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Journal up the Straits
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February 26, 2019
almost without exception, the 19th century novel—and even more so poetry—leans heavily on structure and ornamentation. Dickens characters are brilliant caricatures in the service of his complex plots, and the popular writers of the time—Longfellow, Tennyson, etc.—wrote more often than not in highly structured couplets. Of course, as always, there are exceptions like Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman, and surely there must be a few others. But for the most part the structure of poems did not stray much from well-traveled formulas.
This is exactly what makes this journal so brilliant. Here we have a masterful writer writing in a personal shorthand that is purposefully devoid of traditional structures. Used as a source for any number of poems about his trip, the notes in no way resemble Melville’s poems, while beautiful, are stuccoed with the froth of 19th century writing.
Here the maxim: first thought, best thought means something. If Defoe was a master of the semi-colon, writing lengthy paragraphs with it, then Melville is a master of the dash, and there are few punctuation devices I love more than a dash.
Just as importantly is Melville’s critical judgement. Whereas Twain in Innocents Abroad touts North American superiority, Melville the cosmopolitan son of the sea instinctively understand the idea of difference, celebrating the cultures and religions he comes into contact with, though if anything, he’s harder on Christianity that Islam or Judaism.
But his critical, observant eye sees so clearly that when I read his descriptions of Istanbul, there is much I recognize of the city I lived in for 18 years.
If you love Istanbul and want to read a fascinating work on this city, I highly recommend this. Of course the other sections of the book, whether we’re speaking about Cairo, Jerusalem, Salonika or Italy, which he traveled from Naples to Genoa, are worth the time to read.
This is exactly what makes this journal so brilliant. Here we have a masterful writer writing in a personal shorthand that is purposefully devoid of traditional structures. Used as a source for any number of poems about his trip, the notes in no way resemble Melville’s poems, while beautiful, are stuccoed with the froth of 19th century writing.
Here the maxim: first thought, best thought means something. If Defoe was a master of the semi-colon, writing lengthy paragraphs with it, then Melville is a master of the dash, and there are few punctuation devices I love more than a dash.
Just as importantly is Melville’s critical judgement. Whereas Twain in Innocents Abroad touts North American superiority, Melville the cosmopolitan son of the sea instinctively understand the idea of difference, celebrating the cultures and religions he comes into contact with, though if anything, he’s harder on Christianity that Islam or Judaism.
But his critical, observant eye sees so clearly that when I read his descriptions of Istanbul, there is much I recognize of the city I lived in for 18 years.
If you love Istanbul and want to read a fascinating work on this city, I highly recommend this. Of course the other sections of the book, whether we’re speaking about Cairo, Jerusalem, Salonika or Italy, which he traveled from Naples to Genoa, are worth the time to read.
Displaying 1 of 1 review