Another Fuckin' Flowers book, number 10 to be exact. Although it does seem like his nickname of That Fuckin' Flowers is being phased out and he's just Virgil now. I'm ok with that.
Virgil is called to Trippton, MN, which you may remember from Deadline, book number 8. This time the body of one of the richest women in Trippton has been "caught" by a fisherman. Except, we already know who killed Gina Hemming, because the first chapter introduced us to Bug Boy, David Birkmann and showed us the murder. But wait, David didn't throw Gina's body in the frozen river. He staged an accident. So.....how did she get there?
Naturally, we have to have another case thrown in to make Virgil's life more complicated. Margaret Griffin shows up in Trippton, an ex-L.A. cop, paid by Mattel, to come put a stop to counterfeit Barbies. Not JUST Barbies. These Barbie's have a special...."feature". As do the Ken dolls. Whew. Who thinks this stuff up?
I really enjoyed how Virgil handled this one. I had to re-read his solving of the murder and was damn impressive at how his brain works.
Fully recommend this one, no need to even start at the beginning of the series.
I was searching out podcasts of other folk's opinions on Moby Dick. This was one of my favorites and is now on my list of podcasts to listen to on a regular basis.
My 2017 Big Damn Classic as voted by YOU, the readers, (thanks a lot)! I started listening to this in September 2017 and finished last night.
Librivox says this was only 24 hours long but, lordy, it felt longer sometimes. Stewart Wills is a fantastic reader so if you do dive into this book, find his version on Librivox.org.
So let's get into this, hmm? I'll admit that it took so long to listen to that the beginning of the book is a bit foggy but overall we are met with action and long descriptions. We are met with deep views into people called Savages and into savage people. At the heart of this, Melville delves into the people. I laughed that this was a book with 133 chapters learning about the characters and 2 chapters watching them die. It was actually a terribly sad ending.
Call me Ishmael.
One of the most famous opening lines leads us into Ishmael's narrative about trying to get a job on a whaling ship in Nantucket. He arrives at the Spouter's Inn and is forced to share a bed since they were full. He ends up with Queequeg (or Hedgehog as people kept calling him, which made me laugh harder than it should), a heavily tattooed pagan cannibal who is also an excellent harpooner. Ishmael and Queequeg quickly become friends and soon head to the Pequod to try and get work. Queequeg is a given based on his ability with a harpoon. Ishmael gets in reluctantly.
Ahab is the ship's captain and isn't seen for a long while after the ship has sailed. Chief Mate Starbuck handles everything in the Captain's absence. Second Mate, Stubb and Third Mate, Flask make up the main crew. After the ship is on it's way, Ahab gathers the crew to tell them their goal is to find the white whale, Moby Dick. He offers up a reward for anyone who helps capture and kill the whale. Here we know that, technically, this ship is set for whaling in general. Ahab has now made this voyage his personal vendetta against the whale that took his leg.
Not everyone is pleased with this. The longer the voyage, the less pleased they are with Ahab's direction. At one point, Ahab's death was on the mind of his Chief Mate but, alas, nothing came of it.
In the end, Moby Dick is spotted and, for 3 days, Ahab orders his men out to try and kill the whale. Moby is an angry whale. He wreaks havoc on Ahabs crew: destroying the whale boats, sinking the Pequod and killing everyone on board and finally killing Ahab and everyone in the whale boats.
Except for Ishmael. Who is found days later, clinging to a buoy in the middle of the ocean.
I'm going to go out on a limb and say that vengeance is bad. Ahab was cold and heartless towards everyone around him. He was laser-focused on his revenge against the white whale that nothing else, and no one else, mattered. Even when the men of his crew begged him to stop this chase so they would live to see their families, he turned a deaf ear.
There is so much more to this story that my summation doesn't do it justice. Is it worth reading? Yes, I think so. Some chapters nearly killed me but now I know the skeletal anatomy of a whale so there's extra trivia knowledge. I did enjoy meeting the characters and was truly saddened at their demise at the hands of Ahab's fury.
Firstly, there are movies, of which I have seen none:
In The Heart Of The Sea (with Chris Hemsworth, no less) Based on the true story of the Essex being rammed by a sperm whale
I had heard about this book from the Down Cellar Studio podcast. The host was embarking on her own Happiness Project and I was curious. We're already into February so I won't be starting my own project but I did pick up several tips I want to try.
Rubin researched what happiness is and how to achieve it then spent a year trying to live it. Each month focused on a different aspect and then December was a culmination of everything she learned. In the end, she was happier, although there were no means of measurement. It was interesting to read what her happiness definitions were (fighting right with her spouse, for one) and to see where she failed or where the advice failed her.
She tried a Pollyanna week, where she spoke no negativity, no snide remarks, no criticisms. She failed before she got out of bed. But she kept trying, over and over.
Happiness appears to be a trait you need to continually practice. There are people out there who do not want you to be happy. Situations can tax your spirit. But, like Buddhism, it's all about practice.
Enthusiasm is more important to mastery than innate ability, it turns out, because the single most important element in developing an expertise is your willingness to practice.
Some advice is curious, such as starting a collection. Rubin tried and then stopped. It just wasn't her. One of her main truths she followed in this project was "Be Gretchen". Being yourself, 100%, when the world is telling you what you should be doing is difficult, but Rubin recognized when the happiness advice was counter to her inner truth. I marked a few passages and quotes to help me 'think happy':
One reason that challenge brings happiness is that it allows you to expand your self-definition. You become larger. Suddenly you can do yoga or make homemade beer or speak a decent amount of Spanish. Research shows that the more elements make up your identity, the less threatening it is when any one element is threatened.
Studies show that consistently grateful people are happier and more satisfied with their lives; they even feel more physically healthy and spend more time exercising.
Gratitude brings freedom from envy, because when you’re grateful for what you have, you’re not consumed with wanting something different or something more.
One of the best ways to make yourself happy is to make other people happy. One of the best ways to make other people happy is to be happy yourself.
What I really took from this is compassion and gratitude are key. Again, much like Buddhism. Rubin delved into Buddhism a bit and worked on her mindfulness. That is also key to being grateful and paying attention to now.
It takes work to be happy, but in the end, it not only benefits you, it benefits those around you.
