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Moby Dick
Moby Dick
Moby Dick
Audiobook25 hours

Moby Dick

Written by Herman Melville

Narrated by Norman Dietz

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

3.5/5

()

About this audiobook

On a previous voyage, a mysterious white whale had ripped off the leg of a sea captain named Ahab. Now the crew of the Pequod, on a pursuit that features constant adventure and horrendous mishaps, must follow the mad Ahab into the abyss to satisfy his unslakeable thirst for vengeance. Narrated by the cunningly observant crew member Ishmael, Moby Dick is the tale of the hunt for the elusive, omnipotent, and ultimately mystifying white whale-Moby Dick.

On its surface, Moby Dick is a vivid documentary of life aboard a nineteenth-century whaler, a virtual encyclopedia of whales and whaling, replete with facts, legends, and trivia that Herman Melville had gleaned from personal experience and scores of sources. But as the quest for the whale becomes increasingly perilous, the tale works on allegorical levels, likening the whale to human greed, moral consequence, good, evil, and life itself. Who is good? The great white whale who, like Nature, asks nothing but to be left in peace? Or the bold Ahab who, like scientists, explorers, and philosophers, fearlessly probes the mysteries of the universe? Who is evil? The ferocious, man-killing sea monster? Or the revenge-obsessed madman who ignores his own better nature in his quest to kill the beast?
LanguageEnglish
Release dateMar 29, 2010
ISBN9781400186013
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

Rating: 3.703862660944206 out of 5 stars
3.5/5

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  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This is it, folks--the Great American Novel. It doesn't get any better--or more experimental--than this.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Five reasons why I like Moby-Dick1. The humor: Not many mentions this, but this american classic is actually hilarious. From the descriptions of Ishmael unwittingly sharing a bed with the cannibal-"savage" Queequeg, Father Mabbles sermon on Jonah (brimming with doom and damnation), Stubbs' raging commands of the fishermen - Ahabs insanity - oh, I just smile and laugh a lot reading it.2. The whale: Obviously. With this wild, sea monster Melville has created an immortal symbol - as in Spielbergs movie Jaws - Moby Dick is anticipated for a long time - actually only surfacing in the very end of the novel, but before that Melville has painted such a living description of that dreaded Leviathan. Both very real but also a mythic being encapsulating all what man dreads or hold dear. Whatever it represents to the reader. For me mostly I like the idea of something transcendent beyond our grasp that we can't control or fully describe or understand. Untamable. And of course we have the great finale, when we see Moby Dick in action. We need a bigger boat, could be a quote from Moby Dick and not Jaws. Oh, what a whale. 3. The tedious parts that totally disregard or interrups the narrative. All those chapters with whale classifications etc. that students dread and have cursed over. Well, not all these chapters, but in fact a lot of them are really not that tedious. Melville constantly blend the down-to-earth scientific explanations with philosophical, spiritual and Old Testament musings - as in the chapter The whiteness of the Whale. It's so brilliant.4. Captain Ahab: Insane, stubborn, selfish. Totally absorbed in his doomed quest for revenge - like an obsessed wild man that has lost any grib on reality, he's beyond redemption. Another immortal Melville-creation. Slowly Ishmael realizes what expedition his resless nature has embarked on. Exploration comes with a prize. 5. The interpretation: While I write these lines someone on a university somewhere are struggling to find the deeper meaning of Moby-Dick. A horror novel, a microcosmos of civilization searching to tame nature, a "modern" greek tragedy warning of the passions of human beings, Old Testament judgment story. What does the whale represent? What is Melville up to? [Moby Dick] seems to have so many layers of meaning and possible interpretations. Great.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    I read this book, all of this book, in college. I was utterly sickened at the amount of gross details in regards to even the minute details of whaling. Still, I am glad that I read the entire book. It provides endless material for metaphors and similes in my own writing. I once compared a writer's decision to come against the powers that be to the decision Starbuck had to make, whether to kill Ahab or let the entire crew die.
