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Moby-Dick Audiobook
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(3.00) - 257,079 listener ratings
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Plot Summary
Moby Dick is one of the great classics of American literature. It went unappreciated during the lifetime of Herman Melville but its reputation was revived in the early twentieth century when people became more interested in myth. On the face of it, Moby Dick is the story of a man who goes on a whaling expedition and meets with many adventures to eventually become the sole survivor of the ship. But Moby Dick is anything but factual, being filled with philosophical ramblings and symbolism.
Ishmael, the narrator of Moby Dick, is an observer on board the ship Pequod which boasts a crew of many different nationalities. The Pequod is a melting pot, like America itself, and its captain, Ahab, is a man obsessed with finding the whale Moby Dick whom he has encountered before. Having lost a leg in that first skirmish with the great white whale, Ahab has become obsessed with gaining revenge. He blames the whale for everything bad that has happened to him and will not rest until he takes it down.
Throughout the whaling expedition, Ahab constantly seeks information about Moby Dick from other ships that the Pequod encounters. Although they come across several other whales, some of which get away and some of which are killed, Ahab keeps his eye on the prize, despite prophecies and dire warnings about the future from a member of the crew. Eventually, of course, Ahab’s obsession leads to his own destruction.
Melville himself went on a whaling expedition from which he took many of the details of Moby Dick. During his lifetime, however, the only person of note who appreciated his masterpiece was Nathaniel Hawthorne to whom Melville dedicated the book. Most people found it too philosophical and preferred Melville’s earlier books which were more factual in nature. Now, of course, Moby Dick is a permanent fixture in the American literary canon and Melville’s philosophical meanderings, which were so unpopular in his day, are what make it a classic today.
Download the Moby Dick audiobook from The Audio Bookstore today and you’ll find yourself engrossed in a world of seafaring men who are all very different from each other but united in the common goal to find the white whale.
"Loved it! A story interupted by digressions, poetry throughout, a meandering, long, journey which invaded my dreams. Details, metaphors, thoughts, brilliance, erudition - history, geography, art, ... and all this before google. Melville must have hunkered down in a library and swilled the books there."
— Lynnnadeau (5 out of 5 stars)
Publisher Summary
One of the great works of American literature, Moby-Dick is the epic tale of one man’s fight against a force of nature.
The outcast youth Ishmael, succumbing to wanderlust during a dreary New England autumn, signs up for passage aboard a whaling ship. The Pequod sails under the command of the one-legged Captain Ahab, who has set himself on a maniacal quest to capture the cunning white whale that robbed him of his leg: Moby-Dick.
Capturing life on the sea with robust realism, Melville details the adventures of the colorful crew aboard the ship as Ahab pursues his crusade of revenge, heedless of all cost. This masterfully symbolic drama of the conflict between man and his fate has a special intensity that listeners will not soon forget.
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Quotes
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“The greatest of American novels.”
— Atlantic Monthly -
“Even tenth-grade-me could have appreciated the book as read in Anthony Heald’s sardonic, Silence of the Lambs intonation. Generally speaking, witty books seem to have the most to gain in audio form…particularly when read by great voice artists.”
— BookRiot (audio review) -
“Narrator Anthony Heald not only creates vivid characterizations—Captain Ahab’s gruff mania, Starbuck’s doubtful sensitivity, the prophet Elijah’s visionary shakiness—he also dramatizes the many moods of the Pequod crew and the mercurial ocean itself. Heald’s voice has the range of a piano, and he uses it like a virtuoso…Heald’s voice bristles dryly with humor or sinks with dread—a range necessary to tell this complex story.”
— AudioFile -
“An epic, rewarding, sea-worthy journey awaits you in one of literature’s classic tales.”
— Amazon.com -
“A work tantalizingly subversive, and yet somehow if not affirming at least forgiving of the blind destructiveness of human nature and of nature itself.”
— Elizabeth Hardwick, American literary critic -
“Responsive to the shaping forces of his age as only men of passionate imagination are, even Melville can hardly have been fully aware of how symbolical an American hero he had fashioned in Ahab.”
