Moby-Dick

It centers on and celebrates becoming—molting from one skin to another. For Ishmael this is a transition from a tired and limiting worldview to something fresh and alive.

The “bosom buddies” at the heart of the novel, Ishmael and Queequeg, seem comprised of opposites, but Ishmael’s etherealizing is grounded by Queequeg’s pragmatic ingenuity in ways that quiet and expand the young pagan-Presbyterian’s buzzing, anxious mind. Theirs is a friendship of succor, probably sex, and survival—all of it shadowed by the delusional obsessions of their mad captain.

We always look at the positive aspect of leadership—the ability to motivate, enhance commitment, and focus others on a core dream or mission. We aspire to the charismatic aspect of leadership.

But, all too often, leadership can also lead to the abyss, to an obsession. It can take your organization or your world in a singular direction—undaunted by reality, dominated by obsession. These are the leaders who aspire but never adjust. These are the leaders who may motivate but, in their commitment and obsession, destroy everything around them.

Ahab is such a leader, and Moby Dick is the greatest book… show more.

Moby-Dick is a true classic and an extraordinary book. I own a beautiful, old copy of it and I read this literary masterpiece more than once in my life, including last month. And not just because it’s one of the greatest books of all time, but also because I am a marine biologist who has studied whales and dolphins for many years!

The narration of this epic (and a bit intimidating) piece of literature - dated back to 1851, is poetic. I read mostly nonfiction books but, at times, I discover a fiction book that truly engages me. Moby dick… show more.

Incredibly, I had never read Moby-Dick until spending weeks at sea every summer, so Melville’s Great American Novel, which D.H. Lawrence called “one of the strangest and most wonderful books in the world” found me on the boat. 

My book has been dubbed “the Moby-Dick of empty-nest tales” since my husband and I sail off in search of a rare white bear, inspired by Melville’s great white whale. I had no idea how funny and captivating Moby-Dick was – not to mention inspiring for armchair seafarers – until I settled in with its pages that first summer. It’s a brilliant… show more.

Moby-Dick is one of those dusty old classics that we feel like we’re supposed to read that when you actually read it turns out to be genuinely goddamn fun.

The book is about—well, it’s about so many goddamn things, including melancholy, the American dream, and the history of whaling—but also it’s about the relationship between one dude and one whale, and the dude is obsessed with the whale and thinks the whale is his enemy, but the whale….well, the whale is a whale.

Is the whale really Ahab’s enemy, or is he more like Don Draper in that classic scene… show more.

You have to call him Ishmael, and you have to come to love Ahab, and you have to remember that both of those names appear in the first five books of the Bible. In the mid-19th century, just the other side of Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God way, it is not just a prophetic work, but the work of a prophet.

I reread the novel last summer and was reminded above all of how funny it is. Like, 19th-century American prophecy, but with a tone that at times almost feels like The Simpsons. So cartoonish!

Moby-Dick obviously needs no recommendation, but every fan of a classic has a personal reason for loving it.

Mine is that it’s a sea novel and an allegory. I also lifted the names for two of my main characters in my book—Seth Macy and Walter Canny—from one of the marble tablets Ishmael sees at the Whaleman’s chapel in New Bedford, raised to the memory of lost crewmen “towed out of sight by a whale”. 

Melville’s novel allegorically blends the tales of Jonah and Job in such a wonderfully enjoyable way. It's a wonder from start to finish, but the chapter… show more.

Moby-Dick embodies the allure of sea stories – the coinciding feelings of adventure, horror, and awe; the battles of man vs. nature; the dangerous journeys.

Ishmael is a perfect protagonist, an outsider drawn to the ocean, while Ahab is a fascinating embodiment of obsession and emotion. But Mr. Starbuck is the character who has influenced countless of my own – someone trying to do what is right while battling with his own demons and moral compass.

For me, there is no better setting than the sea to explore these themes. The crew of the Pequod are isolated from the world… show more.

Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick is a book that only became understandable after multiple readings. When I was younger, I was bored struggling through this book; I didn’t enjoy the whaling history or whale biology and none of it added up to a novel. Still, I wanted to know why so many people believed it was the finest novel ever written. And now, having read the book at least a dozen times, I see that Melville’s wild construction justifies the epic confrontation between whale and man. I see the relationship of the Old Testament God to the White Whale that Ahab cannot… show more.

This is not only an American literary classic, but in my view is the best sea tale ever written. The story showcases life aboard a 19th century whaling ship and explores the monomania of an autocratic ship captain whose relentless pursuit of personal vengeance ends in tragedy. This book was a chief inspiration for my featured novel. I particularly enjoyed the detailed technical descriptions of sailing and whaling operations, alongside a plot steeped in tension and conflict. I love historical fiction books that educate as well as entertain.