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    This could have been a shorter book. Melville created multiple chapters explaining and discussing the sperm whale’s head, right whale’s head, different kinds of whale and their classifications. It was like reading an encyclopedia rather than a story.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Moby Dick is surely one of the great American novels and its non-human protagonist is known to everyone only remotely interested in literature. The story about Captain Ahab and the whale, however, is not that well known at all. I mean, who can really say what happens at the end of Moby Dick? No worries, I will not give away the ending here. Just let me give a brief outline of the setting and the plot. The story is narrated by Ishmael and it is narrated in first person. Ishmael recounts the story of how he came to join Captain Ahab's crew on the Pequod, a whaling ship. Captain Ahab has met the white whale Moby Dick many times, but never managed to finally kill the animal. On the contrary, he was almost defeated by Moby Dick, who cost Ahab one of his legs. This led to Ahab developing an obsession to finally catch and kill Moby Dick. The plot is easily told then. The Pequod sails the oceans in order for Ahab to finally fulfill what seems to be his only remaining purpose in life.Moby Dick is so much more than its plot. A large part of the novel is made up of extensive background information about whales and whaling. Melville chose not to simply entertain his readers with a story but rather educate them on the subject he seems to be so facinated with. The mere story would probably have been told in about half the number of pages, but it is this addendum, let's call it, that makes up for a large part of the reading experience. I do admit that there will be many readers who will be taken aback by the degree of detail Melville put into the educational part of the novel. However, the combination of both background knowledge and a story about finding and killing a whale is what makes this novel exceptional, I think.While Moby Dick was published in 1851, I think the novel is timeless and can be read for many reasons as it includes still relevant themes, the fight of human vs. nature being one of them, and provides the readers with some insights that are as true and important today - or even more so - as they might have been in the 19th century. A case in point:I say, we good Presbyterian Christians should be charitable in these things, and not fancy ourselves so vastly superior to other mortals, pagans and what not (...) I say: and Heaven have mercy on us all - Pagans and Presbyterians alike - for we are all somehow dreadfully cracked about the head, and sadly need mending.I would generally suggest that readers should give Moby Dick a try and see whether it is their cup of tea or not. I can certainly understand both how people admire the novel and how they might find it quite boring. What it came down to for me in the end was, what the reading did with me. After many reading sessions what I had just read did not leave me for quite a bit and this is something that I treasure in books. 3.5 stars.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Can't remember when I read this, but I did. Enjoyed it more than I thought I would
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I have written a review of Moby Dick elsewhere, still in the first flush of my love for the book, but I'm going to add a note here, as well.

