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Moby-Dick; or, The Whale (1851) is a novel by Herman Melville considered an outstanding work of Romanticism and the American Renaissance. Ishmael narrates the monomaniacal quest of Ahab, captain of the whaler Pequod, for revenge on Moby Dick, a white whale which on a previous voyage destroyed Ahab's ship and severed his leg at the knee. Although the novel was a commercial failure and out of print at the time of the author's death in 1891, its reputation as a Great American Novel grew during the twentieth century. William Faulkner confessed he wished he had written it himself, and D. H. Lawrence called it "one of the strangest and most wonderful books in the world", and "the greatest book of the sea ever written". "Call me Ishmael" is one of world literature's most famous opening sentences. The product of a year and a half of writing, the book is dedicated to Nathaniel Hawthorne, "in token of my admiration for his genius", and draws on Melville's experience at sea, on his reading in whaling literature, and on literary inspirations such as Shakespeare and the Bible. The detailed and realistic descriptions of whale hunting and of extracting whale oil, as well as life aboard ship among a culturally diverse crew, are mixed with exploration of class and social status, good and evil, and the existence of God. In addition to narrative prose, Melville uses styles and literary devices ranging from songs, poetry and catalogs to Shakespearean stage directions, soliloquies and asides.
There were slight but important differences between the texts of the London edition, which appeared first, and the New York edition. The London publisher cut or changed sensitive passages and Melville made changes as well, including a last-minute change in the title. The work first appeared as The Whale in London in October 1851 and then under its definitive title Moby-Dick in New York in November. The whale, however, appears in both the London and New York editions as "Moby Dick", with no hyphen. The British edition was not reprinted, while the American edition was reprinted three times, the last time in 1871. Only 3,200 copies were sold during the author's life.
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Subjects
American Sea stories, Mentally ill, Whaling, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Whales, great_books_of_the_western_world, Translations into French, Literature, Captain Ahab (Fictitious character), American Adventure stories, Sailors, Sea stories, Classic Literature, Whaling in literature, Young Adult Fiction, Open Library Staff Picks, open_syllabus_project, Fiction, Ship captains, Whaling ships, Juvenile fiction, Chasse, Whales in literature, Shipwrecks, Baleines, Long Now Manual for Civilization, General, Children: Grades 4-6, American fiction (fictional works by one author), Ahab, captain (fictitious character), fiction, Whaling, fiction, Children's fiction, Whales, fiction, Fiction, action & adventure, Fiction, psychological, Literature and fiction (general), Fiction, sea stories, Fiction, fantasy, epic, Poetry (poetic works by one author), Melville, herman, 1819-1891, American literature, history and criticism, Sea stories, history and criticism, Large type books, Literature and fiction, action and adventure, Illustrations, Pictorial works, Drama (dramatic works by one author), Picture-writing in literature, Readers (Primary), Readers for new literates, Adventure and adventurers, fiction, Ballenas, Ficción, Capitanes de barcos, Enfermos mentales, Naufragios, Cuentos de mar, Novela psicológica, Romance literature, Epic literature, Adventure fiction, Allegories, Whalers (Persons), Drama, Revenge, Prohibition, Achab (Personnage fictif), Romans, nouvelles, Capitaines de navire, Personnes vivant avec un trouble de santé mentale, Action & Adventure, Walfang, Moby Dick (Melville, Herman), Fiction, historical, general, Fiction, general, Moby Dick, Literatura infantil, Ahab, captain (fictitious character), Ahab, captain (fictitious character)--fiction, Whales--fiction, Whaling--fiction, Ps2384.m6 m45 1992, 813/.3, Whaling ships--fiction, Ship captains--fiction, Mentally ill--fiction, Ps2384 .m6 2001c, Shipwrecks--fiction, Sailors--fiction, Ps2384 .m6 2003b, Melville, herman , 1819-1891, Ps2384 .m6 2002, Comics & graphic novels, general, Comic books, strips, etc., Fate and fatalism, SymbolismPeople
Herman Melville (1819-1891)Places
Massachusetts, Nantucket IslandShowing 15 featured editions. View all 1116 editions?
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Moby Dick: die Jagd nach dem weissen Wal
1994, Ensslin und Laiblin
in German
- 175. - 177. Tsd.
3770901010 9783770901012
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Work Description
"Command the murderous chalices! Drink ye harpooners! Drink and swear, ye men that man the deathful whaleboat's bow -- Death to Moby Dick!" So Captain Ahab binds his crew to fulfil his obsession -- the destruction of the great white whale. Under his lordly but maniacal command the Pequod's commercial mission is perverted to one of vengeance. To Ahab, the monster that destroyed his body is not a creature, but the symbol of "some unknown but still reasoning thing." Uncowed by natural disasters, ill omens, even death, Ahab urges his ship towards "the undeliverable, nameless perils of the whale." Key letters from Melville to Nathaniel Hawthorne are printed at the end of this volume. - Back cover.
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