Moby-Dick (Bantam Classics)

Book Description

No American masterpiece casts quite as awesome a shadow as Melville's monumental Moby Dick. Mad Captain Ahab's quest for the White Whale is a timeless epic--a stirring tragedy of vengeance and obsession, a searing parable about humanity lost in a universe of moral ambiguity. It is the greatest sea story ever told. Far ahead of its own time, Moby Dick was largely misunderstood and unappreciated by Melville's contemporaries. Today, however, it is indisputably a classic. As D.H. Lawrence wrote, Moby Dick "commands a stillness in the soul, an awe . . . [It is] one of the strangest and most wonderful books in the world."

Customer Reviews:

Some "classics" aren't. This one is........2007-09-21

A few years back I made a conscious decision to read (and in some cases re-read) a number of books that fall into the category of "classics." The books that stand the test of time the best have an uncanny ability to feel modern and relevant no matter how long ago they were written. It's almost as if there is a certain current that runs down through the years that flows with a permanence that most don't. If a writer can tap into this current, their writing can be timeless; a classic.

Herman Melville tapped into that current in spades in this story. Despite this book being over 150 years old, the themes Melville selected from many obviously available to him are themes that are just as relevant an engaging today as they were in 1851. Further, Melville somehow had a handle on using language that would not seem outdated even after a century and a half.

What you get is a great story about a revenge-obsessed man, characters to whom you can easily relate and colorful descriptions of the life of a whaleman. It all comes together beautifully.

Any drawbacks? Sure, Melville's story slows in the middle of the book as he goes into a deep examination of the physical characteristics of various whales, but it's still interesting and it's just not enough to take away from the rest of this novel.

Highly recommended.

Slog Through It -- It's Worth It.......2007-09-18

This great American novel of the 19th Century, like some of the great novels of the 20th Century, is at times unreadable. Long riffs about whale biology and whale trivia made me put down this book when I tried to read it many years ago. I got through it this time, with the help of Frank Muller's classic reading on audiotape. Don't bother with anyone else's reading -- go to the library and check out Muller's version. He is one of the top readers and does justice to the poetry and great language of this novel.

The book is not told in the way we would find conventional today -- a fast paced narration of the adventures of men at sea. Melville clearly wants to tell the tale in the epic style. He writes in very short chapters that resemble Biblical passages, both in the poetic use of language and in addressing the most elemental themes of good vs. evil, man vs. nature, and the human condition. In the end, even the whale trivia serves the epic purpose in driving home the extraordinary courage and heroism of these whalers.

I don't buy the idea that Moby Dick, malevolent as he is, somehow represents evil. The sometimes destructive and overwhelming force of nature is more likely the right allegorical symbol. Evil for me is Ahab, given the truly heartless choices he makes in his obsession for the White Whale -- and given what happens to a man after 40 years at sea.

The most attractive characters are Ishmael and Queequeg, Ishmael's cannibal friend. Each demonstrates the best quailities of human nature --companionship, courage, acceptance of their lot in life. Given the racial turmoil of the 1850s, Melville may have been making a political point by portraying the nobility of the dark-skinned. I don't buy the idea that the allegory was any more elaborate than that, though it's clear to me that the novel is a gold mine for all sorts of Ph.D. thesis topics.

In the end, I do think that the great themes explored by Melville are more effectively explored less allegorically and more through character development and moral choices. For that reason, I'd say that Huckleberry Finn is the true Great American Novel of the 19th century and that the great Russian contemploraries of Melville wrote better books. But this certainly is a classic work worth the effort.

Free SF Reader.......2007-09-03

This whale hunting job really drives me crazy.

or, longer version:

Take on really stupendously big arse white wale. Add a crazed, obsessive monomaniacal Captain. Add in a couple of narrators and quite a few other unfortunates who get stuck in the middle of his quest for the white whale.

Add in an author waxing lyrical, often at length, and you are left with a pretty decent and often interesting novel.

Strange but..........2007-08-29

The strangeness is what makes Moby-Dick so exceptional and an indisputable classic. It was quite a difficult and long read, but upon completion, it was, without a doubt, completely and utterly worthwhile. The characters were some of the most unique in all of fiction and each of them is leaves their mark.