    Moby Dick is my On the Road. It's my Dead Poet's Society, my Catcher in the Rye. My book where disillusionment and carpe diem combine, my book where wonder meets pain. You know that quote people love from On the Road? "The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live..."? I liked that quote too, when I was in high school. I mean, Kerouac, for me, was a high school phenomenon.

    As an adult, I have a greater sense of adventure - and a deeper melancholy, and the opening lines of Moby Dick captured that for me:

    Some years ago—never mind how long precisely—having little or no money in my purse, and nothing particular to interest me on shore, I thought I would sail about a little and see the watery part of the world. It is a way I have of driving off the spleen and regulating the circulation. Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul; whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses, and bringing up the rear of every funeral I meet; and especially whenever my hypos get such an upper hand of me, that it requires a strong moral principle to prevent me from deliberately stepping into the street, and methodically knocking people's hats off—then, I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can. This is my substitute for pistol and ball.

    The language felt so fresh to me, as I read, so urgent and modern and prickly and vivid. I think it's one of the greatest books ever written and I could have drowned in the prose.


  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I listened to the free Librivox recording of the book. The reader did an excellent job.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    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
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    What a crazy old bugger that Captain Ahab was!It has taken me so long to finish this book that I'm glad I can slam it shut, put it on the shelf and write this review. But where to begin?I don't want to slam the whole thing. Really, I don't. Because I was quite looking forward to reading it, and the first few chapters where we meet Ishmael and Queequeg got me quite interested in the story. The they got on the ship and it all kind of slowly went downhill from there.Being on a whale ship, in between when you are actually chasing whales, must get pretty boring for the whalers. That's how this part of the book seemed to me. A lot of philosophizing about ... stuff? ... and then scientifically inaccurate (they probably seemed right at the time) descriptions of the whale as a 'big fish with lungs'. It floated in and out of the actual story (which I was more interested in) about the madman Ahab and his crazy quest to find and destroy Moby Dick (who does not appear until the 466th page, in my edition!) and the philosophy and musings and explanations from Ishmael. As the story went on I felt we lost Ishmael's point of view and it became more of a third person narrative. That was too bad - I liked Ishmael and his story. But I get that his story is a mere part of the whole adventure.I enjoyed some of this book, but mostly I was just glad to finish it!  
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    One of my favorites! The opening paragraph pretty much sums up why I read it.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Call me impressed. The blurb on the jacket of this audio book calls it a “breathtaking masterwork,” but actually, it’s better than that! It is a epic and staggering tale every bit as big as its subject matter--the largest of all living creatures and the edacious, relentless men who hunt and kill them. Melville’s language is grandiloquent and a bit archaic, almost like the King James Bible. Although some might find that pretentious, I think it works in its context. My experience of the book may even have been enhanced by listening to it rather than reading it: the language is so elevated that, like a Shakespearian play, it is more moving when heard than when read. Melville says somewhere near the end of the book that one should write big stories about big subject matters, not about small things. And indeed, this book is not about mice or fleas; it is about whales and whaling.Moby Dick was first published in 1851. The plot is of course familiar to most; beginning with the first sentence “Call me Ishmael” to the obsessed quest by Captain Ahab on the whaleship Pequod to catch and kill the whale that severed his leg, this story has been swimming through the culture in every medium from music to movies (including adaptations like “Jaws) and television.Melville can be forgiven for utilizing a sprinkling of omens and preternaturally prescient shamans, reminiscent of Shakespeare’s witches, to create a foreboding atmosphere. His characters were superstitious and would have attributed such portentousness to ordinary coincidences. And what wonderful characters they are! Dickens himself would have been proud to have limned them, especially the “pagan savages,” the harpooners named Queequeg, Tashtego, Daggoo, and Fedallah. This is not just a novel. It is also an encyclopedic treatise on the subject of whales and whaling, relating not only what scientists of the time knew, but also much of the lore (obviously exaggerated, but in many ways more interesting than the truth) prevalent in the fishery. In the performance to which I listened (“Unabridged Classics” on 18 CDs), Frank Muller did a superb job of mastering accents and employing different voices for different characters. This book sets a very high standard for other fiction. It deserves its rating as one of the greatest novels in the English language.(JAB)
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Amazing, amazing book. Deep in history, lore, humor, character, and symbolism, it's easy to see why this is an enduring classic. The meticulous details of whaling many complain about seem to me essential -- wrapping the novel in a time capsule which captures just what a whaling voyage was and entailed. Even the most prosaic chapters are written with a keen ear for Ishmael's voice, subtly revealing little pearls about the man telling us this story. And the story itself -- such vividness of language, imagery, and emotion, such a compelling depiction of charismatic madness. The strength of Ahab's personality practically forces its way out of every page he appears upon. "No, no—no water for that; I want it of the true death-temper. Ahoy, there! Tashtego, Queequeg, Daggoo! What say ye, pagans! Will ye give me as much blood as will cover this barb?" *shiver*.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    My edition had 620 pages. Melville could have told the story in 200, and it would have been a much more enjoyable read. Some folks have accused current generations of having attention deficits due to the snappy editing in TV and movies. We have nothing on Melville, though. Moby Dick is a disjointed and schizophrenic jumble of almost nonexistent plot development, thin character development, solipsistic ramblings, anecdotes, and whaling "lessons".

    I read this book because my copy was a 13th birthday gift given to my grandfather and because it's supposedly a classic. I was throughly disappointed and left wondering what's so classic about it. My grandfather probably liked it, though. He liked the works of James Michener, possibly the most boring writer to ever put ink to paper.

