Moby-Dick, Norton Critical Editions, Second Edition

"It is the horrible texture of a fabric that should be woven of ships' cables and hawsers. A Polar wind blows through it, and birds of prey hover over it."So Melville wrote of his masterpiece, one of the greatest works of imagination in literary history. In part, Moby-Dick is the story of an eerily compelling madman pursuing an unholy war against a creature as vast and dangerous and unknowable as the sea itself. But more than just a novel of adventure, more than an encyclopaedia of whaling lore and legend, the book can be seen as part of its author's lifelong meditation on America. Written with wonderfully redemptive humour, Moby-Dick is also a profound inquiry into character, faith, and the nature of perception. Moby Dick (1851) Is An Epic Tale Of The Conflict Between Man And His Fate. Captain Ahab's Obsessive Quest To Destroy The Great White Whale That Tore Off His Leg Leads The Pequod And Its Crew To Disaster. Melville's Extraordinary Narrative Defies C1assification: It Teems With Ideas And Imagery And The Passion Of Its Author.--jacket. [pt. 1] The Text Of Moby-dick; Or, The Whale -- Contents Of Moby-dick -- Moby-dick. [pt. 2] Contexts -- Melville's Reading And Moby-dick : An Overview And A Bibliography -- Whaling And Whalecraft -- Before Moby-dick : International Controversy Over Melville -- Reviews And Letters By Melville -- Analogues And Sources [pt. 3] Criticism -- Reviews Of Moby-dick -- Posthumous Praise And The Melville Revival : 1893-1927 -- A Handful Of Critical Challenges. Herman Melville ; Edited By Hershel Parker, Harrison Hayford ; Pictorial Materials Prepared By John B. Putnam. An Authoritative Text Before Moby Dick: International Controversy, Reviews And Letters By Melville, Analogues And Sources, Reviews Of Moby-dick, Criticism. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 725-726). "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." Key letters from Melville to Nathaniel Hawthorne are printed at the end of this volume. - Back cover. "Presents the text and critical analysis of Herman Melville's 'Moby-Dick, ' and includes reviews and letters by Melville.". *** "An authoritative text, before 'Moby Dick, ' international controversy, reviews and letters by Melville, analogues and sources, reviews of 'Moby-Dick, ' criticism." For this Sesquicentennial Norton Critical Edition, the Northwestern-Newberry text of Moby-Dick has been generously footnoted to include dozens of biographical discoveries, mainly from Hershel Parker's work on his two-volume biography of Melville.