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Moby Dick  By  cover art

Moby Dick

By: Herman Melville
Narrated by: Anthony Heald
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Publisher's 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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Great Performance! Great Story

If you could sum up Moby Dick in three words, what would they be?

BIG FAT STORY

Any additional comments?

Heald does a great job at communicating both the humor and the epic qualities of this classic. Much ppreciated

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

Strong finish by not all its cracked up to be.

I'll admit it is historically valuable in its documentation of Whaling but the story gets lost in the detail. Granted, my opinion is heavily biased in Whale Conservation. So, grain of salt if your sensibilities are less so inclined.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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The greatest literature read by the perfect talent

Anthony Heald was the absolute perfect person to read this, making an already wonderful classic come to life with his caricatures of the men of the sea. Amazing.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Fantastic narration of a great book!

Anthony Heald expands Melville's work from great literature to great entertainment. I read this book in high school and didn't have the background knowledge to get all of the myriad historical, literary and biblical references. My teacher tried but there is only so much time in a semester. Time and experience have helped on that score. That said, I don't remember laughing out loud at a number of Ishmael's comments. That was courtesy of Mr. Heald's great performance. If you tried to read Moby Dick and "couldn't get through it" or you "read" Moby Dick in high school or college, it is well worth your time to listen to this version!

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

Please… read more, Mr. Heald!

Anthony Heald is an amazing reader. Different voices, amazing cadence. Not to mention… a classic that I can finally say I earnestly read.

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

Classic for a reason.

I've avoided reading this for too many years. First of all, it was thoroughly engrossing. Not at all the slog that many people make it out to be. Even the parts that are universally feared, the dreaded anatomy sections, I enjoyed listening and felt they genuinely shed light on our humble narrator. Speaking of narration, Mr. Heald was phenomenal. He truly brought Melville's words to life. I will definitely be adding this to my books to read again.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Great story. Great narration.

This book was a flop when it first came out and didn't reach its stride until about 70 years later. I understand why. It works much better as a historical novel rather than a contemporary one. It gets a bit wordy here and there (the author devotes an entire chapter to the color white) but his excellent turn of phrase is well worth it. I questioned the use of a British narrator for a classic American novel but he really brought the characters to life. The audio quality was a bit muffled, though.

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

Narrated perfectly

Anthony herald did a great job narrating the book so glad out of all the audios of Moby dick I decided to go with this one

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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Difficult 1800's language

tedious descriptions. too long for the average person to get through. wish I got the abridged version.

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

Very Dry for Being About the Ocean

I had heard Moby Dick often wanders away from the plot to talk shop about fishing. I wasn't prepared.

The narration was decent, but I felt like the story wanted for a little dialect work. Also there are sections where you can hear the spit bubbles in the narrator's throat. Always a turn off.

I'm not ultimately sorry I bought this recording, but it wasn't exceptional.

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