    Kahn was a better Ahab, and Wrath of Kahn was a better Moby Dick. Perhaps Nicholas Myers a better author than Herman Melville.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    For my taste, a few too many digressions about the particulars of whaling and whale anatomy. Also, I was sad about all the whale-killing. I'm bummed that I didn't love it more.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This is a sea epic adventure story.If you didn't already know this book takes you on the journey of a sea voyage as told by our first person narrator Ishmael, who in boredom, decides to join the crew of a whaling ship called the Pequod. They then and bark on their journey off the coast of Nantucket and search of whales and most infamously the killer white well known to the sailors as Moby Dick. Crazy Captain Ahab seems not only dead set on evening the score with Moby Dick but in his obsession to do so leads the ship and its crew in to peril. Will Ishmael ever reach the shore again alive?Okay so I understand this is a classic, but my readers expect an honest review for me so here it goes...Though beautiful the writing is in this book, Herman Melville is extremely long-winded with his descriptions of pretty much everything. Every little detail takes an entire chapter to explain. The book becomes extremely tedious and even boring to those who aren't really keen on ocean epics. The language in which it is written is borderlined Old English and is beautiful to read. However as I said before the descriptions of things become monotonous with this author. I respect this for the classic that it is. But I'm sure this will probably be my one and only time reading this one. Now I can say that I have read it and move on. I would definitely recommend others to read it once and respect for the classic that it is as well. It is a good story overall, just difficult to read.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    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
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Societally we all know the basic story. I learned a great deal about whaling, and the times.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    What an amazing book. A marathon of a book, slow and careful, meting out information on whales and whaling and the culture that leads to the exciting climax. I can see why some people might have trouble making it through the more "academic" sections (in quotes because, well, science has come a long way since the 1850s), and I have a suggestion for you. I actually got this book on CD from Recorded Books, read by Frank Muller, and listened to it every time I was in the car. Frank Muller does such a wonderful job narrating the unabridged story that even the dry descriptions that don't seem to move the plot forward were engaging.
    I now think of Moby Dick a spiritual text, as full of anecdotes and lessons and symbolism as it is. And it provides more information about the fascinating world of 19th century whaling than I ever thought I'd know. Can you even imagine taking down a massive sperm whale with nothing more than a tiny boat, some spears, and rope? Do you know what it would be like to watch a whale die? And even after it's killed, how on earth would you get the blubber off of it? If you read Moby Dick, you can "experience" all of these things, complete with the success and tragedy that come with them. Plus, the story is really funny! I don't know why no one told me this before. I was actually laughing out loud at many parts, which I did not expect. I would try to give an example here, but it's sort of like re-telling a joke from Shakespeare--the language is so precise and idiosyncratic that I just end up bungling it. But give it a try, and see if you're not already laughing by the end of the first chapter.
    I would highly recommend Moby Dick to anyone, and especially the Recorded Books version read by Frank Muller.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Despite Ishmael's astonished and disquieting first encounter with Queequeg, readers may feel a gentle entry,an easing into his life as a whaler. Then comes an awakening call from Jonah and Father Mapple:"You cannot hide the soul!"Melville alternates unflinching minutely detailed descriptions of whale hunting, hideous cold-bloodedkillings, and god-awful butchery with his own kind hearted compassion, love, and respect for animals.One imagines him pondering, as he did the nursing whale babies who were spared death, all the three-legged Easter lambs that never get a chance at life. He skewers foie gras, leading this reader to wonder if President Obama read the volume before his visit to Paris restaurants.Though daunting reading at times for animal lovers, the unrelenting pursuit of the divine, sublime, mysticLeviathan monster sphinx overrides the parts to skim over.Midway through the lengthy book when interest may be waning, Melville changes directions, introducing GAMS, and the plot takes off again. Insights into various characters' humor, mysteries, and personal life philosophies abound as we are all "lashed athwartship." The rhythms of the ship, the winds, weather, and waves interweave in this fateful journey toward the "...spouting fish with a horizontal tail."And, woe be to anyone who interrupts the reading of the Three Chapter Chase!Rockwell Kent's many illustrations not only illuminate the long text, but move it smoothly along. As well,we see the world from the whale's eye...and, we want that Great White Whale to make it, to live,sounding deep and free and far from Ahab's treacherous commands to "...spout black blood.""Speaking words of wisdom, let (them) be..."For readers who inquire about the relevance of this old Classic, Ishmael offers up the headline he sees:"BLOODY BATTLE IN AFGANISTAN"The climax of Moby-Dick is perfect. For me, the ending was not. Why did the bird need to be nailed to the mast of the dying ship?Why are we left with this horrifying image? What does it mean?Other mysteries > The significance of the three mountains (rooster, tower, and flame) on the Spanish doubloon?Why the out-of-place, contrived conversational "Town-Ho"episode is included? It would not be missed.> What Fedallah gets out of joining Ahab? With his gift of prophecy,he must have known before departure that he would be doomedwith the rest, so what was he seeking? Unlike Hecate and the three witches who did not join MACBETH in his castle, Fedallah strangely casts his lot with The Captain.(The book I read was unabridged - this Great Illustrated Classics is the only Rockwell Kent title I could find.)
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    This book rambles and rambles and rambles. The descriptions are incredible, but the plot is pretty thin. Still not sure why this is such a classic. A whole chapter was spent describing a pulpit, for example.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A good read, with strong, vivid characters. Also an interesting insight into the whaling industry of the time.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The difficulty in reading Moby-Dick is sometimes akin to Captain Ahab's pursuit of the White Whale, but the effort is worth it. Herman Melville mixes science, history and literary genres in his masterpiece. It is indeed among the Great American Novels.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I took a class on this in college, and at the time I believed that it was indeed the best novel ever written (besides the Grapes of Wrath). I remember sitting on my dorm couch and exclaiming, "Oh my god! This is the most boring chapter---but it's SUPPOSED to be! Brilliant!" Now, when I think of my favorite books, it doesn't come to mind, but at a time I appreciated it as one of the most quality works of fiction of all time.

