December 2020 Recommended Reading/Viewing

[Coír Draoi Ceítien]

It's the third year anniversary of when I started making monthly recommendations. It seems longer, though. Anyway, as the year winds down, I'm sure man of us are actively ready for it. Here's hoping that 2021 has at least some redeeming value to it. As the last recommendations of the year, I'm turning to the works of the great American author Herman Melville for a couple of sea adventures. Perhaps some of you have experienced these before, but whether you have or not, maybe it would be worthwhile to pick them up now for the first or second time.

Reading: Moby-Dick (1851) by Herman Melville

A particular favorite of mine, the classic story of the ship Pequod, captained by the unbalanced Ahab, and the chase for the mysterious white whale Moby-Dick originally sank with little trace until critical reevaluation in the early 20th century, after which it has gone on to be considered a serious contender for the distinction of "Great American Novel." It's a strange work - one that seems to shift format from time to time and often falls into digressions which frequently interrupt the narrative - and casual readers may find it frustrating, especially in comparison to contemporary books, but the for the one who sticks with it and follows the trail wherever it goes, it can be a uniquely rewarding experience of the novel as a serious art form. I recommend at least one reading in your life.

Mass Market: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0451532287?tag=randohouseinc7986-20
Trade: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/067978327X?tag=randohouseinc7986-20
Trade (Deluxe): https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0143105957?tag=randohouseinc7986-20
Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000QCS8VA?tag=randohouseinc7986-20



Viewing: Billy Budd (Peter Ustinov, 1962)

During the Napoleonic Wars, the HMS Avenger conscripts a young sailor names Billy Budd - a sincerely innocent man with a debilitating stammer in times of stress - and the crew gradually takes a close liking to him - all except the brutal master-at-arms, who seeks to destroy the man who represents everything that he loathes in the world. Based on Melville's final posthumously published work, unfinished at the time of the author's death, this film, directed and starred by veteran Academy Award winning actor Peter Ustinov, may not be the most well known film out there, but it's a generally well-put-together effort that has the dubious distinction of being the film debut of classic actor Terence Stamp in the title role. A fine sea tale that serves as a morality play on innocence and evil, I feel it manages to capture the essence of Melville's style and encourage curious casual viewers to give it a shot.

DVD: https://www.amazon.com/Billy-Budd-DVD-R-Robert-Ryan/dp/B00QLWR45U/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=billy+budd+1962&qid=1606978859&sr=8-3
Blu-Ray: https://www.amazon.com/Billy-Budd-Blu-ray-Terence-Stamp/dp/B07F1FRRRB/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1
Amazon Video: https://www.amazon.com/Billy-Budd-Terence-Stamp/dp/B085LVCFZ3/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=billy+budd+1962&qid=1606978859&sr=8-1


And so 2020 comes to a close. It's been a very taxing year, to say the least. May better days be ahead of us.