description: Its famous opening line, "Call me Ishmael," dramatic in its stark simplicity, begins an epic that is widely regarded as the greatest novel ever written by an American. Labeled variously a realistic story of whaling, a romance of unusual adventure and eccentric characters, a symbolic allegory, and a drama of heroic conflict, Moby Dick is first and foremost a great story. It has both the humor and poignancy of a simple sea ballad, as well as the depth and universality of a grand odyssey. When Melville's father died in 1832, the young man's financial security went too. For a while he turned to school-mastering and clerking, but failed to make a sustainable income. In 1840 he signed up on the whaler, Acushnet, out of New Bedford, Massachusetts. He was just 21. A whaler's life turned out to be both arduous and dangerous, and in 1842, Melville deserted ship. Out of this experience and a wealth of printed sources, Melville crafted his masterpiece.
language: English
title: Moby Dick
titlecomplete: Moby Dick
characters: Peter Coffin, Aunt Charity, Flask, Fleece, Mapple Priest, Fedallah, Stubb, Ishmael, Tashtego, Peleg, Daggoo, Mrs Hussey, Elijah, Starbuck, Dough-boy, Captain Ahab, Pippin ("Pip"), Moby Dick, Perth, Queequeg, Bildad
genres: Fiction, American, Adventure, Classic Literature, Literature, Classics, Novels, 19th Century, Historical Fiction, Audiobook
ratings_count: 545096
places: New England, Atlantic Ocean, Massachusetts, New Bedford, Massachusetts, Nantucket, Massachusetts, Pacific Ocean
awards: awardedAt: 1136102400000
name: Audie Award
category: Solo Narration - Male, awardedAt: 662716800000
name: Премія імені Максима Рильського
publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.