Moby-Dick; or, The Whale is an epic sea-story of Captain Ahab's voyage in pursuit of Moby Dick, a great white whale and is considered one of the Great American Novels and a leading work of American Romanticism. Narrated by Ishmael the story follows the voyage of the whaleship Pequod, commanded by Captain Ahab who sole mission is revenge on Moby Dick, a ferocious white whale which had destroyed Ahab's ship and severed his leg at the knee. Herman Melville was an American writer of novels, short stories and poetry. Melville ...
Read More
Moby-Dick; or, The Whale is an epic sea-story of Captain Ahab's voyage in pursuit of Moby Dick, a great white whale and is considered one of the Great American Novels and a leading work of American Romanticism. Narrated by Ishmael the story follows the voyage of the whaleship Pequod, commanded by Captain Ahab who sole mission is revenge on Moby Dick, a ferocious white whale which had destroyed Ahab's ship and severed his leg at the knee. Herman Melville was an American writer of novels, short stories and poetry. Melville was a schoolteacher for a short time and a seaman. On his first voyage he jumped ship in the Marquesas Islands. His first book, Typee, was an account of that time and became a bestseller and Melville became known as the "man who lived among the cannibals." Public indifference to Moby-Dick put an end to his career as a popular author. It was not until the "Melville Revival" in the early 20th century that his work won recognition.
Read Less
Very nice book, and extremely prompt shipping...thanks again!
milly
Oct 13, 2011
Hardcover in great shape, came exactly as described. This is a somewhat scarce,annotated edition. And, Moby Dick ( with or without the annotations), is THE single greatest book ever written.
joekc6nlx
Apr 24, 2008
The Great American Novel
When I studied this book in college, we discussed what Melville was describing in this story. It's not only about a young man's transformation through his experiences on the Pequod, nor is it only about Ahab's obsession with killing Moby Dick to the exclusion of all else. It's about man's struggle against Nature, the attempts by man to change, control, and eventually overcome Nature. Melville understood that man could never accomplish this, but would only end up destroying himself as Ahab destroyed himself by harpooning Moby Dick.
In my opinion, this is still the greatest American novel ever written, not only for the twin stories of Ishmael and Ahab, but also educational in how whalers lived, worked, and sometimes died.