    I believe that I presented to my class that the whale represents "women", as Moby Dick is the only female presence in the whole million pages.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I love this book. I've read it twice in the past few years, and both times took something new and exciting from the text. The characters are wonderful, the prose gorgeous (I'm continually sucked in by the imagery Melville conjures). I would definitely recommend doing at least some reading on the Transcendentalist and Anti-Transcendentalist movements before picking this up, for some context.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    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.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    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...
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This is the best book I've ever read. An amazing adventure. I couldn't believe what I was reading at times! The way the main character delivers his humor is just exquisite. I had to look up a lot of words, a lot of Biblical references, and a lot of American history to understand parts of the book, and that was a great educational experience.
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    I tried but not even pretending to read it with Batman and other assorted fictional character's voices is going to save this for me.

    Dull. Dull. DULL. Seriously there's like 30 pages of harpoon line! Call me crazy but I DON'T CARE! It's rope! That's all I need to know about it!

    Ah well. So much for bettering my mind by embracing a classic. Heh
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Digital audiobook performed by Anthony HealdThis is a re-read … sort of. The first time I attempted this book I was only 11 years old, in 7th grade, and participating in a “great books” discussion group. I gave up and relied on the Cliff’s notes and watching the movie with Gregory Peck as Ahab. Some years ago, I read Nathaniel Philbrick’s excellent In the Heart Of the Sea, a nonfiction account of the whaleship Essex, which was the inspiration for Melville’s tale. I found it fascinating and commented “Almost makes me want to read Moby Dick.” Well I didn’t forget that urge and decided to give the audiobook a try. I’m glad I did.Yes, Melville writes in great detail – ad nauseum – about the intricacies of whaling, the various species of aquatic mammals, the arduous and dirty (even disgusting) job of butchering the carcass. But he also explores the relationships developed among the crew, the sights of new ports, the weeks of tedious boredom broken by a day or two of exhilarating chase. And then there is the psychology of Ahab. A man tortured by his own obsession and need for revenge. That was the most interesting part of the book for me and I wanted much more of it. I struggled with my rating and ultimately decided on 4 stars for the enduring quality of the work; despite its flaws and the things I disliked about it it’s a work that will stay with me. Anthony Heald was the narrator of the audio book I got from my library. He did a fine job of the narration. He read at a good pace and brought some life to a work that frequently bogs down in minutia.