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Moby-Dick: or, The Whale (Modern Library Classics)
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Manufacturer: Modern Library
Author: Herman Melville
Publisher: Modern Library
Average Customer Rating:
Our Price: $10.36
You Save: $ 2.59 ( 20% )
Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Modern Library
Author: Herman Melville
Publisher: Modern Library
Average Customer Rating:
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Moby-Dick: or, The Whale (Modern Library Classics) Description
Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.3
EAN: 9780679783275
ISBN: 067978327X
Label: Modern Library
Manufacturer: Modern Library
Number Of Items: 1
Book Pages: 896
Publication Date: 2000-10-10
Publisher: Modern Library
Product Release Date: 2000-10-10
Studio: Modern Library
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.3
EAN: 9780679783275
ISBN: 067978327X
Label: Modern Library
Manufacturer: Modern Library
Number Of Items: 1
Book Pages: 896
Publication Date: 2000-10-10
Publisher: Modern Library
Product Release Date: 2000-10-10
Studio: Modern Library
Editorial Review of Moby-Dick: or, The Whale (Modern Library Classics)
First published in 1851, Melville's masterpiece is, in Elizabeth Hardwick's words, "the greatest novel in American literature." The saga of Captain Ahab and his monomaniacal pursuit of the white whale remains a peerless adventure story but one full of mythic grandeur, poetic majesty, and symbolic power. Filtered through the consciousness of the novel's narrator, Ishmael, Moby-Dick draws us into a universe full of fascinating characters and stories, from the noble cannibal Queequeg to the natural history of whales, while reaching existential depths that excite debate and contemplation to this day.
This Modern Library Paperback Classics edition contains original illustrations by Rockwell Kent and commentary that includes excerpts from one of Melville's letters to Hawthorne.
This Modern Library Paperback Classics edition contains original illustrations by Rockwell Kent and commentary that includes excerpts from one of Melville's letters to Hawthorne.
Customer Reviews of Moby-Dick: or, The Whale (Modern Library Classics)
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Melville's wicked modern masterpiece
Review: True classic in breadth and depth, its impact attested by contemporary reviews that were as awestruck standing beside it as we remain from a distance.
Memorable quotes as Ahab descends into madness and death impelled by a whale of all things:
"So far gone am I in the dark side of the earth, that its other side, the theoretic bright one, seems but uncertain twilight to me."
"This whole act's immutably decreed. 'Twas rehearsed by thee and me a billion years before this ocean rolled. Fool! I am the Fates' lieutenant; I act under orders."
Perhaps most telling of all is Melville's reaction to Nathanial Hawthorne's approval, which he sought: "A sense of unspeakable security is in me this moment, on account of your having understood the book. I have written a wicked book, and feel spotless as the lamb."
At times modern in its worldview, at times Victorian in its rambling wordiness, at times very funny in Melville's turn of phrase, Moby-Dick is daunting but worth the challenge.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Melville goes to the depths
Review: Moby Dick is a fascinating and imaginative tale and it is my favorite American novel. I must admit that some of the descriptions of whales had me cursing maledictions, but in the end I was enthralled by Melville's philosophy and metaphysics. Also, I was thrilled with the amount of symbolism that Melville used because it forced me to continually look below the surface. Believe it or not, there was also a great deal of humor in this robust book, esp. in the beginning when Ishmael meets Queequeg for the first time. Ah, there is too much to say on this one, and I do not want to give anything away, so I recommend this book to anyone with any interest. Finally, if you are looking for a love story you will not find it in this novel. There are no women on the Pequod, which is the boat the crew goes whaling on.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Confusing, sometimes pedantic, always wonderful
Review: This is tough novel: big, confusing, it leaves you wanting to re-read it.
If you wanted to know the difference in structure (as opposed to scale) between a short story and a novel, Moby-Dick (or, The Whale) is probably the as good an exemplar one would find of the novel form. Where a short story focuses on a single event, action, or mood, a novel tends to take the air a bit more -- perambulate, follow its own muse, wander. And wander Moby Dick does. It goes and goes and goes. Melville wrote that he had written a wicked novel. I wonder if that is perceptible to a 21st century sensibility. Melville knows that he's depicting characters who have abandoned critical parts of their pasts, their society, and their souls, parts that many of us today no longer recognize, let alone miss. He strolls through various modernisms: pantheism, Kantianism, indifferentism, relativism, pessimism, Romanticism. Ahab -- what to make of him: sacrilegious, demonic, monomaniac, striving. A shadow of Christian belief, of Calvinism, no longer sufficiently vital to bring salvation, but more than adequate to reinforce notions of depravity and condemnation, hangs over the novel.
On a lighter note, Moby-Dick will give you a new appreciation for Star Trek. The episodic nature of the novel makes possible a bunch of self-contained mini-plots, each of which could be spun into its own little story. There's the encounter with a ship that has been taken over by a charismatic preacher and his converted followers. There's a ship in search of an abandoned crew, and one that is filled with bon vivants, appropriately named "The Bachelor."