Key Work of Literature.......2007-08-27

Moby-Dick is a sprawling, unwieldy yet very great novel about the obsessive pursuit of happiness and fulfillment. "Call me Ishmael..." the famous opening lines establishes the omniscient narrator for this whale of an epic. The novel is filled with remarkable characters; their composite comradery is a true achievement of writing. Melville's insistence on explicating precise technical minutia on the craft of whaling and oceanography turned off most readers when the book was initially published (these sections still turn off most who dare penetrate this tome), yet it is really these sections that allow the reader to become immersed in the world of Ahab, the deranged symbol of evil amidst the beauty and sublime grace of the sea. Melville was an undisputed master of literary style, and this masterpiece is difficult to place for the simple reason that its' incomprehensible scale defies categorization. This is a reader's book; it is a divine allegory, a conventional adventure, and a bewitching construction all at once. Not for the weak minded.

Average customer rating:

Call me Ishmael
A great way to read a great epic tale.
Moby Dick Lives--And We Laugh!
very well read
19 cds capture the full drama (they better!)

Moby Dick (Naxos AudioBooks)
Herman Melville
Manufacturer: Naxos Audiobooks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: 9626343583
Release Date: 2006-10-24

Customer Reviews:

Call me Ishmael.......2007-10-02

Call me Ishmael. One of the most famous opening lines in all of English literature. I was thrilled to find this audio edition of a lengthy classic that I, like many Americans, doggedly plowed through in high school, when I was certainly much too young to appreciate its depth and meaning. Having recently completed Ahab's Wife, my interest in Ahab and what his choices brought about for him, was piqued, and I decided to take another look. This audio version is perfect for someone like me - I know I would not have persevered in reading this on my own.
This version has kindled an understanding and admiration for Moby Dick as adventure story, allegory, and journey of self-discovery. It was surprising how much I learned, simply in the factual sense, about the whaling industry in New England, where I was born and raised and still reside today. This is a book that is probably ruined by the introduction of it during adolescence, when it has little to say to the very young reader. Like Nathaniel Hawthorne, Melville is an author who speaks to the reader who has grappled with the universal questions about life and death, sanity and madness, revenge and forgiveness. Not to mention multiculturalism, racism and tolerance. And, a new word - moby - was coined and entered into the English language.
Intelligently narrated by William Hootkins, the audio version has a lot to recommend it and is a pleasant way to revisit an important American masterpiece. Take another look (or listen!)

A great way to read a great epic tale........2007-01-05

As a forty-five year old english major in my senior year of college with fourteen novels to read in one semester, the MOBY DICK Audiobook made the challenge an easier one. Beside the fact that I could literally do the homework of reading MOBY DICK while driving, excercising or cleaning, each of the nineteen CD's was clearly marked by chapter and title and by quotes making it easy to find a chapter if I needed to review it. Each CD listed the total time and broke the times into chapters assisting me in projecting the time I needed to complete each chapter. The many quintesential voices of reader, William Hootkins, was perfect in projecting the many character personalities in this epic tale of Captain Ahab and the white whale. This audiobook is one that will be on my library shelf forever.

Moby Dick Lives--And We Laugh!.......2006-08-17

I haven't read Moby Dick in 26 years, since I was a Ph.D. student in English. My impression at that time was that it was the greatest of American novels, VERY American, with everything good and bad that implies. I've urged it on people ever since, but forgotten why.

I purchased this set of unabridged CDs because I wanted to experience the book again, but I don't have much time for reading American novels--I teach primarily British.

What a treat! This reading is magnificent! I'd forgotten how funny Moby Dick is. The reader brings out all the delightful jokes through his phrasing and tone. Could I quibble about how to say this line, that word? Sure. But why bother? This is one of the best audiobooks I've listened to, and it really does make Moby Dick come alive. I played the first half hour to my family, and now they all want to hear the rest.

very well read.......2006-07-16

If you're going to get an unabridged recording of Moby-Dick, you certainly can't go wrong with this one, by William Hootkins. I am a big Melville nut and was VERY, VERY PLEASED with this.

Avoid at all costs the only other (as far as I know) unabridged one out there, read by Adams Morgan. Morgan's reedy, effete voice is totally unsuited to this material: his enunciation is so precious it's almost dandyish. And his mispronunciations are legion.

