Moby-Dick (Barnes & Noble Classics Series) (original 1851; edition 2003)

by Herman Melville, Carl F. Hovde (Introduction)

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▾Book information

Member:	feliciajeansteele
Title:	Moby-Dick (Barnes & Noble Classics Series)
Authors:	Herman Melville
Other authors:	Carl F. Hovde (Introduction)
Info:	Barnes & Noble Classics (2003), Edition: 10th, Paperback, 752 pages
Collections:	Your library
Rating:
Tags:	nook

Work details

Moby Dick by Herman Melville (1851)

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19th century (463) adventure (252) American (359) American fiction (71) American literature (651) classic (858) classic fiction (71) Classic Literature (91) classics (664) Easton Press (77) ebook (78) fiction (2,557) Kindle (74) literature (739) maritime (69) Melville (145) nautical (85) novel (568) obsession (93) own (80) read (163) Roman (69) sea (157) seafaring (72) ships (72) to-read (151) unread (143) USA (99) whales (304) whaling (379)

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▾Member recommendations

110
In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick (jseger9000)
jseger9000: In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex tells the true story that inspired Melville to write Moby Dick.
111
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Leviathan or, The Whale by Philip Hoare (chrisharpe, John_Vaughan)
41
Why Read Moby-Dick? by Nathaniel Philbrick (John_Vaughan)
10
Genoa: A Telling of Wonders by Paul Metcalf (rickybutler)
rickybutler: Melville's heir struggles to close his relationship to his preceding literary genius. Click the link above, read what you can, and get yourself hooked on one of the most critically-adored yet criminally-underread novels written in a century defined by self-analysis and experimentation.… (more)
32
The Myth of Sisyphus and other essays by Albert Camus (WilfGehlen)
WilfGehlen: Camus was greatly influenced by Melville and in The Myth of Sisyphus mentions Moby-Dick as a truly absurd work. Reading Moby-Dick with Camus' absurd in mind gives a deeper, and very different insight than provided by the usual emphasis on Ahab's quest for revenge.… (more)
43
Ahab's Wife by Sena Jeter Naslund (ecleirs24, AriadneAranea)
ecleirs24: Cause this novel is based upon a passage from Mobi Dick......
21
The Confidence-Man: His Masquerade by Herman Melville (GaryPatella)
GaryPatella: Compared to Moby Dick, The Confidence Man is a much lighter read. But after ploughing through Moby Dick, this may be a welcome change. It is not as profound, but you also don't have to struggle through any of it. This is worth reading.
10
The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway (caflores)
11
The Last Fish Tale by Mark Kurlansky (John_Vaughan)
11
Oil! by Upton Sinclair (edwinbcn)
11
The Nautical Chart by Arturo Pérez-Reverte (Ronoc)
22
Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner (ateolf)
33
Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham (JGKC)
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Ulysses by James Joyce (ateolf)
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Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon (ateolf)
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Dune by Frank Herbert (LamontCranston)
LamontCranston: I once heard Harlan Ellison talking about how some works are unadaptable into film and he cited Dune and Moby-Dick And thinking about it, both works use their story telling as platforms for ruminations on well everything about life

▾Will you like it?

▾Member reviews

English (251) German (11) Dutch (5) Spanish (5) Norwegian (2) French (2) Italian (2) Danish (1) Catalan (1) Hungarian (1) Portuguese (Portugal) (1) All languages (282)

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Moby Dick by Herman Melville is a very good book to read. It is one of the 'classical' story books that has an interesting plot. Moby Dick is a story about fisherman who encounter a very large whale and has many twists and turns in the story. I personally fell happy after I have read the book because it has an original story.

ronykhong | Jun 15, 2013 |

Five reasons why I like Moby-Dick

1. The humor: Not many mentions this, but this american classic is actually hilarious. From the descriptions of Ishmael unwittingly sharing a bed with the cannibal-"savage" Queequeg, Father Mabbles sermon on Jonah (brimming with doom and damnation), Stubbs' raging commands of the fishermen - Ahabs insanity - oh, I just smile and laugh a lot reading it.