There's undoubtedly a lot more than I can write about in a tiny review like this. Like a whale, this novel's soul is submerged most of the time, only occasionally spouting or breeching to reveal awesome and fearful sights.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: This is not the book for you if you're looking for a thriller.
Review: Overall, Moby Dick was a wonderful piece of literature filled with all sorts of symbolism and artful imagery. It gave a very realistic take on things since the narrator was not really bias. Also, it is an anti-transcendentalist piece so it focuses more on reality and it examines the darker side of the human condition, so if you're looking for a story with a hero and a perfect ending then I suggest you find another book. It is difficult to describe how I really felt about Moby Dick because on one hand it was a boring read with a topic that less than interested me, but on the other hand it was fine, respectable literature that has a lot to analyze and that gives you a lot to think about. It is the kind of book that when you go back and read it again you find tons of little symbols and connections that you may have missed completely the first time around. That is what I like about the book; it gives you plenty of room to interpret these things as you will. I suggest this book if you do not get bored easily because it is sometimes hard not to when Melville starts getting off-topic and talking about things like the specific steps in whale-hunting, which he often does.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: A whale of a book
Review: Moby Dick is one of those classic books that is actually several simultaneous books rolled up into one; each a level below the other. At the most superficial level, Moby Dick is an adventure - drama about a male albino sperm while of the same name that roams the open oceans while being chased by a crew of whalers on a sailing ship named the Pequod. The ship is captained by Ahab, a man who has lost one leg in a previous encounter with the great whale. The book progresses thru various chapters. The initial and final chapters are the story itself; the chase of the whale across the oceans. The middle chapters provide a thorough and detailed examination of various facets of whales, sailing and the whaling industry.
If this book was only an adventure story on the high seas; it would probably be unknown today for it is long and quite boring with a lot of pages devoted to dialogue and description. But, at a deeper level this book is a careful study of the vast range of human emotions. The terror of the sailors facing the great whale, the agony felt by survivors of crashed boats, the vengeance that drives Ahab, the comraderie between members of the harpooning team, the rivalries between the different harpooners, the suspense of the lookouts trying to get the first glimpse of whale or land... the vast range of emotions that man can experience are experienced on the Pequoud's journey. Key to this study is the fact that the ship's crew forms Western literature's first, truly multi-racial cast of characters. Names like Queequeg, Ishmael, Starbuck, Tashtego, and Daggoo represent the various races known to white man during the time of this book's writing.
At the most basic level, this book, like all other classics in the western genre, is a commentary of human society. Here, the theme is mankind's destructive behavior, its attempts to control nature, and the ensuing wreckage that nature can bring forth onto man. Interestingly enough, the two leaders of the great quest are Ahab, an American, and Flask, an Englishman. At the time of the book's writing, America and England were in the throes of the Industrial Revolution. A visitor to the cities of either country at that time would be repulsed by the smokestacks, pollution, dirty streets, and factories. Both countries were undergoing large-scale transitions from societies that lived with nature to those that destroyed nature. The four harpooners are from native tribes in various parts of the world. As harpooners, they are the ones who will kill the whales. As an allegory, the represent the fact that in many lands, it was the natives who first showed the encroaching white man how to feed of nature's bounty. Ishael of course is Jewish. And it is the sole Jew on the boat who survives the onslaught of Moby Dick. This parallels the Bible, where the Jews are those chosen by God.
I read this book when I was in my late teens and found it quite challenging. I only finished it with the help of reading aides and study guides. I would not recommend attempting to read this unaided, for it can be quite boring and challenging.
Review Summary: Melville's wicked modern masterpiece
Review: True classic in breadth and depth, its impact attested by contemporary reviews that were as awestruck standing beside it as we remain from a distance.
Memorable quotes as Ahab descends into madness and death impelled by a whale of all things:
"So far gone am I in the dark side of the earth, that its other side, the theoretic bright one, seems but uncertain twilight to me."
"This whole act's immutably decreed. 'Twas rehearsed by thee and me a billion years before this ocean rolled. Fool! I am the Fates' lieutenant; I act under orders."
Perhaps most telling of all is Melville's reaction to Nathanial Hawthorne's approval, which he sought: "A sense of unspeakable security is in me this moment, on account of your having understood the book. I have written a wicked book, and feel spotless as the lamb."
At times modern in its worldview, at times Victorian in its rambling wordiness, at times very funny in Melville's turn of phrase, Moby-Dick is daunting but worth the challenge.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Melville goes to the depths
Review: Moby Dick is a fascinating and imaginative tale and it is my favorite American novel. I must admit that some of the descriptions of whales had me cursing maledictions, but in the end I was enthralled by Melville's philosophy and metaphysics. Also, I was thrilled with the amount of symbolism that Melville used because it forced me to continually look below the surface. Believe it or not, there was also a great deal of humor in this robust book, esp. in the beginning when Ishmael meets Queequeg for the first time. Ah, there is too much to say on this one, and I do not want to give anything away, so I recommend this book to anyone with any interest. Finally, if you are looking for a love story you will not find it in this novel. There are no women on the Pequod, which is the boat the crew goes whaling on.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Confusing, sometimes pedantic, always wonderful
Review: This is tough novel: big, confusing, it leaves you wanting to re-read it.
