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    Moby Dick
    Moby Dick
    Moby Dick
    Audiobook17 minutes

    Moby Dick

    Written by Herman Melville

    Narrated by Robert Rance

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    About this audiobook

    In Herman Melville’s classic tale of revenge, Ishmael tells his story of becoming a whaler on the Pequod. When Ishmael and his unexpected friend Queequeg join Captain Ahab’s hunt for Moby Dick, the voyage of a lifetime turns into tragedy. The adventures of sailing the seas on the hunt for the great white whale is retold in the Calico Illustrated Classics adaptation of Melville’s Moby Dick. Calico Chapter Books is an imprint of Magic Wagon, a division of ABDO Group. Grades 3-8.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAbdo Publishing Group
    Release dateJan 1, 2010
    ISBN9781629689425
    Author

    Herman Melville

    Herman Melville was an American novelist, essayist, short story writer and poet. His most notable work, Moby Dick, is regarded as a masterpiece of American literature.

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    Reviews for Moby Dick

    4/5

    6,094 ratings175 reviews

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    • 2/5
      I read this when I was very young, and I don't really remember it very well. Another for the list of things to reread now I'm older and wiser!
    • 5/5
      Any time I mentioned to someone that I was finally tackling the book of the whale, I would get eye-rolls or declarations of boredom. But I actually got sucked further and further in, as pulled by some leviathan's great wake.Ishmael's tale of Ahab's dark revenge is not a typical narrative. If one's looking for a well-paced action yarn, don't read it. It's a story of character asides and the sea and the secrets of the whale physical and metaphysical. Ishmael concerns himself chiefly with the unfolding sublime (in Burke's sense) rather than the mundane.Images and old-sea phrases will doubtless rattle around in my head for decades to come.
    • 5/5
      This may be one of the beautifully written pieces of literature I've read. I didn't read this in high school, and never saw it read any excerpt or iteration of this story but I had a general idea that the story was about a man in pursuit of a great whale. Simple. Upon reading it for the first time, however, it's more than just pursuing a whale with an engrossing since of vengeance and passion. It's about passion itself, and the elusive desires that result in less successes than failures. How we pursue our dreams can be the end of us or elevate us.
    • 4/5
      Though descriptions of the types of whales, whaling, whaling implements, etc. can take up most of this novel (and bore one to tears), there are sections of the book that are absolutely sublime. Ultimately it can be read as a book about perceptual bias and how people are notoriously narrow-minded and way too biased/focused/obssessed for their own good. The whale's eyes, on the other hand, see two different worlds simultaneously...
    • 3/5
      Meeslepend, maar de onderbrekingen storen toch. Die vertonen trouwens sterke gelijkenis met methode van Herodotus: kritische bevraging van verhalen. Het geheel is niet helemaal geloofwaardig, en vooral het slot is nogal abrupt.Stilistisch vallen de abrupte veranderingen in register en perspectief op, waarschijnlijk toch wel een nieuwigheid. De stijl zelf doet zeer bombastisch, rabelaissiaans aan. Tekening Ahab: mengeling van sympathie en veroordeling
    • 5/5
      On my should read list list but avoided successfully for 45 years. Between the Philbrick recommendation and the lauds to Hootkins' narration, I finally succumbed and spent nearly a month of commutes taking the big story in, and the next month thinking about the story. SO glad I listened rather than skimmed as a reader. It has everything;. Agree with Floyd 3345 re fiction and nonfiction shelving
    • 4/5
      I wasn't sure what I was going to think of this book going into it because some people had told me it was really boring--it was one of my "I'm *obligated* as a person educated about literature to read this book" additions to my library. But I turned out to really enjoy it. Parts of it were very exciting, the symbolism was intriguing, and even the "whaling manual" stretches I found interesting because I like it when books teach me about things I don't know anything about. The only times it lost me were when it went off on total tangents like "And now I'm gonna describe paintings people have made of whales!" Ishmael/Queequeg are my OTP, and I related just a bit too much to Ahab. A note on this edition: It had a lot of footnotes, which were helpful as far as sailing terms/allusions, but sometimes were a little bothersome when they were trying to explain to you what passages meant.
    • 4/5
      This review is for the Frank Muller narration - my review of Melville's book is given for the Kindle book. I found Muller's narration to be excellent and for certain sections of the book, I would probably have given up if I had been reading instead of listening!
    • 4/5
      A Long Tale