— F. O. Matthiessen, literary critic
Awards
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#1 Audible.com bestseller
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A BookRiot Pick of Classic Best Experienced in Audio
Moby-Dick Listener Reviews
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Tim Stenson, 7/16/2022
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" i once read that moby dick was the most boring of all the great books. i agree with the 'boring' part, however, i still need convincing on the 'great' part. "
— lyratheliar, 2/20/2014 -
" I read this novel in college. I loved it. I am reading it again for pleasure and I am still loving the characters and story. "
— Sharon, 2/18/2014 -
" Forcing kids to read this thing should be considered cruel and unusual punishment. "
— Tracy, 2/17/2014 -
" I have the Norton critical edition, and if you can get your hands on it, that is the one to read. With the first encyclopedic novel, Melville changed literature forever. "
— Steven, 2/17/2014 -
" Can't seem to finish this one entirely, even after it being a required reading for two different classes....oops. "
— Karen, 2/7/2014 -
" Simply amazing. I was utterly intimidated after reading he first page - this guy can write "
— Paul, 2/5/2014 -
" First few chapters were good. But as soon as the ship sailed every chaper was about whales, whaling, and life on a whaling ship. The story seemed to get lost in the the whaling descriptions and doesn't show up again until the last few chapters. Even then it didn't come back very strongly. "
— Catherine, 1/26/2014 -
" If you eliminated 2/3's of the book it would be great "
— Randy, 1/25/2014 -
" My favorite. If you don't like it I don't like you. "
— Tim, 1/22/2014 -
" Inspired to finally read this by a film version I watched with the kids, I did enjoy this Great American Classic. It is an epic and you do need to pick up some momentum to get through it - I used the dictionary in my e-reader frequently and although I enjoyed the rambling soliloquies exploring the minutiae of whaling and whales and other digressions, not everyone might. The story is good: everyone knows the crazed pursuit of Moby Dick by the mad Captain Ahab. I was sorry that thanks to the film version I already knew the end, but in spite of that it did manage to be gripping. The whole thing feels like a trip back in time to another era - I wish we'd done this one at school - the in depth analysis would be interesting... "
— Ray, 1/20/2014 -
" i guess I am one of the few people who don't get this book. too much minutiae on whaling for my taste. "
— Don, 1/18/2014 -
" Now I know what it means to say that a person has written a self-indulgent book. We are led to believe that Moby Dick is about Captain Ahab's pursuit of the great white whale. Frankly that's a lot like saying the Bible is about apples and gardening. Moby Dick is mostly about whales. If you're interested in taking apart a whale head to toe, then this is the book for you. But if, like me, you thought to read an adventure story about a man's obsession with one particular whale, forget Moby Dick. What little story there is about Ahab and his preoccupation with one whale and how his quest put his whole crew at risk, you've got to be very patient and plow through pages and pages and yet more pages of drivel. I do not understand why this book is rated as a classic unless qualification as a classic at one time meant nearly unreadable. "
— Gabby, 1/18/2014 -
" Long in the middle but it is an amazing classic. "
— Dan, 1/14/2014 -
" The legend of Moby Dick far exceeds the totality of this book. Reading the unabridged version is laborious with meanderings that are often amazing in their content. I often thought "did Melville really just waste paper, words and my time reading this total nonsense? The real story could have been covered in one sixth the words. I did find descriptions of the whaling industry fascinating, however, his attempts at reasoning through behaviors and subjects were painful. This book definitely fits the category -- never to be read again. "
— Costantino, 1/13/2014 -
" Ok, ok, it's way too long. The first however many chapters are probably superfluous to be kind, long-winded to be honest, but it's still a remarkable novel worthy of attention. "
— Matt, 1/12/2014 -
" Okay, I decided as an educated man that I could not go to my grave without having read the great American classic Moby Dick. Avast! This was 822 pages of pain. While well -written, and an interesting look back at the science and biology of the 19th century, as a narrative tale this was so painfully slow and plodding that only share dedication can carry you through chapter after chapter of irrelevant dribble and uninteresting detail. By the way, the whale doesn't show up until the last 100 pages. "
— Ron, 1/11/2014 -
" This is the foundation stone of American literature. A cautionary story of where American monomania and obsession can take take us all. Written in language so evocative and lyrical that it begs to read out loud. "
— Tom, 1/2/2014 -
" I know - it's a classic. I hated it. It bored me. I finally had to force myself to finish before I could read anything else. My desire to read ANYTHING else was the only reason I got through it all. "
— Liz, 1/1/2014 -
" Required reading in high school. "
— Mo, 12/14/2013 -
