November 30, 2010
Moby-Dick and metafiction ethics
By Daniel Silliman
There should be a warning on the cover of Moby-Dick. Beware, it should say, reading this will require blood.
There should be a warning on the cover of Moby-Dick. Beware, it should say, reading this will require blood.
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October 27, 2010
Trying to do something important: a couple of thoughts on ambition in a work of art
By Daniel Silliman
Melville worries that his ambition will fail, that his picture of the whale will “remain unpainted at the last.” He is always aware he’s always on the verge of the whole thing breaking down, but the ambition is there. Beating underneath. It acts as the will to will it onward, the drive to make it work, a promise to try to do something great, the stakes that are high enough to make it worth while even if the whole thing fails.
Ambition, all by itself, makes the work a thing of value.
Melville worries that his ambition will fail, that his picture of the whale will “remain unpainted at the last.” He is always aware he’s always on the verge of the whole thing breaking down, but the ambition is there. Beating underneath. It acts as the will to will it onward, the drive to make it work, a promise to try to do something great, the stakes that are high enough to make it worth while even if the whole thing fails.
Ambition, all by itself, makes the work a thing of value.
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