Moby-Dick, or, The Whale

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	Fiction / Melville, Herman	4-week checkout	Due 05-11-2024
Malletts Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Fiction / Classic / Melville, Herman	4-week checkout	Due 05-10-2024
Westgate Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Fiction / Classic / Melville, Herman	4-week checkout	Due 05-13-2024

Looking for adventure and a new life, Ishmael, the story's narrator, decides to find work on a whaling boat. On arriving at the Massachusetts harbour to begin his search, the only bed available is already half occupied by a "cannibal" named Queequeg. Although Queequeg has limited English, a friendship forms and the two men sign up for work together aboard the Pequod under the infamous Captain Ahab.

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COMMUNITY REVIEWS

Don't be afraid of Moby Dick submitted by mmitchel on January 29, 2007, 10:31pm Moby Dick is a humongously long book and takes quite a bit of sustained concentration to get through, but the rewards of such an endeavor are similarly huge. You will be forever enriched by the detailed description of Ishmael's reasons for going to sea (whenever he feels a damp, drizzly November in his soul and he fears he may just start going about methodically knocking people's hats off. You will understand his fear of his first roommate, the cannibal Queequeg, and you will be delighted as his fear turns to undying affection and respect as he realizes this cannibal is more civilized than most church-going seamen. But wait -- we are only through chapter 16 of 135 chapters! We haven't even gotten to Ishmael's description of the mad Captain Ahab or Ahab's true goal, the white whale, or even the steady, patient first mate Starbuck (whose name was later used by the ubiquitous Starbucks coffee chain).

Moby Dick can be a tortuous read (especially if you are being forced to read it for a college class as I was the first three times I read it), however when read for pleasure this book brings unheard of delights of description and satisfying details you won't find anywhere else.

So don't be afraid of Mody Dick. Take it slowly. Be sure not to skip past any words you don't know (I guarantee there will be plenty of them even for the well-read reader). If you savor it, scenes from this book will stay with you for a long time after you finally put it down.

Awesome submitted by lec.dank on June 25, 2011, 10:11pm Awsome book! Classic! Cool!

great! submitted by mysterio on July 18, 2013, 2:42pm deserves 5 stars!

Much funnier than you think--seriously! submitted by John Staunton on August 1, 2018, 9:57pm It's a huge book and comes with a lot of framing about how important and great it is. It is that, but it is also frequently very funny. The chapters are actually rather short, so try reading it in installments like a serialized 19th century novel. It's worth it (except for maybe the excessive detail about whaling after the kill--a little gross).

***** submitted by shannonwait on August 4, 2018, 6:45pm Funny, weird, and amazing.

the best classic book submitted by rawan on June 30, 2019, 10:48am Its my favorite classic book because it was funny and had a lot of action.

Awesome submitted by SaraP on July 25, 2019, 11:58am I read it in college and have read it several times since. His use of language is amazing. The three chapters about how to make harpoons are a bit odd, but fascinating.

Moby dick submitted by crp on August 10, 2019, 6:51am Filled with beautiful prose, my favorite is the description of gold on the surface of water touched by the sun. This is a classic for the ages.

Moby-Dick submitted by elsasan on August 21, 2019, 3:00pm Amazing book! At first it's really boring with all the detail but it's full of mild humor and good themes. I totally get why it's a classic.

Great! submitted by Harlowamy on August 28, 2020, 12:05pm This is a five-star book!