" I love this book so much that I have refused to finish it so that I can drag it out as long as possible. I have read and re-read many sections of it, but I have never read the last chapter. "
— Roxanne, 11/28/2013 -
" Good story albeit rather verbose. I dedicate this reading to my high school lit teacher Tom Patten. This book was assigned reading for me 30 odd years ago. I never read it at the time - I did get a B on the test though. Not sure how well I would do now though :/ "
— Phil, 11/25/2013 -
" I couldn't even get through the Cliff Notes. Maybe if Melville hadn't been paid by the word, this would be a bit easier to get through. "
— Sarah, 11/19/2013 -
" A classic. I rated it three starts only because I found the lengthy description of whaling vessels and the workings of them hard to get through. In truth, though, I read this book in high school English class, so I probably should read it again. "
— Dianaw800gmail.com, 11/15/2013 -
" I really hated this book - I really felt it was just full of pointless descriptions and went nowhere. Worst read ever. "
— Kat, 11/4/2013 -
" I got an abridged audiobook version (don't even remember where I got it). The actor was a bit off for me. Great book. "
— Richard, 11/4/2013 -
" Not for the light reader nor those who own lessor dictionaries. The tale of the white whale meanders and circles for well over 500 pages stalking the lesson we have all heard. A book that must be read in latter years and more than once. "
— Jennifer, 10/27/2013 -
" The longest dirge I've ever been involved. Never again "
— Richard, 10/17/2013 -
" Some parts were great, other parts were difficult to get through. Melville spends too much time on the anatomy of whales. "
— Travis, 10/17/2013 -
" A very difficult read. I feel like a frustrated and solitary man on the ocean reading this. Perhaps that is the point? "
— Kelly, 10/12/2013 -
" Long excerpts on whaling but well worth the ending "
— Hannah, 8/25/2013 -
" My first classic book when I was 6... "
— Anne, 8/20/2013 -
" Very good book! Will read it again one day. "
— Ellen, 8/14/2013 -
" What an epic.So much effort is required to read this but when all of ones concentration powers are going full steam, the writing is amazing. Be warned though. This bloke can drone on mesmerizingly about a piece of rope. "
— Greg, 8/5/2013 -
" this is my all time favorite book...go away "
— Evie, 7/19/2013 -
" This book needs to be read aloud. The beauty of the book and the language will be lost if read silently. "
— Dale, 7/18/2013 -
" I don't even want to go into this, it was that awful. Briefly: it rambled, it dragged, it was boring. "
— Mel, 7/6/2013 -
" It was okay. I need to read it slow the second time around to frm a better opinion of this book. "
— Rosa, 5/30/2013 -
" No one needs to hear so much about the color white. "
— Kenneth, 5/27/2013 -
" This book could serve as a textbook for a class on whaling. While many think it tedious, it is a must read. The book is too often referenced to ignore. "
— Rusty, 5/8/2013 -
" Very great classic, but it does run long and I didn't think the climax was that climaxy. "
— Justin, 3/31/2013 -
" I gave it three stars because I am an uncultured moron who learned a great deal about the symbolism of the religions at play, and whaling. Mostly about whaling and how to extract oil from a whales head. "
— Evan, 3/29/2013 -
" "There is magic in it." "
— Bakhtiar, 2/26/2013 -
" Wow. Dry is not the word... "
— Linsen, 2/24/2013 -
" Mammoth book. Not sure if it was worth the effort ... "
— niloy, 1/30/2013 -
" I don't know why everyone thinks this book is so terrible. I loved it. Maybe it's because people are forced to read it in high school. "
— Adam, 1/15/2013 -
" Oh god. One word: vacuous "
— Chirpy, 12/9/2012 -
" I read this novel in college. I loved it. I am reading it again for pleasure and I am still loving the characters and story. "
— Sharon, 11/21/2012 -
" I'm one of those people that just looks at a book like this and say "Too long". A friend of mine says that this book takes a REALLY long time to get to the action of the book, and that it mostly explains (stuff). "
— Samnang, 11/19/2012 -
" It's stupid to try to review Moby-Dick. I read it in the context of a class, which definitely helped. Soldier through it for any of its numerous tragic charms. "
— Ned, 10/14/2012 -
" I'm still digesting, but my immediate reaction: some of the most beautiful, moving language interspersed with long passages meant to test your dedication as a reader. "
— Shauna, 9/18/2012 -
" 5 Stars if only for the sake of it's extensive lexicon! Still working my way through, thesaurus in hand! "
— Daniel, 8/19/2012 -
" That this book has anything below a 5 star rating on here is an absolute travesty. Melville is so ridiculously ahead of his time it is mind blowing. "
— Zach, 8/15/2012 -
" i guess I am one of the few people who don't get this book. too much minutiae on whaling for my taste. "
— Don, 8/10/2012 -
" Thanks MobyDickBigRead.com! I'm only 1 years old and I know Moby Dick cover to cover! It was awesome too! "
— Finn, 8/6/2012 -
" One of the very few books i could not push through. Dry. Maybe I'll give it another go one day. "
— Graeme, 7/9/2012 -
" it took over 500 pages to get to the titular whale and that is unacceptable in my opinion. "
— Hope, 6/24/2012 -
