Moby Dick: Or the Whale

by Jc Sheldon (Illustrator), Mogul Books (Editor), Herman Melville

Overview

Welcome to the world of Mogul Classics Books. In this novel Moby-Dick by Herman Melville, we are proud to offer you the best edition of this classic, one of the most loved and timeless stories of all times. Moby-Dick; or, The Whale is a novel by Herman Melville, in which Ishmael narrates the monomaniacal quest of Ahab, captain of the whaler Pequod, for revenge on the albino sperm whale Moby Dick, which on a previous voyage destroyed Ahab's ship and severed his leg at the knee. The product of a year and a half of writing, the book draws on Melville's own whaling experience, on his reading in whaling literature, and on literary inspirations such as Shakespeare and the Bible. The detailed and realistic descriptions of whale hunting and the process of extracting whale oil, as well as life aboard ship among a culturally diverse crew, are mixed with exploration of class and social status, good and evil, and the existence of God. In addition to narrative prose, Melville uses a wide range of styles and literary devices ranging from songs, poetry and catalogs to Shakespearean stage directions, soliloquies, and asides. The author changed the title at the very last moment in September 1851, and so the work first appeared as The Whale in London in October 1851, and then under its definitive title Moby-Dick in New York in November. The British edition of five hundred copies was not reprinted during the author's life, the American of almost three thousand was reprinted three times at approximately 250 copies, the last reprinting in 1871. These figures are exaggerated because three hundred copies were destroyed in a fire at Harper's; only 3,200 copies were actually sold during the author's life. A commercial failure and out of print at the time of the author's death in 1891, its reputation grew immensely during the twentieth century. According to D.H. Lawrence, it is "one of the strangest and most wonderful books in the world," and "the greatest book of the sea ever written." Dedicated to Nathaniel Hawthorne, "in token of my admiration for his genius," Moby-Dick is considered a Great American Novel and an outstanding work of the Romantic Period in America, a period also known as the American Renaissance. "Call me Ishmael," is one of world literature's most famous opening sentences. As you read this Mogul Classics Books edition of Herman Melville's Moby-Dick, you will relive one of the most acclaimed novels of all times.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781502750877
Publisher:	CreateSpace Publishing
Publication date:	10/08/2014
Pages:	396
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.02(h) x 0.88(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Herman Melville (August 1, 1819 - September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and poet. He is best known for his novel Moby-Dick and the posthumous novella Billy Budd. His first three books gained much contemporary attention (the first, Typee, becoming a bestseller), but after a fast-blooming literary success in the late 1840s, his popularity declined precipitously in the mid-1850s and never recovered during his lifetime. When he died in 1891, he was almost completely forgotten. It was not until the "Melville Revival" in the early 20th century that his work won recognition, especially Moby-Dick which was hailed as one of the literary masterpieces of both American and world literature. He was the first writer to have his works collected and published by the Library of America.

Born in New York City, the son of New England merchant. He worked at odd jobs (clerk, garmhand, teacher) before sailing to the South Seas on the whaler Acushnet. He deserted his ship, lived among cannibals, mutinied on an Australian boat, then spent two years on an American boat returning to the U.S. He successfully romanticized these adventures, publishing seven novels in six years, including Moby Dick (1851), one of the masterworks of American fiction. His popularity waned, and by the time he died he was virtually forgotten. Billy Budd was his last great novel. As his writing declined, Melville sailed again, around Cape Horn to San Francisco on a clipper ship commanded by his brother.