Hootkins, however, reads like a man, in long, strong, lingering swells. He has a deep, resonant voice, is literate, sensitive to the material, and rarely, I feel, misreads a line. The whole thing is very convincing. Neither does he read it too fast.

Another strength of Hootkin's reading is that his style really brings out how full of jokes this book is. Hootkins is very good at conveying Melville's insouciant tone, especially through many of the cetology chapters, where you intellectually understand that Melville is kidding but it just doesn't work. Well, Hootkins really brings Melville's irreverent tone to the fore.

My only possible criticism of his performance is that, in the final act of the book, Hootkins frequently continues with this leisurely, almost jovial tone, even though Melville has gotten by then dead serious. But this is nitpicking.

NOTE: It's not TOTALLY unabridged. The etymology and extracts sections have been cut. But the rest is there.

There are no sound effects or music.

19 cds capture the full drama (they better!).......2006-04-14

Herman Melville's MOBY-DICK receives professional William Hotkin's lively, vivacious narrative style which lends well to a weighty 19-cd read capturing the full drama and flavor of the high seas. MOBY-DICK is said to be the penultimate American novel: any who struggled with the dry written word should give it another chance here in audio format, where the full flavor of Melville's talents come to life.

Average customer rating:

Amaizing Book.
Moby Dick
Call Me Ahab
Minority View.
Long...but worth it.

Moby Dick
Herman Melville
Manufacturer: Castle Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0785819134

Customer Reviews:

Amaizing Book........2007-02-04

This version is by far the best I've seen. The quality of the book is unsurpassed.

Moby Dick.......2006-11-06

Received in great condition. Wonderful book. Would recommend to as gift or for your own library.

Call Me Ahab.......2006-05-04

First, let me tell say that I began this book with high hopes since it considered a masterpiece. However, not 100 pages into the book, I kept asking myself why this book is considered a masterpiece. After finishing it, I am still asking myself that very question. I don't have an answer since this book was certainly not worth the time and effort to read it.

I entitled this review "Call me Ahab" since after getting 300 pages into it, I became obsessed with finishing the book. I was not going to let the White Whale beat me. I was not going to let that fish cause me to put down the book (even though that is what I wanted to do). I was not reading this book because I was enjoying it. I merely finished it so that I could say that I finished it and the White Whale did not win.

There is a reason that the most famous line in the book is the first one. Of the 135 chapters, there are maybe 20-25 that are worth the reading. Of the 725 pages, maybe only 150-200 are worth reading. I was not too terribly concerned about knowing the anatomy of whales, the different types of whales, the skeletal system of whales, or knowing about whaling in general.

Throughout the book, you may read one chapter with some action only to be followed by 5 or 6 chapters of tangents that are not necessary to understand the story. This also happens within some of the chapters that have some action. In the middle of a chapter with some action, Melville may go off on some tangent for several paragraphs and then come back to the storyline.

If you like a story with nonessential information and an author that is entirely to verbose, then this book is for you. Also, if you have only one book and way too much time on your hands, this would be a good book. However, if you like a story that has some continuity to it and a good storyline, this is not the book for you.

I think that Melville's plan was to have his writing be the White Whale and the reader as Ahab to determine if his writing would cause the reader to become obsessed just to get through it. If this was his thinking, then it worked on me.

There are so many more books that are much, much better than this one. If you have many books that you want to read, read them first and always place this book at the back of the line and read it when you have no other books you would rather read.

Take my advice - read another book. If not, then be prepared to become obsessed with finishing it since that may be the only way you will get though it.

My apologizes to all those that I may have offended with this review.

Minority View........2006-04-27

"Moby Dick" has been hyped far beyond its worth because it was the first American novel with philosophic pretentions. You could read the first ninety pages, then skip to the last ten and miss nothing but a binful of symbols. It's gauche, jejune, primitive, a graphic novel without illustrations--one of the few American novels improved as a Classics comic book. Joseph Conrad covers the same material better, and Persig better than either of them. This is a wearying tome that no one would read if it weren't assigned reading. It will teach you . . . nothing.

