Reading Moby Dick in Israel, 2012

Professor Shamir had asked us what it’s like to read Moby-Dick in Israel in the year 2012. Specifically for me, I don’t think it would have made much of a difference if I were to take this class in some place other than in Israel (with or without Prof. Shamir), meaning, I don’t think I would have felt differently reading the book from anywhere else (unless of course Prof. Shamir would have adapted the course differently, if say, she were to teach it in the States, I don’t know). What I do know is that Moby Dick was always one of those classics in my to-do list. I have another copy of it at home which I bought a long time ago, but it was always put off, there was always some newer book coming along that postponed that idea, plus the “rumors” on the difficulty and boringness didn’t much help. Anyways, when I came across this course I was really excited that finally I will get the chance to read this masterpiece I was sooooo kin on not reading. What I like about this course is that we don’t just read the book (obviously) but we also discuss the link between the story itself and America and how the book is some sort of an allegory to America and the American dream as perceived in the nineteenth century. Also the reactions of the American literary society after the book came out and even many years after are interesting and help me in understanding the term “Americanness” during that era. The analysis done in class allows me to read this somewhat difficult book in a much easier-to-navigate way, and opens it up to many more ideas and hidden things that I don’t think I would have noticed had I read this book by myself outside of this class. For me this class is not just about Moby-Dick it’s about Moby-Dick and American studies