Books to Movies: Melville and Do We Include Everything?

This issue has already been partly address in the post on Kleypas--certain subplots that work in a book, work less well in a movie.

The issue in this post is about art is general. Actually, it's about everything in general, including research and so-called censorship.

Here's reality: 

Something will always, always, be excised.

Yes, the stream-of-consciousness folks and the Impressionists attempted to solve the issue: Okay, we can't capture every thought, physical reaction, sound, taste, touch, smell, word, action in its absolute fullness so we will (1) stay inside someone's head and give you everything THERE or (2) go for the overall impression/sweeping reaction that captures the experience. 

And yet, even with the Impressionists and stream-of-consciousness artists--

Jack Kerouac's writing, which is quite fun, may seem like a guy talking out loud. It isn't. It's crafted. Ordinary stream-of-consciousness would be kind of dull. It would be less like this--

The most fantastic parking-lot attendant in the world, he can back a car forty miles an hour into a tight squeeze and stop at the wall, jump out, race among fenders, leap into another car, circle it fifty miles an hour in a narrow space, back swiftly into tight spot, hump, snap the car with the emergency so that you see it bounce as he flies out; then clear to the ticket shack, sprinting like a track star, hand a ticket, leap into a newly arrived car before the owner’s half out, leap literally under him as he steps out, start the car with the door flapping, and roar off to the next available spot, arc, pop in, brake, out, run; working like that without pause eight hours a night, evening rush hours and after-theater rush hours, in greasy wino pants with a frayed fur-lined jacket and beat shoes that flap.

And more like this--

Uh, eat something. Oh, I gotta remember to check my bank account. Yuck, that smell. Uh. Uh. Uh. I'm tried. That's not doing to work. It is...There are...That...This...Uh...Uh...Oh, yeah, car stuff! What time is it? Cats haven't eaten yet. Hey, pen. Uh. I think I have a headache. Battery for...Uh.

Which brings me to....

I haven't seen a movie yet that presents the middle chapters of Moby Dick--the parts about how to cut up a whale. I don't necessarily think those chapters are just Melville upping his word count. I think they are relevant. But nope. Not one movie.

It might be kind of fun if someone did--a "documentary" type movie with Ishmael narrating. Or a cut in the film, like something out of Life of Brian, where the story line is suddenly disrupted with a "How to Do This Yourself At Home" YouTube video, also narrated by Ishmael.

If you wish to stick to the classic rendering, I recommend the Patrick Stewart miniseries.