The focus may well be call me ishmael and the other melville essays, but the letters touch upon the bookish as well as the exoceanic melville, the maximus poems, historiography such as olsons a special view of history published in book form by oyez shortly after olsons death in 1970, and even the spatial human future implied by the. In 1939 he won a guggenheim grant to study melville. If cormac mccarthy were to write a critical study of moby dick, it would probably look something like call me ishmael. Olsons earliest book, call me ishmael 1947, a study of herman melvilles novel moby dick, was a continuation of his m. Published by literary licensing, llc 712012 2012 isbn 10. Amazon second chance pass it on, trade it in, give it a second life. At times he writes with refreshing straightforwardness for example. The principal contribution call me ishmael makes to melville studies is its insistence upon the importance of shakespeare, especially king lear, to the creation and understanding of mobydick. Publication date 1967 topics melville, herman, 18191891. Buy call me ishmael by charles olson online at alibris. Call me ishmael johns hopkins university press books.
Call me ishmael by charles olson 2015, paperback for. Lawrences studies in classic american literature, uses the literary text as pretext for a deeper. One of the first melvilleans to advance what has since become known as the theory. First published in 1947, this acknowledged classic of american literary criticism explores the influencesespecially shakespearean oneson melvilles writing of mobydick. Call me ishmael by charles olson, 1947 online research. Call me ishmael reiterates much end page 52 of the original essay, but revises its significance by reversing the central thesis and. Read call me ishmael online by charles olson books free 30. Read call me ishmael by charles olson for free with a 30 day free trial. During the 1940s olson also worked in various positions for the us government. I call it a gloss, because olsen just doesnt analyze moby dick but also considers melvilles symbolism, life and earlier and later writings. Read unlimited books and audiobooks on the web, ipad, iphone and android. Charles olson 19101970, an avant garde poet, literary critic. This record is in and of itself an amazing piece of americana. Considerable attention is devoted to olsons theory of projectivism, the themes and techniques of his short poems, and the strategies and content of his major work, the maximus series.
First, olson commits the longest and most discursive section of the book to an interpretation of shakespeares importance to melville, a subject he first addresses in his 1938 essay lear and mobydick. It might be too much to say that one of the greatest things about reading mobydick is that you get to read call me ishmael afterwards, but its a significant perk, no question. A study of melville by charles olson and a great selection of related books. I am interested in a melville who was longeyed enough call me ishmael 1 3 to. Heath anthology of american literaturecharles olson. Olsons first book was call me ishmael 1947, a study of herman melvilles novel moby dick which was a continuation of his m. American sea stories, american fiction, criticism and interpretation, english influences, history and criticism, influence, knowledge, literature, religion, religion and literature. In call me ishmael, olson employs an unconventional structure and approach. Olson indicates its influence once on melville, who actually know one of the survivors. This is a book for all devotees of herman melville. It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife. After various warrelated jobs, and a stint working for the democratic party and fdrs reelection in. A valuable companion to editions of olsons poetry, the book backgrounds the poetics, preoccupations, and fascinations that underpin his great poems.
He attended wesleyan, yale, and finally worked on a ph. A modern correspondence, university press of new england hanover, nh, 1999. Olson has done some original and arresting research, in particular the records of the horrifying voyage, disaster and survival of the crewor part of it of a whaling ship, the essex. His poetry is marked by an almost limitless range of interest and extraordinary depth of feeling. A study of melville hardback or cased book olson, charles. These are the questions that poetcritic charles olson tacklessometimes directly, sometimes obliquely, and always with brisk, sharp languagein call me ishmael, his study of melville and mobydick. That is the ahab world, and it is sweet rosebud of marion davies, by all that.
Included are call me ishmael, a classic of american literary criticism. It might be too much to say that one of the greatest things about reading mobydick is that you get to read call me ishmael afterwards, but its a significant perk, no question first published in 1947, call me ishmael concentrates on the influences that fed. The other is don antonios cry against all the simon carrascos of life who gloat when they have unseated a poor knight. Call me ishmael by charles olson, 1947 online research library. Charles olson s call me ishmael is one of the best books of literary criticism ive ever read. Call me ishmael by charles olson, 9780801857317, available at book depository with free delivery worldwide. In 1938, he took up a guggenheim fellowship in support of research on herman melville, leading to the publication of call me ishmael. Butterick, a guide to the maximus poems of charles olson, 1978 ann charters, olson melville. This careful disorderliness which giono and jacques found in mobydick is, as has been often remarked, one of the book s central features. Call me ishmael by charles olson mindful pleasures. City lights books, 1947 american fiction 119 pages. A study in affinity, 1968 paul christensen, charles olson.
One of the first melvilleans to advance what has since become known as the theory of the two mobydicks, olson argues that there were two versions of mobydick, and that melvilles reading king lear for the first. Olson first gained recognition for call me ishmael 1947, a reworked version of his previous study of the literary influences on melvilles moby dick. A seminal figure in postworld war ii literature, charles olson 19101970 has helped define the postmodern sensibility. Call me ishmael american literature in the world melville makes this entry his first day on it. In his 1947 study of melville, call me ishmael, charles olson explains that mobydick was two books written between february, 1850 and august, 1851. Charles olson was born in massachusetts in 1910 and grew up there. American poet charles olsons nearly 100page meditation on the dick written in the late 1940s and available today in the volume of olsons collected prose published by university of california press in 1997 is more than a work of textual interpretation written in an. It 6 call me ishmael became the duty of charles ramsdale, also of. Melville prepared the way for mobydick by ridiculing, in 1850, the idea that. Charles olsons call me ishmael is one of the best books of literary criticism ive ever read. Charles boer, charles olson in connecticut, 1975 emiko bollobas, charles olson, 1992 george f. Call me ishmael, of course, are the first words of the classic american novel, mobydick. First published in 1947, this acknowledged classic of american lite. About that time olson joined the faculty of black mountain college, an experimental liberal arts school in black mountain, n.