" I know it's a classic, but the style of writing and the period in which it was written made it a very difficult read for me. Sorry, can't recommend it. "
— Mark, 4/6/2012 -
" Complicated language, but very engaging story. "
— Pat, 3/7/2012 -
" Last book I read in college. Loved it. "
— Pwoodsidjeffco.k12.co.us, 1/19/2012 -
" This is a classic that can be read again and again in order to fully comprehend all of the nuances within. "
— Pam, 12/6/2011 -
" If you don't get excited and want to go challenge some unfathomable being to a duel when reading this, there's something wrong with you. "
— Declan, 7/17/2011 -
" One of the greatest meditations on the meaning of life and a tale of the sea unparalleled. "
— Myles, 7/16/2011 -
" one of my favourite classics and possibly the biggest book ive ever read, when i was younger it seemed MASSIVE but as an adult i welcomed the challenge, it is a beautifully told story that will always remain timeless to me. "
— Rachel, 6/1/2011 -
" one of my favourite classics and possibly the biggest book ive ever read, when i was younger it seemed MASSIVE but as an adult i welcomed the challenge, it is a beautifully told story that will always remain timeless to me. "
— Rachel, 6/1/2011 -
" Masterpiece. Difficult to read... and I'm sure there are much more to be undiscovered "
— Qing, 5/31/2011 -
" Masterpiece. Difficult to read... and I'm sure there are much more to be undiscovered "
— Qing, 5/31/2011 -
" Oh - My - Gosh. I don't think I could finish the Cliff Notes version of this thing today. I read it in college and haven't looked back. "
— Steve, 5/30/2011 -
" Oh - My - Gosh. I don't think I could finish the Cliff Notes version of this thing today. I read it in college and haven't looked back. "
— Steve, 5/30/2011 -
" <em>Moby Dick</em> contains some of the best writing you'll ever read, a good adventure story, and some excruciatingly long passages on whaling and whale biology. I don't think I can adequately "review" it by saying anything further. "
— Jason, 5/29/2011 -
" An excellent graphic novel version of my favorite book of all time. I particularly liked the way Starbuck (the most interesting character, I think) was portrayed. "
— Ken, 5/29/2011 -
" <em>Moby Dick</em> contains some of the best writing you'll ever read, a good adventure story, and some excruciatingly long passages on whaling and whale biology. I don't think I can adequately "review" it by saying anything further. "
— Jason, 5/29/2011 -
" An excellent graphic novel version of my favorite book of all time. I particularly liked the way Starbuck (the most interesting character, I think) was portrayed. "
— Ken, 5/29/2011 -
" Merritt and I took about a year and a half to read this. She got more out of it than I thought she would (cuz she's a smart cookie!). I enjoyed it more reading it with her than I would have if I had just read straight through. Love the conversations we had about it!! "
— Keri, 5/27/2011 -
" Merritt and I took about a year and a half to read this. She got more out of it than I thought she would (cuz she's a smart cookie!). I enjoyed it more reading it with her than I would have if I had just read straight through. Love the conversations we had about it!! "
— Keri, 5/27/2011 -
" Not only did I enjoy the story, but I learned a lot about whales. Whaling is such a big part of our history and this helped me to understand what exactly it all entailed and why it was such an important industry. "
— Marisa, 5/24/2011 -
" Not only did I enjoy the story, but I learned a lot about whales. Whaling is such a big part of our history and this helped me to understand what exactly it all entailed and why it was such an important industry. "
— Marisa, 5/24/2011 -
" Not sure I can make it through this one . . . "
— Guy, 5/23/2011 -
" Not sure I can make it through this one . . . "
— Guy, 5/23/2011 -
" The "War & Peace" or "Les Misérables" of whaling; unfortunately I think his execution meandered and failed. "
— Rebecca, 5/22/2011 -
" Wow. Best book I've ever read, no shit and much to my surprise. "
— Sarah, 5/22/2011 -
" The "War & Peace" or "Les Misérables" of whaling; unfortunately I think his execution meandered and failed. "
— Rebecca, 5/22/2011 -
" Wow. Best book I've ever read, no shit and much to my surprise. "
— Sarah, 5/22/2011 -
" Frank Muller is a superb audio book reader. An epic reader for an epic story "
— Shane, 5/21/2011 -
" Frank Muller is a superb audio book reader. An epic reader for an epic story "
— Shane, 5/21/2011
About Herman Melville
Herman Melville (1819–1891) was born in New York City. Family hardships forced him to leave school for various occupations, including shipping as a cabin boy to Liverpool in 1839—a voyage that sparked his love for the sea. A shrewd social critic and philosopher in his fiction, he is considered an outstanding writer of the sea and a great stylist who mastered both realistic narrative and a rich, rhythmical prose. He is best known for his novel Moby-Dick and the posthumously published novella Billy Budd.
About Anthony Heald
Anthony Heald, an Audie Award–winning narrator, has earned Tony nominations and an Obie Award for his theater work; appeared in television’s Law & Order, The X-Files, Miami Vice, and Boston Public; and starred as Dr. Frederick Chilton in the 1991 Oscar-winning film The Silence of the Lambs. He has also won numerous AudioFile Earphones Awards for his narrations.