Moby Dick
Moby Dick by Herman Melville, published by Wordsworth Editions in 1992, is a classic work of fiction that spans 582 pages. This edition includes an introduction and notes by David Herd, a lecturer in English and American Literature. The novel follows Captain Ahab’s obsessive quest for revenge against the whale that took his leg, exploring themes of fanaticism and the human condition.
Readers will encounter a rich narrative that not only delves into Ahab’s relentless pursuit but also presents a complex portrayal of community and cooperation among the crew. The story is narrated by Ishmael, an ordinary sailor whose reflections provide insights into whaling and the art of storytelling. Moby Dick serves as a profound exploration of both individual obsession and collective responsibility, making it a significant work in the literary canon.
Official synopsis Publisher
With an Introduction and Notes by David Herd, Lecturer in English and American Literature at the University of Kent at Canterbury and co-editor of ‘Poetry Review’.
Moby Dick is the story of Captain Ahab’s quest to avenge the whale that ‘reaped’ his leg. The quest is an obsession and the novel is a diabolical study of how a man becomes a fanatic.
But it is also a hymn to democracy. Bent as the crew is on Ahab’s appalling crusade, it is equally the image of a co-operative community at work: all hands dependent on all hands, each individual responsible for the security of each.
Among the crew is Ishmael, the novel’s narrator, ordinary sailor, and extraordinary reader. Digressive, allusive, vulgar, transcendent, the story Ishmael tells is above all an education:
in the practice of whaling, in the art of writing. Expanding to equal his ‘mighty theme’ – not only the whale but all things sublime – Melville breathes in the world’s great literature. Moby Dick is the greatest novel ever written by an American.
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