Call Me Ishmael
First published in 1947, this acknowledged classic of American literary criticism explores the influences—especially Shakespearean ones—on Melville's writing of Moby-Dick. One of the first Melvilleans to advance what has since become known as the "theory of the two Moby-Dicks," Olson argues that there were two versions of Moby-Dick, and that Melville's reading King Lear for the first time in between the first and second versions of the book had a profound impact on his conception of the saga: "the first book did not contain Ahab," writes Olson, and "it may not, except incidentally, have contained Moby-Dick." If literary critics and reviewers at the time responded with varying degrees of skepticism to the "theory of the two Moby-Dicks," it was the experimental style and organization of the book that generated the most controversy. Passionate in his poetry, Olson was no less passionate in his reading of Melville. Impatient with what he regarded as traditional forms of literary criticism, Olson engaged his own creativity to write a book as robust, original, and compelling as Melville's masterpiece.
"Not only important, but apocalyptic."—New York Herald Tribune
"One of the most stimulating essays ever written on Moby-Dick, and for that matter on any piece of literature, and the forces behind it."—San Francisco Chronicle
"Olson has been a tireless student of Melville and every Melville lover owes him a debt for his Scotland Yard pertinacity in getting on the trail of Melville's dispersed library."—Lewis Mumford, New York Times
"Records, often brilliantly, one way of taking the most extraordinary of American books."—W. E. Bezanson, New England Quarterly
"The most important contribution to Melville criticism since Raymond Weaver's pioneering contribution in 1921."—George Mayberry, New Republic
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Call Me Ishmael
First published in 1947, this acknowledged classic of American literary criticism explores the influences—especially Shakespearean ones—on Melville's writing of Moby-Dick. One of the first Melvilleans to advance what has since become known as the "theory of the two Moby-Dicks," Olson argues that there were two versions of Moby-Dick, and that Melville's reading King Lear for the first time in between the first and second versions of the book had a profound impact on his conception of the saga: "the first book did not contain Ahab," writes Olson, and "it may not, except incidentally, have contained Moby-Dick." If literary critics and reviewers at the time responded with varying degrees of skepticism to the "theory of the two Moby-Dicks," it was the experimental style and organization of the book that generated the most controversy. Passionate in his poetry, Olson was no less passionate in his reading of Melville. Impatient with what he regarded as traditional forms of literary criticism, Olson engaged his own creativity to write a book as robust, original, and compelling as Melville's masterpiece.
"Not only important, but apocalyptic."—New York Herald Tribune
"One of the most stimulating essays ever written on Moby-Dick, and for that matter on any piece of literature, and the forces behind it."—San Francisco Chronicle
"Olson has been a tireless student of Melville and every Melville lover owes him a debt for his Scotland Yard pertinacity in getting on the trail of Melville's dispersed library."—Lewis Mumford, New York Times
"Records, often brilliantly, one way of taking the most extraordinary of American books."—W. E. Bezanson, New England Quarterly
"The most important contribution to Melville criticism since Raymond Weaver's pioneering contribution in 1921."—George Mayberry, New Republic
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Call Me Ishmael

Call Me Ishmael

by Charles Olson
Call Me Ishmael
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Call Me Ishmael

Call Me Ishmael

by Charles Olson

Overview

First published in 1947, this acknowledged classic of American literary criticism explores the influences—especially Shakespearean ones—on Melville's writing of Moby-Dick. One of the first Melvilleans to advance what has since become known as the "theory of the two Moby-Dicks," Olson argues that there were two versions of Moby-Dick, and that Melville's reading King Lear for the first time in between the first and second versions of the book had a profound impact on his conception of the saga: "the first book did not contain Ahab," writes Olson, and "it may not, except incidentally, have contained Moby-Dick." If literary critics and reviewers at the time responded with varying degrees of skepticism to the "theory of the two Moby-Dicks," it was the experimental style and organization of the book that generated the most controversy. Passionate in his poetry, Olson was no less passionate in his reading of Melville. Impatient with what he regarded as traditional forms of literary criticism, Olson engaged his own creativity to write a book as robust, original, and compelling as Melville's masterpiece.
"Not only important, but apocalyptic."—New York Herald Tribune
"One of the most stimulating essays ever written on Moby-Dick, and for that matter on any piece of literature, and the forces behind it."—San Francisco Chronicle
"Olson has been a tireless student of Melville and every Melville lover owes him a debt for his Scotland Yard pertinacity in getting on the trail of Melville's dispersed library."—Lewis Mumford, New York Times
"Records, often brilliantly, one way of taking the most extraordinary of American books."—W. E. Bezanson, New England Quarterly
"The most important contribution to Melville criticism since Raymond Weaver's pioneering contribution in 1921."—George Mayberry, New Republic

