Moby Dick

10 Stories

Bob Dylan Accused of Using SparkNotes for Nobel Lecture

Writer finds 20 strong similarities in Moby Dick portion

(Newser) - Bob Dylan delivered what was described as an "eloquent" lecture this month as part of his Nobel prize requirements—but one writer says he may have approached the task like a high school student with an overdue project. Dylan discussed three favorite works from childhood and Andrea Pitzer at...

Moby Dick Restaurant's 'Offensive' Name Spawns Suit

Building council objects to eatery's moniker and logo

(Newser) - Maybe if they had just called it Ishmael, none of this would have happened. A British Columbia company has filed a lawsuit against a building council that refuses to let it lease a unit it owns to a Moby Dick Restaurant fish-and-chips franchise in part because the second word in...

Scientists Answer Weird Question About Moby Dick

Yes, sperm whales could batter a ship with their heads

(Newser) - A multinational team of researchers set out to settle what has oddly been a longstanding dispute in scientific circles: whether, in Moby Dick-esque fashion, sperm whales could use their heads to bash seagoing vessels. And it seems that Herman Melville got it right. Writing in the journal PeerJ , researchers concluded...

Wreck of Whaling Ship Has Ties to Moby-Dick

Its captain's ordeal on another ship inspired Herman Melville's novel

(Newser) - A fascinating bit of history is up from the depths of the Pacific off Hawaii: Marine archeologists have found the remains of an 1880s whaling ship that sailed from Nantucket, reports the Boston Globe . Researchers are happy enough to get a rare look at the tools and gadgets of the...

Team Digs Up London 'Moby Dick'
Team Digs Up London
'Moby Dick'

Team Digs Up London 'Moby Dick'

56-foot giant whale died 200 years ago

(Newser) - Archaeologists in London have discovered the bones of a whale the size of Moby Dick that met its end on the River Thames some 200 years ago. The 56-foot whale, which was as old as 100 when it died, was found buried beneath six feet of mud on the bank...

Scientists Find Fossil of 'Sea Monster'

Ancient 56-foot whale had huge teeth, carnivorous appetite

(Newser) - Scientists have found a fossil of a giant whale of lore—a "Leviathan" as the researchers named it. The creature was similar in size to today's sperm whale but nowhere near as passive, with massive teeth and jaws, the BBC reports. The 12-million-year-old, 56-foot-long beast likely hunted other sea...

10 Toughest Reads in Literature
 10 Toughest Reads in Literature 

10 Toughest Reads in Literature

This list might be enough to make your head hurt

(Newser) - Great books can bring great joy—and, in a few cases, great big headaches. Listverse compiles the 10 toughest reads in literature:
  • Finnegans Wake, James Joyce: If you thought Joyce would ride his way onto this list compliments of Ulysses, think again. Written partially in a made-up language of mindbendingly
...

Literary Video Games We'd Like to Play
 Literary Video Games 
 We'd Like to Play 
OPINION

Literary Video Games We'd Like to Play

Hey, if Dante's Inferno worked, why not Moby Dick?

(Newser) - Now that EA’s successfully turned Dante’s Inferno into a bloody beat-em-up action game, the guys at Wired decided to dream up some other literary classics begging to be transformed into games. There picks:
  • The Metamorphosis: In this 8-bit classic, Gregor Samsa morphs into Bug Mode and scampers around
...

Whales Return to Moby Dick's Old Haunts

New sightings of hunt-decimated populations off Chile raise hopes

(Newser) - Hosts of whale sightings are being reported off southern Chile, raising conservationists' hopes for a resurgence of the populations—including the real-life inspiration for Moby Dick—that flourished in the area before they were hunted nearly to extinction. Experts warn the apparent boom could be the result of more pairs...

Don't Say I'm 'Bloodthirsty' for Wanting Tony Dead

New York takes exec to task for fan-bashing

(Newser) - "Eat me:" choice words from New York's David Edelstein to Sopranos creator David Chase, who recently called fans "bloodthirsty" for caring more about Tony Soprano's foggy fate than real-world troubles. "There is nothing bloodthirsty about hoping for a little closure at the end of a much-loved...

10 Stories