Long...but worth it........2006-04-18

Melville's Moby Dick tells the story of Captain Ahab and his unwaivering obsession with finding and slaying a gigantic white whale of almost mythical proportions. Throughout the story, the reader is emersed into life on board the whaling ship, the Pequod, told through the eyes of Ishmael.

The story goes from Ishmael's befriending of Queequeg to their trip to Nantucket where they are hired for whaling on the Pequod. They eventually learn that Ahab's agenda runs further than the usual run of the mill whaling expedition; he wants to find and kill the great white whale, Moby Dick. In response, the crew of the Pequod are coaxed and almost hypnotized into joining his dangerous hunt for the reward of a gold coin. Will the crew and their driven captain succeed or will their own greed and stubbornness yield an unfortunate fate?

In my opinion, the early and end chapters are the best part as well as Father Mapple's sermon. While the tone and setting established by Melville certainly pulls you into the world of whaling, the middle chapters are full of side stories, whale lectures, and transcedentalist self indulgence which grows a bit old after a while. There is even some racial intonation: characters such as Queequeg, Daggoo and Tashtego at times are subject to racial commentary by Ishmael (who at times can be mistaken for what I believe to be Melville writing through himself). But, wheher Melville is a racist is honestly neither here nor there.

The book can be interpreted in alot of ways such as the tragic consequences of man's greed or the relationship to God and man and nature. In fact, everytime I ponder it, a new interpretation emerges. Perhaps, that is the book's real beauty.

There is really no other book like it. Some chapters for instance are literally a sentence long. Others don't seem to end. Melville even changes his style from time to time within the book. I guess, in the end, you not only read it, but also experience the book for what it is. A memorable read which anyone who finishes it should be awarded a medal for. Save a part of this country's history and read it.

Moby Dick Or The Whale Leatherbound Easton Press..100 Greatest Books Ever Written

Average customer rating:

wonderful edition of a true classic

Moby Dick Or The Whale Leatherbound Easton Press..100 Greatest Books Ever Written
Herman Melville
Manufacturer: Easton Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Leather Bound

ASIN: B000MMRLGC

Customer Reviews:

wonderful edition of a true classic.......2007-09-14

For those who are fans of classic American Literature, Moby Dick is certainly one of the greats and the easton press edition does the story service by binding a wonderful novel in gold embossed leather for a look and feel any book collecter would be proud of.

Average customer rating:

Excellent

Moby-Dick: A Longman Critical Edition
Herman Melville
Manufacturer: Longman Publishing Group
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0205514081

Book Description

You may think you've read Moby-Dick, but this new edition reveals a text you've never seen: the first American edition as Melville wrote and edited it himself, enhanced with unprecedented discussions of the revisions which Melville, his British editors, and 20th-century scholars later made to his book.

Bryant and Springer, both Melville scholars, bring this classic into the 21st century with the first critical edition in forty years - presented in a beautiful design which wears its elegant scholarship lightly for the general reader. Throughout the book, a special typeface indicates passages in Moby-Dick that were later revised. On-page revision narratives describe the exact changes Melville or his British editors made to the 1851 American text and those made for the 1967 Northwestern-Newberry edition (the version most widely read today), and explain the story behind each revision. Minimal footnotes offer lively explanations of key glossary and other terms right on the page, while more extensive, often entertaining Explanatory Notes and Revision Narratives are found at the back of the book. The result is that readers are immersed in the personal, social, and cultural context of Melville's novel and his writing process

An illuminating Introduction relates a history of the composition of Moby-Dick in the context of Melville's life, talent, and career.

A glossary - running both on the page and at the end of the text - brings the language and otherwise arcane nautical terms to life.

A number of the annotations reveal revisions that the British publisher required, essentially censoring the work.

Thoroughly annotated, readers will now have, in one place, everything they need for a true understanding of this great American novel.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent.......2007-07-09

This is an excellent new edition of Moby Dick, with detailed informational notes and "double text," showing and explaining the differences between the American and British versions of MD. There are also very helpful diagrams and prints, illucidating some of the nonfiction/informational chapters. Excellent text for college students studying at the upper levels.