2. The whale: Obviously. With this wild, sea monster Melville has created an immortal symbol - as in Spielbergs movie Jaws - Moby Dick is anticipated for a long time - actually only surfacing in the very end of the novel, but before that Melville has painted such a living description of that dreaded Leviathan. Both very real but also a mythic being encapsulating all what man dreads or hold dear. Whatever it represents to the reader. For me mostly I like the idea of something transcendent beyond our grasp that we can't control or fully describe or understand. Untamable. And of course we have the great finale, when we see Moby Dick in action. We need a bigger boat, could be a quote from Moby Dick and not Jaws. Oh, what a whale.

3. The tedious parts that totally disregard or interrups the narrative. All those chapters with whale classifications etc. that students dread and have cursed over. Well, not all these chapters, but in fact a lot of them are really not that tedious. Melville constantly blend the down-to-earth scientific explanations with philosophical, spiritual and Old Testament musings - as in the chapter The whiteness of the Whale. It's so brilliant.

4. Captain Ahab: Insane, stubborn, selfish. Totally absorbed in his doomed quest for revenge - like an obsessed wild man that has lost any grib on reality, he's beyond redemption. Another immortal Melville-creation. Slowly Ishmael realizes what expedition his resless nature has embarked on. Exploration comes with a prize.

5. The interpretation: While I write these lines someone on a university somewhere are struggling to find the deeper meaning of Moby-Dick. A horror novel, a microcosmos of civilization searching to tame nature, a "modern" greek tragedy warning of the passions of human beings, Old Testament judgment story. What does the whale represent? What is Melville up to? [Moby Dick] seems to have so many layers of meaning and possible interpretations. Great. (

)

ctpress | Jun 15, 2013 |

audio book, read by Frank Muller (

)

DavidO1103 | Jun 12, 2013 |

Over a century and a half after its publication, Moby-Dick still stands as an indisputable literary classic. It is the story of an eerily compelling madman pursuing an unholy war against a creature as vast and dangerous and unknowable as the sea itself. But more than just a novel of adventure, more than an encyclopedia of whaling lore and legend, Moby-Dick is a haunting, mesmerizing, and important social commentary populated with several of the most unforgettable and enduring characters in literature. Written with wonderfully redemptive humor, Moby-Dick is a profound and timeless inquiry into character, faith, and the nature of perception.

This review has been flagged by multiple users as abuse of the terms of service and is no longer displayed (show).

tauruseducation | Jun 7, 2013 |

I listened to the Moby Dick Big Read from Plymouth University
http://www.mobydickbigread.com/ Each chapter is read by a different person. So many voice and so many accents really bring this book alive. (

)

p_linehan | Jun 6, 2013 |

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▾Published reviews

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▾Other authors

» Add other authors (169 possible)

Author name	Role	Type of author	Work?	Status
Herman Melville	—	primary author	all editions	confirmed
Melville, Herman	—	main author	all editions	confirmed
Adler, Mortimer J.	Editor	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Beaver, Harold Lowther	Editor	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Fadiman, Clifton	Introduction	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Jendis, Matthias	Translator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Kent, Rockwell	Illustrator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Mummendey, Richard	Translator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Pavese, Cesare	Translator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Rathjen, Friedhelm	Translator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Robinson, Boardman	Illustrator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Turner, J.M.W.	Cover artist	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Walcutt, Charles Child	Editor	secondary author	some editions	confirmed

▾Work-to-work relationships

Is contained in

Redburn, Whitejacket, Moby Dick by Herman Melville

Works of Herman Melville by Herman Melville

Moby-Dick (Norton Critical Edition) by Herman Melville

Four American Novels (The Scarlett Letter/ Moby Dick/ The Red Badge of Courage/ The Bridge of San Luis Rey) by Edward Fuller

