The Berkshire County Historical Society is gearing up for its 10th annual "Moby-Dick" read-a-thon at Arrowhead — the Pittsfield residence where Herman Melville wrote the book over 18 months, starting in 1850.
The public recitation of the American classic was founded back in 2016 by Jana Laiz, Arrowhead's writer-in-residence emeritus and education coordinator. Local luminaries will take part in the reading, including a coterie of elected officials. The group will also include former producer of WAMC's The Roundtable Sarah LaDuke and current WAMC Berkshire Bureau Chief Josh Landes.
Landes spoke with Laiz about what inspired her to start the read-a-thon and how he should prepare for his turn at the mic.
Editor's note: This conversation as been lightly edited for clarity.
Laiz: There's so many read-a-thons. There in, of course, New Bedford and Mystic, Connecticut, and California, and a lot of people think that he wrote "Moby-Dick" in those places, and he didn't. He actually wrote it at Arrowhead, sitting at his desk at his table, looking out the window at Mount Greylock, and that's where he wrote the entire book, and we thought it's really important for people to understand that he wrote it here, and we want to, you know, sort of celebrate that.
Landes: When you think about the role that "Moby-Dick" plays in culture today, can you explain for folks unfamiliar with its impact and literary significance why this is such a Titanic piece of American culture?
Laiz: Oh, I like that, a Titanic piece of it. It's just ... it's so allegorical, and it's philosophical, and it's funny, and it's relevant, and it's just an exciting adventure story. Besides being, you know, filled with just sort of just adventure and pathos and revenge and, you know, sort of maniacal or monomaniacal characters and just wonderful friendships developing between characters, and also, it's about whaling and it's sometimes I tend to think it's an indictment on the whaling industry, although people might disagree with me. But I've read it many times, and each time I read it, there's like new information that comes forth, and it's sort of remarkable, and it's very, very relevant. It just feels very fresh and relevant every time we read it.
Landes: Now, for those who've never attended a read-a-thon, what is the atmosphere like? I think people have a conception of, like, "oh, it's this big old stodgy book." What's it actually like when you're around people reading the words aloud and experiencing it, like the oldest traditional spoken tales?
Laiz: It's a wonderful experience. Most people don't sit for the entire thing because we don't do it overnight like they do in New Bedford and Mystic. We do it over a four-day period, so we start at 10 a.m. and we go until about 5 [p.m.], and everybody, people come and they sign up, or they sign up online beforehand, and they read for 15 minutes, and then I have the honor of ringing a cowbell to tell them to stop reading, and then the next person goes up to the podium and they start to read. And so when you listen to this book, it's like you've been to Shakespeare and Company, I'm sure, and you know that Shakespeare might be difficult to read, but when you watch a play or listen to a play, you understand it, even if you don't understand every word. And that's how I feel about "Moby-Dick." You know, you just, it washes over you, and you just get it, and it's just this marvelous book. It's just this. It's an amazing story, and it leaves you breathless, and you know, we're crying at the end, and we're laughing, and it's just a great experience, and I highly recommend people can come and just listen; they don't have to read. Some people get a little bit intimidated by the language, and you know, and we all mess up. There's a lot of big words that sometimes we can't pronounce, but we're all very supportive, and we sit in the barn, Herman Melville's barn that he had when he was here, you know. That's where he had his cows and his horse, and we are there in the barn. You feel the — it's very atmospheric, and it's just a great experience. It's really fun.
Landes: Now, of course, this year I'm making my read-a-thon debut. I need your guidance. How should I prepare? What should I look out for? How can I not embarrass the great Herman Melville on such a celebratory occasion?
Laiz: He will never be embarrassed. He's so happy that we're all here reading it because, you know, he died in obscurity. Nobody, really, nobody read the book when he was alive. So it's all this posthumous fame, and we feel like he knows this is happening. So don't worry about being embarrassed. If you have a copy of the book, you know, maybe just start to read it. We do not assign passages. We haven't quite figured out how they do that in New Bedford. It just seems like it's really hard. So what you'll do is you'll come in maybe 15 minutes before your spot and listen. And we have a lot of extra copies. We also have books to sell, obviously, in our gift shop that you can purchase. But you just can ... read beforehand and then just get ready for your part. And then just get up on the podium and just do it, you know. Just read.
Landes: I think that's the best possible advice to get for this. Hey, thank you so much for this. I'm really looking forward to the read-a-thon.
Laiz: I can't wait for it to happen. So it's July 30 through Aug. 2, and I hope to see everybody there.