Moby-Dick: or, The Whale(Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition) (Penguin Classics Deluxe Editio)

Average customer rating:

Moby Dick, Philbrick intro
One of the best literary works of all time
A 19th Century American Masterpiece
A Milestone in Every Reader's Life!
A Practical Guide to Whaling and the Mysteries of Life

Moby-Dick: or, The Whale(Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition) (Penguin Classics Deluxe Editio)
Herman Melville
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0142000086
Release Date: 2001-09-04

Customer Reviews:

Moby Dick, Philbrick intro.......2007-02-15

This edition of this great book is pleasing in every way...I used it to read from in the Moby Dick marathon in New Bedford...supple, beautiful, light but sturday paperback. Nathaniel Philbrick's introduction is wonderful. This edition belongs at every bedside.

One of the best literary works of all time.......2007-01-09

From awe-inspiring metaphors, to the tale of a whale and the addicted sailor who relentlessly pursues him, this book is truly amazing. It brings home from the depths of the sea the reality that we all possess within us. Each Character has their own uniquely powerful personality that most can relate to. After taking a university class dedicated entirely to this book, I am convinced that Herman Melville has encapsulated the mystery and reality of what it means to be human. On the surface you will get a great adventure story, but if you analyze it carefully, as my professor would say "the universe can be found in this book." A little quote: "Don't step off that isle for thou canst never return." A definate read for all ages!!!

A 19th Century American Masterpiece.......2006-09-03

I guess I did not know what to expect, but I was surprised by the form and structure of the book. It is written in the form of 135 short chapters, some only half a page long, and it ends abruptly with a flourish of action without much warning.

As a reader I want to state one cautionary note about this version of the book. By the way this is a well made book with large font and the paper is similar in quality to a hard cover book. The thing which I did not like and I caution a reader about in advance, is that one should not read the introduction by Nathaniel Philbrick and do not look at the maps or table of contents until you have finished reading the book. Too much of the plot is given away in those parts, well meaning or otherwise; and, knowing the end and the outline of the story spoils the read in my opinion.

There are three elements which I found of interest. The first was the description of whaling and all the stories and trivia surrounding whaling. There is much romance and lore presented by Melville, over 500 pages and it is mostly an interesting and an impressive read.

Ismael is the narrator but he is colorless compared to the larger than life captain Ahab who is the living embodiment of everything wrong with having an obsession. His obsession is to find and kill the great white whale Moby Dick. Most of the story is the search across great oceans to find this notorious whale.

The last thing that stood out for myself was the prose. Melville has a colorful and interesting style, almost Shakespearean from time to time, and that makes the book the great masterpiece that it is. The last dozen chapters are very well written and convey a strong feeling of excitement and action. Here is an example from an earlier Chapter 37: "Sunset."

"The cabin; by the stern windows; Ahab sitting alone, and gazing out.

I leave a white and turbid wake; pale waters, paler cheeks, where'er I sail. The envious billows sidelong swell to whelm my track; let them; but first I pass.

Yonder, by ever-brimming goblet's rim, the warm waves blush like wine. The gold brow plumbs the blue. The diver sun- slow dived from noon- goes down; my soul mounts up! she wearies with her endless hill. Is, then, the crown too heavy that I wear? this Iron Crown of Lombardy. Yet is it bright with many a gem; I the wearer, see not its far flashings; but darkly feel that I wear that, that dazzlingly confounds. 'Tis iron- that I know- not gold. 'Tis split, too- that I feel; the jagged edge galls me so, my brain seems to beat against the solid metal; aye, steel skull, mine; the sort that needs no helmet in the most brain-battering fight!

Dry heat upon my brow? Oh! time was, when as the sunrise nobly spurred me, so the sunset soothed. No more. This lovely light, it lights not me; all loveliness is anguish to me, since I can ne'er enjoy. Gifted with the high perception, I lack the low, enjoying power; damned, most subtly and most malignantly! damned in the midst of Paradise! Good night-good night! (waving his hand, he moves from the window.)"

Moby Dick is semi-autobiographical and is based on trips made by Melville himself in younger days. Melville in his later years was unable to regain the passion and complexity of this book in his writings and was forced to give up being a full time writer. This is a great read, and most book lovers will want to read the masterpiece more than once.

