Moby-Dick

By: Herman Melville

Narrated by: Frank Muller

Length: 21 hrs and 11 mins

Publisher's summary

Its famous opening line, "Call me Ishmael", dramatic in its stark simplicity, begins an epic that is widely regarded as the greatest novel ever written by an American. Labeled variously a realistic story of whaling, a romance of unusual adventure and eccentric characters, a symbolic allegory, and a drama of heroic conflict, Moby Dick is first and foremost a great story. It has both the humor and poignancy of a simple sea ballad, as well as the depth and universality of a grand odyssey.

When Melville's father died in 1832, the young man's financial security went too. For a while he turned to school-mastering and clerking, but failed to make a sustainable income. In 1840 he signed up on the whaler, Acushnet, out of New Bedford, Massachusetts. He was just 21. A whaler's life turned out to be both arduous and dangerous, and in 1842, Melville deserted ship. Out of this experience and a wealth of printed sources, Melville crafted his masterpiece.

Public Domain (P)1987 Recorded Books, LLC.

Critic reviews

"Master narrator Frank Muller makes the most of his astonishing theatrical talents and vast experience to perform this tale of extraordinary drama. Muller uses emphasis and pauses to bring clarity to the visual depictions of life on the high seas, as seen by the doe-eyed Ishmael as he is led by the maniacal Captain Ahab. Listeners will hear the depth of emotions in Muller's voice as he paints the stark and shattering visuals of this classic story of revenge and, ultimately, survival." (AudioFile magazine)

Way too real to be untrue!

Would this have been a book unbounded with covers labeled "novel", I would have thought Ishmael a real voyager on a whaling ship in the pacific as Darwin's docking in Ecuador, resulted in an accurate description of man interacting with and observing nature.

Over a hundred and thirty five chapters of indepth details of cytology, the sperm whale's anatomy and the dialog among nearly thirty men would make any listener more skeptical of the writing being a novel than real narrative. Humor, horror, history and philosophy meet and mingle in an intricate web of retention from the moment Ishmael arrives in New England to the day he boards the Rachel.

Well done sir narrator and even more credit to him who now rest after what he wrote too long before his masterpiece became known as one of the most incredible plots ever penned.

A monumental achievement of literature.

All positive aspects aside, the narrator is often too fast and in a strange haste. This particular flaw overall reduces the appeal of the final product.

Long, Long ago, I started this book

If, some how you would know to only read the first 20ish chapters, and then skip to the last 10, then this would be an amazing story. Amazing! Chapter after chapter on the descriptions of whales 🐋, ropes, and rigging really detract from an intensely interesting book.

A classic among classics

Just a tour de force clinic on language and storytelling. Rich with metaphor, meaning, and lessons on life. Glad to have finally added this to my internal library of the Mind.

great read

The book itself is great, but this narrator is SUPERB! I will search out more by this actor.

incredible drama, beautiful language

one of my favourite books, and this version it's thrillingly performed. The last hour in particular is amazing.

Not for me

This just wasn't the story for me. I did not find it very captivating. Sorry.

Highly Compelling and Entertaining

I bought this audiobook expecting to only last a few chapters and then move on. This has been my experience in trying to reread many classics. To my surprise, Moby Dick is exciting, entertaining and poetic. More surprising, it is understandable, despite rapid mid 19th century speech and a vocabulary far exceeding mine. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a little adventure!

Great story, excellent narration!

This is a great story if you are dealing with winter, and want to just get away for a little while. I am a huge fan of Frank Muller, and I love his narration. especially when it comes to novels written in the first person. The language for the time period when this was written, makes parts of the novel hard to understand, but if you can get past that, this is worth a listen. If you really don't care for the book, just give the narration your time. Frank Muller is one of the best audiobook narrators you will ever listen to. That said, I would recommend his entire catalog for your consideration.

more than I expected

this book was hard, profund, very moving. the leviathan is not the whale but the undertaking of the writer. it transported me to a different world, I really recomend it.