Cast Off on a Sea of Obsession: Herman Melville's Moby Dick beckons you aboard the Pequod, a whaling vessel bound not for oil or plunder, but for the white whale Moby Dick, a leviathan woven from vengeance and myth. Captain Ahab, his spirit cleaved by Moby Dick's fury, steers this odyssey with monomaniacal purpose, dragging his diverse crew into a maelstrom of destiny. Through Ishmael's Mariner's Eye: Witness the perilous dance of existence aboard the Pequod. Every sailor, from the tattooed harpooner Queequeg ...
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Cast Off on a Sea of Obsession: Herman Melville's Moby Dick beckons you aboard the Pequod, a whaling vessel bound not for oil or plunder, but for the white whale Moby Dick, a leviathan woven from vengeance and myth. Captain Ahab, his spirit cleaved by Moby Dick's fury, steers this odyssey with monomaniacal purpose, dragging his diverse crew into a maelstrom of destiny. Through Ishmael's Mariner's Eye: Witness the perilous dance of existence aboard the Pequod. Every sailor, from the tattooed harpooner Queequeg to the enigmatic Pip, hides their own hidden depths. As Ishmael, our observant narrator, chronicles their daily struggles against the storm and the whale, their humanity unfolds against the canvas of the vast, untamed sea. Beyond the Thrill of the Hunt: Moby Dick transcends mere adventure. It plunges you into the abyss of philosophical inquiry. What drives good and evil? Can fate be defied? Is the struggle between man and nature eternally destined for tragedy? Each encounter with Moby Dick peels back another layer of these existential questions, leaving you grappling with their weight long after the Pequod's final plunge. Lyrical Echoes on a Canvas of Eternity: Prepare to be swept away by Melville's lyrical prose, as powerful and poetic as the ocean itself. He paints vivid portraits of the whale's fury, the camaraderie of the crew, and the awe-inspiring vastness of the sea. His words sear themselves into your mind, leaving indelible scars like Moby Dick's ivory tusks, marking you forever with the story's profound impact. A Monument in the Literary Seascape: Moby Dick is not just a novel; it's a literary colossus, its tale echoing through generations. Dive into its depths and emerge forever changed, shaped by its epic struggles, its timeless questions, and its haunting beauty. Let it become your own personal leviathan, a symbol of the depths of human experience and the enduring power of storytelling.
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PLEASE NOTE, WE DO NOT SHIP TO DENMARK. New Book. Shipped from UK in 4 to 14 days. Established seller since 2000. Please note we cannot offer an expedited shipping service from the UK.
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Fine. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 746 p. Intended for a juvenile audience. In Stock. 100% Money Back Guarantee. Brand New, Perfect Condition, allow 4-14 business days for standard shipping. To Alaska, Hawaii, U.S. protectorate, P.O. box, and APO/FPO addresses allow 4-28 business days for Standard shipping. No expedited shipping. All orders placed with expedited shipping will be cancelled. Over 3, 000, 000 happy customers.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
New. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 746 p. Intended for a juvenile audience. In Stock. 100% Money Back Guarantee. Brand New, Perfect Condition, allow 4-14 business days for standard shipping. To Alaska, Hawaii, U.S. protectorate, P.O. box, and APO/FPO addresses allow 4-28 business days for Standard shipping. No expedited shipping. All orders placed with expedited shipping will be cancelled. Over 3, 000, 000 happy customers.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
PLEASE NOTE, WE DO NOT SHIP TO DENMARK. New Book. Shipped from UK in 4 to 14 days. Established seller since 2000. Please note we cannot offer an expedited shipping service from the UK.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Fine. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 746 p. Intended for a juvenile audience. In Stock. 100% Money Back Guarantee. Brand New, Perfect Condition, allow 4-14 business days for standard shipping. To Alaska, Hawaii, U.S. protectorate, P.O. box, and APO/FPO addresses allow 4-28 business days for Standard shipping. No expedited shipping. All orders placed with expedited shipping will be cancelled. Over 3, 000, 000 happy customers.
This book was just like new & in excellent condition.
dekesolomon
Oct 31, 2009
Whaling is a deep subject.
A lot of people can't understand Moby-Dick. And I think, to an extent, nobody can fully understand this book who doesn't know at least a little about the transcendentalist movement in American literature.
Transcendentalism, to Thoreau and Emerson, et al., was the idea that one can get to know God by studying nature. Thoreau was transcendentalism's greatest proponent. That's what 'Walden Pond' was all about.
Melville used Ahab and the whale to show (to put it as simply as possible) that one thing we learn when we study nature is that God isn't necessarily a creature we'd like to be closely acquainted with. When little Pip, the cabin boy, falls out of the whaleboat -- to take one example -- he sinks down and down, then he goes down a little farther, then farther still, and then he sinks some more until, bye and bye, he sank so far down in the ocean that he 'saw God's foot on the treadle of the loom.' At that point his mind snapped and when he finally broke surface, he was as crazy as a crap-house mouse. Having seen God, he became a madman, and his derangement was permanent.
Ahab is crazy because he, too, has met God -- and the damned thing took his leg off. He was not happy about losing his leg. He has sworn vengeance on God (manifest in the unstoppable power of the whale) and he will have it if it kills him -- as of course it finally does. Ahab's rage against God reflects the human creature's rage to order the insane universe (God) in which we live.
I mean, that vein is deep and rich. Moby-Dick gives us plenty of room to think and plenty of material to think about, and if we bother to think about it we'll be thinking for a long while. How about the scene where the men sit in a circle around a tub, squishing spermaceti between their fingers? Is there a circle-jerk going on there? Is there a hint at the homosexuality that was so common in all-male crews who spent months and years at sea?
In sum, I believe the novel has at least three purposes and at least two of those are didactic. On the one hand it discourses on transcendentalism, on the nature of God and the nature of man and the relationship between them. On the other hand, it discourses on the life of the whalers. We learn from reading Moby-Dick a very great deal about life and work on a wooden, wind-powered, Yankee whaling vessel. You can read it one way, you can read it the other way, or you can read it as a straight-up, meaningless adventure yarn. No matter how you read it, it's a whale of a tale and it's one that always yields more to those who re-read it.
I give it five stars because I think it earns every one of 'em.
abc20
Aug 6, 2007
Where to start with Moby Dick...
Had to read this book for English. The opening was really interesting, and it wasn't too bad until they were on the boat and Melville goes on and on about whale parts. I was warned about this in advance, so I just skimmed over those parts. It's really a great classic story if you can get beyond Melville's style at times.