      Moby Dick is a classic tragedy delivered with excellent story-telling when it comes to the story itself. But the book is encumbered with many chapters of trivia about whales and whaling and other odds and ends pertaining to them; it put great lulls in the flow of the actual adventure. I read it all out of sheer perseverance, but I would recommend to any other interested reader an abridged version.
    • 4/5
      I read this because it is a classic, even though I couldn't understand why someone would want to voluntarily sign on to the hard life of work on a whaling ship. I could understand what characters were doing, but seldom could see why they did what they did. The chapter on whales was skippable, since outdated. I did enjoy, afterward, reading reviews and analysis of this famous novel.
    • 4/5
      There's not much to say about this work from the American Renaissance that hasn't already been said, but Moby-Dick remains a surprisingly weird, funny, primal, and daunting novel for the modern reader.
    • 3/5
      I listened to the whole thing, but the story about Captain Ahab and the white whale probably takes up only the first ten or so chapters and the last three chapters. One could skip everything in the middle and still get the story. What makes this rambling, nonsensical book a classic, I surely don't know.
    • 5/5
      Classic, heavy use of old English. As told through the eyes of a hired-on deck hand. A bit heavy on details but for any non-mariner/whaler it opens the world of 1800's whaling to them and puts them at sea with Captain Ahab and the crew! All in all, a classic masterpiece!
    • 2/5
      The author writes in long sentances that drip with poetry. Personally I think they sound/feel a bit like shakespear. There appear to be more words than are needed, but at the same time they have a musical quality that forgives the excess.

      Chapter 42: The Whiteness of the Whale: Oh golly, I can't believe how this chapter drags as the author spends 9-10 pages making an argument for why the color/hue white should be menacing versus calming (assuming you thought it was calming in the first place).

      Chapter 43-44: Really nice writing that continue to build the sense of menace and foreshadowing of the plot. As much as I was dragged through chapter 42, I really like the pacing of these chapters which refresh me and keep me in the story.

      There is quite a bit of foreshadowing, lots of references to dark and dangerous things he will need to tell you in the future.

    • 4/5
      Can't remember when I read this, but I did. Enjoyed it more than I thought I would
    • 3/5
      Beautiful prose and an intimate look at the life of a whaling ship and it's characters. But it was very difficult to not find the 500 page treatise on the whale fishery, which constituted the greatest part of the book, to be a bit tedious.
    • 4/5
      This was an excellent book though a difficult slog. I do understand why Melville included many chapters on whaling and whales, but they did interrupt the flow of the story for me, as interesting as the whaling details were. I found the first third of the book thoroughly enjoyable. Really fun to read Ishmael’s activités and interactions before he boards the Pequod. And the last 4 or 5 chapters are riveting.
    • 4/5
      A very long, long, tale about whaling. Entire chapter’s worth of telling you in deep description about the ports, ships, accommodations, equipment, and the whales. Also it talks about the horrors of whaling and how a whale is reduced to a commodity for human use. Captain Ahab got what he deserved!
    • 4/5
      Sometimes I can relate to Captain Ahab ...
    • 4/5
      Captain Ahab seeks revenge on Moby-Dick who bit off his one leg.This was not as bad as I expected it to be. I liked parts of it. I was bored with other parts. I also read the commentary that was included after the story was over. My edition is 670 pages. Moby-Dick is three books in one. The first book is the story of the Pequod, its crew, Captain Ahab, and the search for the Whale. I liked this part the best. I liked Ismael and Queequeg are quite a pair. Most of the humor come through them. The second book is the information on whaling. That was mostly interesting. The last part is the philosophy that Melville put in the book. Some of it was interesting (chapter 42--The Whiteness of the Whale) but most of it went over my head so was boring. The commentary at the back of the book was mostly boring. I did like modern day criticism of D. H. Lawrence (from 1964). It goes with chapter 42 and is extremely timely for now. I was glad I read it, but I doubt I will reread it.
    • 4/5
      This work has a significant underlying hidden meaning that courses through the book from beginning to end. It is climactic and captivating.
    • 3/5
      This is a long book due to the author’s tendency towards a exposition of all things related to whales and whaling. The key story line is much shorter. Much of the terminology and analogies used are obscure and without explanation. This leaves the reader looking up vocabulary or moving on with confused understanding. I think I will need to watch the movie to make sense of some of the story. Regardless, the story is interesting and thought provoking. The author was much influenced by his religious studies. I do not strongly recommend this book.
    • 5/5
      One of my all-time favorites. I first read this in high school and loved it even then. The book is really two books in one, the fictional* story, and a history/lore of whaling, masterfully interwoven together. The history/lore portion does slow the fictional story down a bit but for me adds a richness to the fictional portion. The fictional story, to me, is a story on the dangers of obsession, and friendship/loyalty and duty. For those that are fans of Star Trek, "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" is a retelling of the story with Khan as Captain Ahab and Captain Kirk as The Whale. (See also"Star Trek:: First Contact" Picard as Ahab and the Borg as The Whale)