Has the adaptation

Moby Dick [adapted - Great Illustrated Classics] by Shirley Bogart

Moby Dick by Herman Melvillle, abridged and adapted by Jan Needle by Herman Melville

Moby-Dick: A Pop-Up Book by Sam Ita

First Classics Illustrated: Moby Dick by Herman Melville

(show 14 more)

Is abridged in

Moby Dick: Or, the White Whale (An Abridged Edition) by Herman Melville

Herman Melville: Moby-Dick or, The Whale Presented by Jan Needle by Jan Needle

Inspired

Ahab's Wife by Sena Jeter Naslund

Railsea by China Miéville

The Unwritten Vol. 4: Leviathan by Mike Carey

Has as a reference guide/companion

Herman Melville's Moby-Dick [Bloom's Modern Critical Interpretations] by Harold Bloom

Is a commentary on the text of

Herman Melville: Moby-Dick by Nick Selby

Has as a student's study guide

CliffsNotes on Melville's Moby-Dick by Cliffs Notes Editors

Herman Melville's Moby Dick (Monarch Notes) by Laurence MacPhee

Moby Dick - Herman Melville (Sparknotes) by Jia-Rui Chong

Herman Melville's Moby-Dick (Barron's Book Notes) by Herman Melville

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▾Common Knowledge

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For more help see the Common Knowledge help page.

Series (with order)

Canonical title

Moby Dick

Original title

Moby-Dick or, The Whale

Alternative titles

Original publication date

People/Characters

Important places

Pequod (Whaling Ship)

New Bedford, Massachusetts, USA

Nantucket, Massachusetts, USA

Atlantic Ocean

Pacific Ocean

Important events

Related movies

The Sea Beast (1926 ∙ IMDb)

Moby Dick (1956 ∙ IMDb)

Moby Dick (1978 ∙ IMDb)

Moby Dick (1998 ∙ IMDb)

Awards and honors

BBC's Big Read (Best loved novel, 2003, No 161)

The Observer's 100 Greatest Novels of All Time (21)

1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die (2006/2008/2010 Edition)

Guardian 1000 (War and travel)

100 Essential New England Books (Boston Globe, #1)

(show all 20 items)

Epigraph

There Leviathan, Hugest of living creatures, in the deep / Stretch'd like a promontory sleeps or swims, / And seems a moving land; and at his gills / Draws in, and at his breath spouts out a sea. PARADISE LOST

Dedication

In token

of my admiration for his genius,

This Book is Inscribed

to

Nathaniel Hawthorne.

First words

Call me Ishmael. Some years ago—never mind how long precisely—having little or no money in my purse, and nothing particular to interest me on shore, I thought I would sail about a little and see the watery part of the world.

Quotations

Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul; whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses, and bringing up the rear of every funeral I meet; and especially whenever my hypos get such an upper hand of me, that it requires a strong moral principle to prevent me from deliberately stepping into the street, and methodically knocking people's hats off -- then, I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can. ...from Chapter 1 : Loomings

"If they but knew it, almost all men in their degree, some time or other, cherish nearly the same feelings towards the ocean with me."

All visible objects, man, are but as pasteboard masks. But in each event--in the living act, the undoubted deed--there, some unknown but still reasoning thing put forth the mouldings of its features from behind the unreasoning mask. If man will strike, strike through the mask! How can the prisoner reach outside except by thrusting through the wall? To me, the white whale is that wall, shoved near to me. Sometimes I think there's naught beyond. But 'tis enough.

To the last I grapple with thee; from hell's heart I stab at thee; for hate's sake I spit my last breath at thee.

Last words

(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)

Disambiguation notice

Please do not combine adaptations or abridged editions of Moby Dick with unabridged versions. Versions aimed at children are normally abridged editions and should not be combined here. Also, books ABOUT Moby Dick (such as study guides) should not be combined with the unabridged nor the abridged novel. Please keep such books as an independent work.

