clueless drones parroting the same few works is deeply unappreciated. Yes, there are Americans who would look down their noses at you for not instantly recognizing a quote from Moby Dick, or, say, The Grapes of Wrath. They are representative of a particular category of literature snobs, not Americans in general, thank you very much.
- olddustytrail 4y ago
  You're absolutely right of course. I was having a mild dig at the snobs: don't take it too seriously. My apologies for any offense. If it's any consolation, I've found better literary recommendations on random HN threads than in any mainstream reviews. I know Iain Banks had similar views.
  - version_five 4y ago
    I'm not an American literature expert. Just in case it helps, read Dashiell Hammet and Raymomd Chandler. They have some big similarities (differences too), and both are, at least for me, examples of solid american writing, the skill of which is made manifest through its simplicity. Chandler, I'm told, was a big influence on Hiruki Murukami (not American, though I think he here now, but another favorite). The whole idea that the novel is about the journey and not the plot. Chandler is also an inspiration for the Big Lebowski.
Taywee 4y ago
Or perhaps the passage itself was more relevant than the source. I strongly disagree that Americans have a dearth of decent writings. Dozens of the greatest authors of the past few centuries were American. I know it's fashionable to treat America as a punching bag for all sorts of perceived slights and shortcomings, but that's absolutely uncalled for here.
- UmbertoNoEco 4y ago
  You of course can disagree, but my experience matches OP too. I understand every country likes to hype up its writers, but at least outside America this is more or less the assessment of its writers: - Great, incredible writers, worthy of every accolade: Poe, Melville, Faulkner and probably Whitman. - Good, solid writers, a tier below: Hemingway, Hawthorne, Steinbeck, Pynchon, Dos Passos, Gaddiss and many others...that sort of caliber, nobody will complain if one of them is included among the great writers but nobody will miss them either - Literary mediocrities, overhyped by a culture with a serious lack of good literature: Frazen, DFW, etc - All the pulpy and trashy authors.
dang 4y ago
Please don't take HN threads into nationalistic flamewar. That's among the dumbest and most hellish kind of writing we end up with here. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html