Other editions of book Why Read Moby-Dick?

Melville's classic tale of madness and revenge on the high seas. A bored school teacher seeks adventure as a whale hunter. He has no idea that the mad captain of the Pequod is interested in pursuing only one whale - the enormous white beast that bit off his leg! Now it's too late to turn back. Will Ahab's insane quest for revenge cost the entire crew their lives?

Moby-Dick; or, The Whale is an epic sea adventure told by Ishmael, the sole survivor of the Pequod, a whaling ship driven to ruin by its captain’s monomaniacal obsession to hunt and destroy a white sperm whale, Moby Dick. Captain Ahab is driven to seek revenge on the ferocious whale, who destroyed Ahab’s ship and severed his leg at the knee on a previous voyage. The opening line, “Call me Ishmael” is among the most famous in all literature. The following narrative was radical at the time for its use of a variety of styles and techniques, some quite unconventional, and covers topics ranging from the techniques of whaling to life aboard ship to explorations of class and status, good and evil, and the nature of God. Moby-Dick was a commercial failure and out of print by the 1890’s but was rediscovered in the 1920’s. It is now regarded as a seminal work on the American themes of religion, fate, and economic growth and opportunity as well as a radical experiment that prefigured Modernism with its enormous scope and kaleidoscope of forms.

The quintessential tale of pursuit and obsession, and generally regarded as one of the greatest American novels, Moby Dick is the story of the last voyage of the ship Pequod. The narrator, who asks to be called "Ishmael," relates Captain Ahab's relentless pursuit of the white whale responsible for maiming him in an earlier encounter. The novel's symbolic language points to Melville's deeper concerns - the triumphs and defeats of the human spirit. These selections are performed by Charlton Heston, Keir Dullea, and George Rose.

Moby Dick, a novel by Herman Melville, published in London in October 1851 as The Whale and a month later in New York City as Moby-Dick; or, The Whale. It is dedicated to Nathaniel Hawthorne. Moby Dick is generally regarded as Melville's magnum opus and one of the greatest American novels. Moby Dick famously begins with the narratorial invocation "Call me Ishmael." The narrator, like his biblical counterpart, is an outcast. Ishmael, who turns to the sea for meaning, relays to the audience the final voyage of the Pequod, a whaling vessel. Amid a story of tribulation, beauty, and madness, the reader is introduced to a number of characters, many of whom have names with religious resonance. The ship's captain is Ahab, who Ishmael and his friend Queequeg soon learn is losing his mind. Starbuck, Ahab's first-mate, recognizes this problem too, and is the only one throughout the novel to voice his disapproval of Ahab's increasingly obsessive behavior. This nature of Ahab's obsession is first revealed to Ishmael and Queequeg after the Pequod's owners, Peleg and Bildad, explain to them that Ahab is still recovering from an encounter with a large whale that resulted in the loss of his leg. That whale's name is Moby Dick. The Pequod sets sail, and the crew is soon informed that this journey will be unlike their other whaling missions: this time, despite the reluctance of Starbuck, Ahab intends to hunt and kill the beastly Moby Dick no matter the cost.

Moby Dick by Herman Melville is said to be a strange, disturbing and at the same time beautiful novel, and it certainly is. Though the novel failed to raise public interest when it was first published in 1851, it was – and still is – considered to be one of the Great American Novels.The story of Moby Dick and Captain Ahab is told in the novel by a sailor called Ishmael. The Captain became obsessed with hunting down the whale after the animal had destroyed the Captain’s previous ship and had injured the captain himself, severing one his legs under the knee. Ahab’s obsessive quest for the white whale is long and dangerous, claiming lots of lives and sacrifices and it is also unsuccessful. Captain Ahab’s ship is eventually destroyed by the whale and Captain Ahab himself becomes not only mentally and emotionally, but also physically attached to the creature, pursuing his quest till his last breath. Moby Dick is an incredibly dense text that opens up immense possibilities for interpretation, raising profound questions that have as many answers as there are readers. The novel can be read at many levels – it provides interesting and useful information about how whaling was done in Melville’s time as well as about what life was like on a whaling ship and how whale oil was extracted and preserved in liquid form; it also provides a detailed account about whale anatomy and lots of useful details on other marine life forms, but what is most striking about the book is its account of passion turned into obsession, of man’s struggle against forces much more powerful than himself.Moby Dick is a complex and difficult read, but it is also highly entertaining and enjoyable, with its long descriptions that have nothing to do with the plot itself, with the suspense it generates and with its philosophical and theological implications.

Moby Dick, a novel by Herman Melville, published in London in October 1851 as The Whale and a month later in New York City as Moby-Dick; or, The Whale. It is dedicated to Nathaniel Hawthorne. Moby Dick is generally regarded as Melville's magnum opus and one of the greatest American novels. Moby Dick famously begins with the narratorial invocation "Call me Ishmael." The narrator, like his biblical counterpart, is an outcast. Ishmael, who turns to the sea for meaning, relays to the audience the final voyage of the Pequod, a whaling vessel. Amid a story of tribulation, beauty, and madness, the reader is introduced to a number of characters, many of whom have names with religious resonance. The ship's captain is Ahab, who Ishmael and his friend Queequeg soon learn is losing his mind. Starbuck, Ahab's first-mate, recognizes this problem too, and is the only one throughout the novel to voice his disapproval of Ahab's increasingly obsessive behavior. This nature of Ahab's obsession is first revealed to Ishmael and Queequeg after the Pequod's owners, Peleg and Bildad, explain to them that Ahab is still recovering from an encounter with a large whale that resulted in the loss of his leg. That whale's name is Moby Dick. The Pequod sets sail, and the crew is soon informed that this journey will be unlike their other whaling missions: this time, despite the reluctance of Starbuck, Ahab intends to hunt and kill the beastly Moby Dick no matter the cost.

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