      *The story is based on an actual incident between a whale and a whaling ship, the Essex. in a book by Nathaniel Philbrick - "In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex" I did go back and reread Moby Dick after reading Philbrick's book.
    • 4/5
      An American classic that was even better than the first time I picked it up ten years ago. I appreciate the richness and depth of the story. And this time around, Ishmael's folios of whales was fascinating to read about.
    • 4/5
      In many ways a delightful book. I have always had the image of Melville, sitting quietly in a rented room, his floor and ceiling piled high with reference material thinking. "Why don't I write something about Whales? And why don't I put into it, everything I can find out about whales while I am writing it. The plot is not that important, but, how about a great obsession , a level of dedication like i get when I'm writing something myself? Or, ideally, I should have, when I'm writing something that I enjoy writing about? Yeah, why don't I do that?" And, so he did.
    • 5/5
      What a spectacular book! Absolutely phenomenal! I will definitely reread it in the future!
      One of the things that captured my attention from the beginning is its humour. I didn't expect it to be so funny. Some of the chapters are just hilarious.
      “Top-heavy was the ship as a dinnerless student with all Aristotle in his head.”

      Furthermore, the language is very poetic, with beautiful imagery and philosophical ideas spread throughout the whole book:
      “Glimpses do ye seem to see of that mortally intolerable truth; that all deep, earnest thinking is but the intrepid effort of the soul to keep the open independence of her sea; while the wildest winds of heaven and earth conspire to cast her on the treacherous, slavish shore.”

      I listened to the audiobook version, brilliantly narrated by William Hootkins. I can highly recommend it!
    • 5/5
      I'm glad I finally took the time for Moby Dick - Melville's prose is incredible and worth the slower pace of reading than I'm used to. He was ahead of his time for sure and more socially aware than many are in today's world.
    • 5/5
      The first techno thriller. I love to read about history, and this is history in infinite detail. Part seafaring adventure part whaling training manual, I devoured page after doomed page as Ahab and the crew are at odds with each other and the sea constantly tempting and taunting a fate that none of them but Ahab want to face. Shifting back and forth between the gradual clenching of fates teeth about the crew and the detailed depictions of the whaling trade kept me enthralled the whole time.
    • 4/5
      Reading Railsea reminded me that I'd never read this one, and since it happens to be public domain I just downloaded it and got straight into it. And it's great! It sort of reminded me of Neal Stephenson or Umberto Eco, in the way in which it goes off into tangents explaining how something works (generally whale anatomy or hunting equipment in this case) so that you can better appreciate the few dramatic moments of the plot... I love that. And I suppose that a long whaling voyage would be like that, with long stretches of nothing much happening, so it makes sense structurally, too. Well, anyway... I liked this one a lot. Somehow I had not been spoiled for the ending of it, either, which is always nice!
    • 5/5
      The most beautiful modern edition of an undisputed masterpiece. Stranger, funnier, and more varied than I imagined, this edition literally stopped people on the street. A homeless man in San Francisco stopped and admired the book, smiling as he told me he "needed that".