The Penguin Classics 150th Anniversary Ed (ISBN 0142000086) is not abridged, although that word has appeared in some user's data.

Norton Critical editions, Longman Critical editions and other scholarly editions should not be combined with the unabridged novel. The scholarly-type editions contain much additional material so they should be considered as separate works.

Publisher's editors

Blurbers

Publisher series

▾References

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English (15)

Albany Pine Bush

Barnes & Noble Classics Collection

New Bedford Historic District

▾LibraryThing members' description

Book description

1851 : Moby-Dick published

On this day in 1851, Moby-Dick, a novel by Herman Melville about the
voyage of the whaling ship Pequod, is published by Harper & Brothers
in New York. Moby-Dick is now considered a great classic of American
literature and contains one of the most famous opening lines in
fiction: "Call me Ishmael." Initially, though, the book about Captain
Ahab and his quest for a giant white whale was a flop.

Herman Melville was born in New York City in 1819 and as a young man
spent time in the merchant marines, the U.S. Navy and on a whaling
ship in the South Seas. In 1846, he published his first novel, Typee,
a romantic adventure based on his experiences in Polynesia. The book
was a success and a sequel, Omoo, was published in 1847. Three more
novels followed, with mixed critical and commercial results.
Melville's sixth book, Moby-Dick, was first published in October 1951
in London, in three volumes titled The Whale, and then in the U.S. a
month later. Melville had promised his publisher an adventure story
similar to his popular earlier works, but instead, Moby-Dick was a
tragic epic, influenced in part by Melville's friend and Pittsfield,
Massachusetts, neighbor, Nathaniel Hawthorne, whose novels include The
Scarlet Letter.

After Moby-Dick's disappointing reception, Melville continued to
produce novels, short stories (Bartleby) and poetry, but writing
wasn't paying the bills so in 1865 he returned to New York to work as
a customs inspector, a job he held for 20 years.

Melville died in 1891, largely forgotten by the literary world. By the
1920s, scholars had rediscovered his work, particularly Moby-Dick,
which would eventually become a staple of high school reading lists
across the United States. Billy Budd, Melville's final novel, was
published in 1924, 33 years after his death.

*Note: Information provided by History.com

Haiku summary

Call me Ishmael.
Score: Whale 1, Ahab 0.
I alone returned.
(bertilak)

▾Book descriptions

Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 0142437247, Paperback)

Over a century and a half after its publication, Moby-Dick still stands as an indisputable literary classic. It is the story of an eerily compelling madman pursuing an unholy war against a creature as vast and dangerous and unknowable as the sea itself. But more than just a novel of adventure, more than an encyclopedia of whaling lore and legend, Moby-Dick is a haunting, mesmerizing, and important social commentary populated with several of the most unforgettable and enduring characters in literature. Written with wonderfully redemptive humor, Moby-Dick is a profound and timeless inquiry into character, faith, and the nature of perception.

@greatwhitetale Call me Ishmael. You could call me something else if you want, but since that’s my name, it would make sense to call me Ishmael.

Captain obsessed with finding a whale called Moby Dick. Sounds like the meanest VD ever, if you ask me. Sorry. Old joke. Couldn’t resist.

From Twitterature: The World's Greatest Books in Twenty Tweets or Less

(retrieved from Amazon Thu, 14 Feb 2013 13:43:22 -0500)

(see all 9 descriptions)

▾Library descriptions

A classic of the sea, telling of the pursuit of Moby Dick, the white whale who defied capture.

(summary from another edition)

» see all 32 descriptions

Legacy Library: Herman Melville

Herman Melville has a Legacy Library. Legacy libraries are the personal libraries of famous readers, entered by LibraryThing members from the I See Dead People's Books group.

See Herman Melville's legacy profile.

See Herman Melville's author page.