Moby Dick
Open Library readers: 3.95 / 5 from 193 ratings. Separate from ratings here.Catalogue checked 2026-10-02.
"Command the murderous chalices! Drink ye harpooners! Drink and swear, ye men that man the deathful whaleboat's bow—Death to Moby Dick!" So Captain Ahab binds his crew to fulfil his obsession—the destruction of the great white whale. Under his lordly but maniacal command the Pequod's commercial mission is perverted to one of vengeance. To Ahab, the monster that destroyed his body is not a creature, but the symbol of "some unknown but still reasoning thing." Uncowed by natural disasters, ill omens, even death, Ahab urges his ship towards "the undeliverable, nameless perils of the whale."
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- Who wrote Moby Dick?
Moby Dick is by Herman Melville. The catalogue records its first publication in 1851. A later edition may have a different publication date on its copyright page.
- How long is Moby Dick?
The catalogue records 452 pages for a representative edition. Pagination varies with the publisher, format, type size and translation, so check the edition you intend to read.