A Milestone in Every Reader's Life!.......2006-08-17

I'd heard rumors about the book before I read it. That it was drawn out and overlong. That it was bizarre in its construction and characterization. That it senselessly detailed the intricacies of whaling to a microscopic degree. Having read the book, all of these are true, but they are by no means condemnations. It is a book ahead of its time--perhaps still ahead of our time. Take, for example, those first hundred pages which so beautifully detail the relationship of Ishmael with Queequeg; this section is intriguing and instructive and startling at once, displaying homoerotic overtones that would shock today, more than 150 years after its publication. This is a book that depicts the entirety of life: religion, relationships, occupation, philosophy, etc. There is nothing untouched in this novel, and it provides insight into all.

Reading Moby-Dick, I had an experience similar to that which I felt while reading Heart of Darkness for the first time. I find them strikingly similar in construction. For Conrad, it was the jungle; for Melville, the water. The protagonists of each are drawn inexplicably forward, many times against their own will. The psychological and philosophical implications of these narratives are truly enlightening.

Indeed, the language is sometimes difficult to wrap your mind around--especially some of the whaling dialect that arises in the characters extended soliloquies. But this is a book that shouldn't be missed. I was startled to conclude that the cetology and whaling minutiae did not distract me from the experience but focused me on the events that followed; for all of its eight hundred pages, there is not a superfluous word. And when the novel reaches its beautiful conclusion, it is a dramatic and brilliantly paced even that creates a bit of a whaler in each reader.

A Practical Guide to Whaling and the Mysteries of Life.......2006-06-17

I have, on more than one occasion, heard English professors and writers pine for the day when they could craft a single sentence as rich, as descriptive and revealing as Herman Melville.

We should all be this envious.

One reviewer noted that maturity is necessary for reading Melville's Moby Dick. I've been spellbound by this book since I was 20. Thirty years later, I can't turn away from it. When it came time for me to write my own book on a true nautical disaster, only a line by Melville could do justice as an introductory quote, though it came from Melville's book White Jacket.

Moby Dick is Melville's masterpiece, though even his shorter works such as Benito Cereno and Billy Budd should be examined.

Some force touched Melville, connecting him to the land, the sky and the sea and to the souls of men, and then, inexplicably, blended his consciousness with the universe. Melville exhibits an uncanny appreciation of the mystery of existence that is spliced as tightly as a mainbrace to everyday tasks and knowledge. The preparation of a harpoon for its murderous work is part of life's reality and Melville makes sure we can sign on for a voyage and do our part.

In Moby Dick, Melville instructs you not only how to be a whaler, but he's given the reader a glimpse into eternity. Moby Dick is required reading for anyone who wants to understand Melville's magnificent vision of America, as a lone quixotic ship of co-equal strangers upon a journey that is as thrilling as it is fraught with hazards.

Melville's best-kept secret is his harpoon-sharp humor which is unleashed on society through the rueful observations of his characters as they navigate a ruthless sea driven by the unyielding Ahab. The dour New England whaling captain is both at his best and worst when he is enthusiastically hailed by the captain of a passing ship. "How wondrous familiar is a fool", mutters Ahab who can think of nothing but slaying the white whale.

Those seeking simple thrill reading may be too distracted to be in awe of Melville. His writing style is rich rather than impenetrable and not for those without a love of the language. A wise reader will allow himself to be overwhelmed like a sailor who surrendereds to the rise and fall of sea swells as they carry him to an unknown place.

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Fans of Ahab will love this one
Literary criticism becomes art
You will seek the White Whale as Ahab did.

Call Me Ishmael
Charles Olson
Manufacturer: The Johns Hopkins University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0801857317

Book Description

First published in 1947, this acknowledged classic of American literary criticism explores the influences -- especially Shakespearean ones -- on Melville's writing of Moby-Dick. One of the first Melvilleans to advance what has since become known as the "theory of the two Moby-Dicks," Olson argues that there were two versions of Moby-Dick, and that Melville's reading King Lear for the first time in between the first and second versions of the book had a profound impact on his conception of the saga: "the first book did not contain Ahab," writes Olson, and "it may not, except incidentally, have contained Moby-Dick." If literary critics and reviewers at the time responded with varying degrees of skepticism to the "theory of the two Moby-Dicks," it was the experimental style and organization of the book that generated the most controversy.