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781789126235
Publisher: Valmy Publishing
Publication date: 12/05/2018
Sold by: Bookwire
Format: eBook
Pages: 84
File size: 487 KB

About the Author

Charles Olson (1910-1970) was an American author and poet. He was an influential figure in the Black Mountain school of the 1950s, a circle of experimental poets that included Robert Duncan, Robert Creeley, and Edward Dorn.
Born on December 17, 1910, to Karl Joseph and Mary Hines Olson, and raised in Worcester, Massachusetts, he was educated at Wesleyan University and Harvard, where he studied American civilization. During the Second World War, he worked for the Democratic Party and for the Office of War information as assistant chief of the Foreign Language Division.
His first book, Call Me Ishmael, a study of Mellville's Moby-Dick, was published in 1947, and his next book, The Mayan Letters (1953), comprises a collection of letters written to his protégé Robert Creeley from Mexico, where he was studying Mayan hieroglyphics. His influential manifesto, "Projective Verse," was published in pamphlet form in 1950 and then quoted in William Carlos Williams' Autobiography (1951). He also started writing poetry, including The Kingfishers, In Cold Hell, and Thicket (1953). The Distances, his second collection, was published in 1960.
In 1951, Olson succeeded the artist Josef Albers as rector of Black Mountain College, North Carolina, and remained there until it closed in 1956. He taught again at the State University of New York, Buffalo (1963-1965), but later settled in Gloucester, Massachusetts. He devoted most of his time and energy in subsequent years to The Maximus Poems, which begun in 1950 as a sequence of verse letters to his friend Vincent Ferrini. The first volume was published in 1960, followed by the second volume, The Maximus Poems, IV, V, VI, in 1968. The unfinished final volume, The Maximus Poems, Volume III, was published posthumously in 1975.
Olson died in New York on January 10, 1970, aged 59.



Born on December 17, 1910, to Karl Joseph and Mary Hines Olson, and raised in Worcester, Massachusetts, he was educated at Wesleyan University and Harvard, where he studied American civilization. During the Second World War, he worked for the Democratic Party and for the Office of War information as assistant chief of the Foreign Language Division.
His first book, Call Me Ishmael, a study of Mellville’s Moby-Dick, was published in 1947, and his next book, The Mayan Letters (1953), comprises a collection of letters written to his protégé Robert Creeley from Mexico, where he was studying Mayan hieroglyphics. His influential manifesto, “Projective Verse,” was published in pamphlet form in 1950 and then quoted in William Carlos Williams’ Autobiography (1951). He also started writing poetry, including The Kingfishers, In Cold Hell, and Thicket (1953). The Distances, his second collection, was published in 1960.
In 1951, Olson succeeded the artist Josef Albers as rector of Black Mountain College, North Carolina, and remained there until it closed in 1956. He taught again at the State University of New York, Buffalo (1963-1965), but later settled in Gloucester, Massachusetts. He devoted most of his time and energy in subsequent years to The Maximus Poems, which begun in 1950 as a sequence of verse letters to his friend Vincent Ferrini. The first volume was published in 1960, followed by the second volume, The Maximus Poems, IV, V, VI, in 1968. The unfinished final volume, The Maximus Poems, Volume III, was published posthumously in 1975.
Olson died in New York on January 10, 1970, aged 59.

Table of Contents

Fact 1Prologue3
Part IFact
Call me Ishmael11
What Lies Under16
Usufruct26
Part IISource: Shakespeare
The Discovery of Moby-Dick35
American Shiloh41
Man, to Man44
King Lear47
A Moby-Dick Manuscript52
Captain Ahab and His Fool59
The Act64
Fact 2Dromenon77
Part IIIThe Book of the Law of the Blood81
Part IVLoss: Christ89
A Last Fact109
Part VThe Conclusion: Pacific Man113
Afterword: On Olson and Melville121
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