Blog Writing
Whoever reads Moby Dick today will recognize that the style he uses is remarkably familiar. In fact, the style used by Melville is practically identical to the modern day style of the blog. The author tells his story as though from the point of view of Ishmael, a seaman who decides to join a ship which is going whaling. Ishmael is incredibly verbose and he tells his tale as though he were keeping a diary. However, the reader is addressed often and the addresses include apologies and elaborations. This is precisely the style of construction of the associative writing of the blog.
The Time Line
The blog also contains an element of time in it. The blogger experiences and shares his experiences over the course of time. This is reflected in the fact that the blog is constructed of a series of entries some of which are more connected than others. In a similar way, Ishmael seemingly experiences his adventure in almost real time. There are some few exceptions where the author puts into Ishmael’s words clues to the conclusion of the story (it is clear that Ishmael has survived to tell the tale, for example. It is also clear that his cannibal friend is going to die at some point in the tale).
Before his Time
This blog style, which when I first read Moby Dick made the tale more cumbersome, today seems to me to be a near perfect style of blogging. The fact that the author was able to conceive of and maintain such a style is a credit to the author and his skill. It would seem that in today’s modern age, the world is more prepared to accept Moby Dick. In fact, I would even add that some of the authoritative elaborations that appear in the tale also resemble the online style of today where research can be accomplished by anyone who has access to the Internet.