Customer Reviews:

Fans of Ahab will love this one.......2004-08-11

Or, if you have read and re-read the current bestseller Ahab's Wife, and you are looking for another classic treatment of the Moby Dick story not featured on Oprah Winfrey's daily chat show, you might pick up Olson's famous theoretical exposition of Melville. In 1947, Charles Olson hadn't written much poetry and he was just coming off a failed political career as a minor functionary in Roosevelt's New Deal, but somehow he got his act together with CALL ME ISHMAEL. Nowadays, everyone is in on the Melville revival but in the immediate postwar years Melville had only really been in the canon for twenty years or so, so Olson was working out something new and undone in American literature. His book didn't sell particularly well, it's challenging and high-toned, but it has remained in print continuously for almost 60 years. Let's see if AHAB'S WIFE can say the same!

Literary criticism becomes art.......1999-08-10

It should come as no surprise that the world's greatest novel would inspire the world's greatest essay of literary criticism. Sadly, Olson's ideas did not appeal to members of the elite Melville Society, and to this day they still consider him a "crank." A real pity, because Olson will be remembered long after they are forgotten.

You will seek the White Whale as Ahab did........1999-04-14

In brief, "Call Me Ishmael" is the most interesting piece of literary criticism I've ever read. Foreshadowing his future leanings as a poet, Olson writes "Ishmael" more like a prose poem than stodgy dissertation. Yet, however unique the form, it seems strangely predetermined. For it is only through a poetic nature that it could distill such huge, multilayered concepts into an accessible and short (119 pg.) essay. This reissue--it was first published in 1947--takes the reader through Shakespearean influence on "Moby Dick," Melville's struggle with faith, and the importance of place--to name only three examples. The future rector of the short-lived, yet highly influential, Black Mountain College in North Carolina, creates an energy out of words bested only by "The Whale" itself. As Olson stated to his colleague, Merton Sealts, Jr., who wrote the new afterword to the essay: "I see that The White Death has descended upon You too." And it will upon you as well. After reading this incisive, lyrical, and engaging piece, you will want to return to "Moby Dick" before you've closed its pages.

Moby-Dick: or, The Whale (Modern Library Classics)

Average customer rating:

Confusing, sometimes pedantic, always wonderful
This is not the book for you if you're looking for a thriller.
A whale of a book
One for the Desert Island
Cetelogical Literature

Moby-Dick: or, The Whale (Modern Library Classics)
Herman Melville
Manufacturer: Modern Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 067978327X
Release Date: 2000-10-10

Book Description

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.

Customer Reviews:

Confusing, sometimes pedantic, always wonderful.......2006-07-20

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.

This is not the book for you if you're looking for a thriller........2006-06-07

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.

A whale of a book.......2006-05-19

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.

One for the Desert Island.......2005-11-29

This is one of those books that can be the only book you will ever need. The range of characters is quite wide and it has excellent descriptive matter. I only wish it had more of the saucy and less of the salty. Otherwise I just love this book!

Cetelogical Literature.......2005-07-15

This review pertains more to this particular edition of Moby-Dick than Moby-Dick itself. The story needs no summary or introduction. It's great and I would assume that by browsing here you have already expressed interest in the book, and so you should!

However, the Modern Library Classics publication of Moby-Dick is subpar when put side by side with Penguin Classics, Oxford World Classics, or the pentultimate Norton Critical Edition. The particularly nice part of this edition is the original woodcut illustrations of Rockwell Kent. While this is certainly a nice touch, it does not help the reader as much as better explanatory notes would. Moby-Dick is a book saturated with symbolism and copious references to Biblical works. While there is a very sparce selection of explanatory notes in the back of the book, many difficult passages or more obscure references go completely unnoticed by them. The introduction by Elizabeth Hardwick is really no help at all and comes close to approaching the incoherence of rambling enthusiasm.

Much of what makes Moby-Dick the amazing work of literature that is will be missed by a casual reader if he or she selects this publication. It's a truly American novel and one of the first to come out of the American Renaissance that asserted American writers were of equal, if not better, ability with their European contemporaries. It's an experience that should not be missed, but should be experienced with a better publisher.

Average customer rating:

Well, it is shorter....
Well, it is shorter....
The original is better

Moby-Dick (Cliffs Notes)
Stanley P. Baldwin
Manufacturer: Cliffs Notes
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0764586645

Book Description

The original CliffsNotes study guides offer expert commentary on major themes, plots, characters, literary devices, and historical background.