If you wanted to know the difference in structure (as opposed to scale) between a short story and a novel, Moby-Dick (or, The Whale) is probably the as good an exemplar one would find of the novel form. Where a short story focuses on a single event, action, or mood, a novel tends to take the air a bit more -- perambulate, follow its own muse, wander. And wander Moby Dick does. It goes and goes and goes. Melville wrote that he had written a wicked novel. I wonder if that is perceptible to a 21st century sensibility. Melville knows that he's depicting characters who have abandoned critical parts of their pasts, their society, and their souls, parts that many of us today no longer recognize, let alone miss. He strolls through various modernisms: pantheism, Kantianism, indifferentism, relativism, pessimism, Romanticism. Ahab -- what to make of him: sacrilegious, demonic, monomaniac, striving. A shadow of Christian belief, of Calvinism, no longer sufficiently vital to bring salvation, but more than adequate to reinforce notions of depravity and condemnation, hangs over the novel.
On a lighter note, Moby-Dick will give you a new appreciation for Star Trek. The episodic nature of the novel makes possible a bunch of self-contained mini-plots, each of which could be spun into its own little story. There's the encounter with a ship that has been taken over by a charismatic preacher and his converted followers. There's a ship in search of an abandoned crew, and one that is filled with bon vivants, appropriately named "The Bachelor."
There's undoubtedly a lot more than I can write about in a tiny review like this. Like a whale, this novel's soul is submerged most of the time, only occasionally spouting or breeching to reveal awesome and fearful sights.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: This is not the book for you if you're looking for a thriller.
Review: Overall, Moby Dick was a wonderful piece of literature filled with all sorts of symbolism and artful imagery. It gave a very realistic take on things since the narrator was not really bias. Also, it is an anti-transcendentalist piece so it focuses more on reality and it examines the darker side of the human condition, so if you're looking for a story with a hero and a perfect ending then I suggest you find another book. It is difficult to describe how I really felt about Moby Dick because on one hand it was a boring read with a topic that less than interested me, but on the other hand it was fine, respectable literature that has a lot to analyze and that gives you a lot to think about. It is the kind of book that when you go back and read it again you find tons of little symbols and connections that you may have missed completely the first time around. That is what I like about the book; it gives you plenty of room to interpret these things as you will. I suggest this book if you do not get bored easily because it is sometimes hard not to when Melville starts getting off-topic and talking about things like the specific steps in whale-hunting, which he often does.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: A whale of a book
Review: Moby Dick is one of those classic books that is actually several simultaneous books rolled up into one; each a level below the other. At the most superficial level, Moby Dick is an adventure - drama about a male albino sperm while of the same name that roams the open oceans while being chased by a crew of whalers on a sailing ship named the Pequod. The ship is captained by Ahab, a man who has lost one leg in a previous encounter with the great whale. The book progresses thru various chapters. The initial and final chapters are the story itself; the chase of the whale across the oceans. The middle chapters provide a thorough and detailed examination of various facets of whales, sailing and the whaling industry.
If this book was only an adventure story on the high seas; it would probably be unknown today for it is long and quite boring with a lot of pages devoted to dialogue and description. But, at a deeper level this book is a careful study of the vast range of human emotions. The terror of the sailors facing the great whale, the agony felt by survivors of crashed boats, the vengeance that drives Ahab, the comraderie between members of the harpooning team, the rivalries between the different harpooners, the suspense of the lookouts trying to get the first glimpse of whale or land... the vast range of emotions that man can experience are experienced on the Pequoud's journey. Key to this study is the fact that the ship's crew forms Western literature's first, truly multi-racial cast of characters. Names like Queequeg, Ishmael, Starbuck, Tashtego, and Daggoo represent the various races known to white man during the time of this book's writing.
At the most basic level, this book, like all other classics in the western genre, is a commentary of human society. Here, the theme is mankind's destructive behavior, its attempts to control nature, and the ensuing wreckage that nature can bring forth onto man. Interestingly enough, the two leaders of the great quest are Ahab, an American, and Flask, an Englishman. At the time of the book's writing, America and England were in the throes of the Industrial Revolution. A visitor to the cities of either country at that time would be repulsed by the smokestacks, pollution, dirty streets, and factories. Both countries were undergoing large-scale transitions from societies that lived with nature to those that destroyed nature. The four harpooners are from native tribes in various parts of the world. As harpooners, they are the ones who will kill the whales. As an allegory, the represent the fact that in many lands, it was the natives who first showed the encroaching white man how to feed of nature's bounty. Ishael of course is Jewish. And it is the sole Jew on the boat who survives the onslaught of Moby Dick. This parallels the Bible, where the Jews are those chosen by God.
I read this book when I was in my late teens and found it quite challenging. I only finished it with the help of reading aides and study guides. I would not recommend attempting to read this unaided, for it can be quite boring and challenging.