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Moby Dick cover art

Moby Dick

By: Herman Melville
Narrated by: Anthony Heald
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Summary

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 monomaniacal 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.
Public Domain (P)2009 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"The greatest of American novels." ( Atlantic Monthly)
"[A]n intense, superbly authentic narrative. Its theme and central figure...are reminiscent of Job in his search for justice and of Oedipus in his search for truth." ( Merriam-Webster Encyclopedia of Literature)

What listeners say about Moby Dick

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Starts well but it's sooooo slow!

Really struggled to finish this classic despite getting really into it early on. The middle third is slow, but tolerable. The final third of the book is incredibly dreary. It's filled with needless detail about characters or objects which barely glance tangentially off the plot before disappearing again into irrelevance.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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A masterpiece

The quality of Melville’s prose is dazzling, and Anthony Heald’s delivery masterful. The story has you gripped, from the very outset through to its bitter and inevitable end.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Melville's Epic Masterwork Brought to Life.

135 chapters of inventive, sometimes complex, language. The story everyone knows is probably less than 20% of the book but the other 80% is rich in whaling lore, human insights and world-building.

Something I never really picked up from my own readings of the book is how funny it is; the clarity and acting power of Anthony Heald really showcases this aspect - as well as the drama and intense excitement of the more familiar passages.

The second listening took me nearly a month as I purposely took the time to savour the book and, as some of the chapters are very short and stand-alone, it's great to be able to dip into and briefly re-visit Melville's world - and discover new facets of this amazing fable and parable.

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1 person found this helpful

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narrator

fantastically told by the narrator, really made the story come alive! would listen again and did to the last chapters!

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

A touch too tough and too long!

Beautiful prose yet very heavy and truly tough to follow.
I'll have to read this again closer to my sixties.
Took me over half a year, on and off, to finish this book.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Moby Dick, a true classic

A beautiful book, beautifully orated.
This is elite level writing, a show off artist, MELVILLE is a genius.

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Perfect

What an amazing narration, the best I've heard so far, absolutely nails it down

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    5 out of 5 stars

very well read

I enjoyed listening to this book and would recommend it. The narrator had a nice voice to listen to.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Moby Dick

I loved this version of the book, the narration brought all the characters to life. A great listen, highly recommended.

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3 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

less of a story more of an outdated study of whale

so much info on what's that for a 23hr book I think only 3hrs of it are actually to do with the plot. still not a bad book but I find my mind switched off alot when he stated going into the physiology of the whale witch he dose often

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