In CliffsNotes on Moby-Dick, you follow along this great American novel; the turbulent and adventurous story of a sea captain's obsession with a white whale.

This study guide shares a story about defiance, friendship, duty, and death — all immersed in symbolism, such as the white whale, itself. You'll gain comfort with the dark and complicated plot as you move through critical commentaries on each of the novel's 135 chapters. Other features that help you figure out this important work include

Life and background of the author, Herman Melville
Analyses of the characters
Introduction to the novel
A review section that tests your knowledge and suggests essay topics
A selected bibliography that leads you to more great resources

Classic literature or modern-day treasure — you'll understand it all with expert information and insight from CliffsNotes study guides.

Customer Reviews:

Well, it is shorter...........2006-03-04

Kids, think of this as an ice cream sundae with only the vanilla film and a speck of fudge on the inside of the sundae glass. It'll be enough for you to report on the significant parts of the sundae in great detail to Mr. English Teacher, but you'll have none of the feeling of having eaten an ice cream sundae, perhaps the finest food on Earth, if not the finest thing. Let's call this a loan. Use old Cliff to get through the test, but promise yourself that you'll at least pull up a chair to the book when you have the chance.

Well, it is shorter...........2006-01-27

The original is better.......2002-01-31

This volume skims over too much. I didn't like it as much as the original

Melville's Moby Dick - An American Nekyia: An American Nekyia (Studies in Jungian Psychology By Jungian Analysts)

Average customer rating:

Illuminates both Jung and Melville
stunningly insightful
Great American analyst meets great American novelist

Melville's Moby Dick - An American Nekyia: An American Nekyia (Studies in Jungian Psychology By Jungian Analysts)
Edward F. Edinger
Manufacturer: Inner City Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0919123708

Customer Reviews:

Illuminates both Jung and Melville.......2002-01-03

Edinger says upfront that his goal is to illuminate both Moby Dick and Jungian theory, in effect using them to throw light on each other. The fit between Melville's characters and Jungian character types and archetypes is clear and clean, never forced. Generous quotes from the novel illustrate Edinger's points.

Edinger references page numbers from the Penquin Classics edition of Moby Dick. Having that version in hand makes it very easy to flip to the source material and test your agreement with his interpretations.

stunningly insightful.......2000-05-18

MOBY DICK has long needed a depth-psych interpretation that could do it full justice, and Edinger provides it. As with most of his other books, I wish this one had been longer, so much compact wisdom does it contain. Look out for his image of Leviathan as collective "stuff" needing cooking in the fires of consciousness--awesome.

At the same time, as you read be aware that as a symbol, Moby Dick cannot be pinned down to anything in particular, even the Self, which is Edinger's interpretation. The white whale works on many different levels. One of them might be this: the whale as a symbol of the natural world attacked and dismembered by Ahab, that seaborne paradigm of the modern captain of industry.

Great American analyst meets great American novelist.......1998-07-31

Dr. Edward Edinger--who only recently departed this earthly existence--was one of the most prominent and gifted Jungian analysts in America. In this brilliant little jewel of a book, he analyzes Herman Melville and the collective American psyche. Melville's own personal "nekyia" or night sea journey into the underworld or unconscious during midlife is divined and revealed to us by Edinger in a most readable and fascinating fashion. Much more than a rollicking sea-faring adventure yarn, Melville's masterpiece, Moby-Dick, is a psychological treasure trove. Captain Ahab, notes Edinger, "is a study in the psychology of resentment. . . . His image serves as a mirror, showing the true nature of our own resentments. Everyone has this problem, his inner Ahab. . . ." Ahab's immoderate rage reflects the existential anger in each of us, the dangers of being possessed by bitterness, and the rage lying just below the shining surface of Ame! rican culture, in the dark oceanic depths--a violent rage which recently has been raising its ugly head with mounting ferocity. Melville's immortal denizen of the deep embodies the devils and demons--the daimonic-- with which we each must grapple, and Edinger's elucidation of the material (personal and archetypal) Melville constructively confronted and creatively came to terms with through his writing is encouraging, inspirational and completely masterful.

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