Today's post is one of the ones that I don't recall when or where I heard/read about the subject but finally got around to looking into it. Before "Moby Dick" was authored by Melville there was an earlier book by the title of "Mocha Dick" written by Jeremiah Reynolds with the same basic storyline...huge albino whale hunted by whalers and manages to take a toll before they finally get the better of him. The name Mocha Dick is explained by the fact that the whale was usually encountered around Mocha Island off the coast of Chile,the reason for the name Moby is not known. Mocha was a gentle giant, that is until they started jabbing him with harpoons then he would get a bit ill tempered and strike back,but who could blame him?? My question is even though "Moby Dick" was a commercial failure in Melville's time, does it deserve a place in greatest books of all time when the idea was less than original? For those of you wondering Melville was not only aware of "Mocha Dick" he said it was his inspiration.
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