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Original Essays | December 12, 2009

Alexander McCall Smith: IMG The Courage of Others

0 comments By Alexander McCall Smith

I have recently written a novel about life in England during the Second World War. I felt some concern before I tackled this theme — the War... Continue »
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Moby Dick: Or the Whale

by Herman Melville

Moby Dick: Or the Whale Cover

Review-a-Day   (What is Review-a-Day?)

"I'm embarking on a 'classics year,' where I'm going to try to read a lot of those books that I know I should have read a long time ago. You know the ones — those books that we can all quote from and make references to, even though we've never actually cracked open a copy. I started last year by finally reading Darwin's main books....Then, when I interviewed Stephen Pinker, he mentioned having recently enjoyed Moby-Dick and recommended it to me for the biology aspects. So I made the plunge. And you know what? It went quicker than I expected, and it's got some interesting observations about people beyond the obvious insights about obsession and vengeance. Doug Brown, Powells.com (read the entire Powells.com review)

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

"What's the use of elaborating what, in its very essence, is so short-lived as a modern book? Though I wrote the Gospels in this century, I should die in the gutter."
— Herman Melville, in a letter to Nathaniel Hawthorne, 1851

One hundred-fifty years have passed since Herman Melville wrote his masterpiece. Yet Moby-Dick endures as an indisputable literary classic that continues to speak to readers today. Join Captain Ahab, an eerily compelling madman, as he pursues an unholy war against a creature as vast and dangerous and unknowable as the sea itself. In his monomaniacal quest, Ahab focuses his distilled hatred and suffering — and that of generations before him — against one single creature, and pursues it relentlessly.

More than just a novel of adventure, more than an encyclopedia of whaling lore and legend, this 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.

Synopsis:

A century and a half after its publication, "Moby-Dick" still stands as a literary classic. A novel of adventure the story of a madman pursuing an unholy war against a creature as vast and dangerous as the sea, it is also an important social commentary populated with several of the most unforgettable characters in literature. This edition features French flaps and deluxe packaging.

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Product Details

ISBN:
9780142000083
Subtitle:
Or the Whale
Foreword:
Philbrick, Nathaniel
Author:
Melville, Herman
Author:
Philbrick, Nathaniel
Publisher:
Penguin Books
Location:
New York, NY
Subject:
Fiction
Subject:
Classics
Subject:
Action & Adventure
Subject:
Sea & Ocean
Subject:
Mentally ill
Subject:
Adventure stories
Subject:
Psychological fiction
Subject:
Whales
Subject:
Whaling
Subject:
Sea stories
Subject:
Allegories
Subject:
Adventure fiction
Subject:
Ship captains
Subject:
Whaling ships.
Subject:
Ahab, Captain
Subject:
Epic fiction
Copyright:
1988
Edition Number:
150
Edition Description:
150th anniversary ed.
Series:
Penguin Classics Deluxe Editio
Series Volume:
106-1006
Publication Date:
September 2001
Binding:
Paperback
Grade Level:
General/trade
Language:
English
Illustrations:
Yes
Pages:
624
Dimensions:
8.43 x 5.70 in.
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