Moby Dick (AmazonClassics Edition)

De: Herman Melville

Narrado por: Tim Campbell

Featured title on PBS's The Great American Read in 2018

Ignoring prophecies of doom, the seafarer Ishmael joins the crew of a whaling expedition that is an obsession for the ship's captain, Ahab. Once maimed by the White Whale, Moby Dick, Ahab has set out on a voyage of revenge. With godlike ferocity, he surges into dangerous waters - immune to the madness of his vision, refusing to be bested by the forces of nature.

An exhilarating whaling yarn, an apocalyptic theodicy, a tragic confessional, and a profound allegory, Moby Dick encompasses all that it means to be human - from the physical and metaphysical to the spiritual and emotional. Full of strange wisdom and wild digressive energy, it's a singular literary performance universally regarded as one of the great American novels.

Revised edition: Previously published as Moby Dick, this edition of Moby Dick (AmazonClassics Edition) includes editorial revisions.

Public Domain (P)2018 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Moby Dick

This is a long story with some complicated language but worth the journey at the end of it all.

Tim Campbell is the Best

I've yet to come across such an engaged narrator, who brings the story so alive.

Much Ado About a Whale Made Great Again by a Wonderful Narrator

The last time I listened to a version of Moby Dick I was overwhelmed
by all the tedious fact-telling about whales. But this narrator has the
knack for bringing out the beautiful rhythms and cadences of Melville’s
masterpiece. I would give it 10 stars if I could. This is, as others have said, the narrator you want for this book.

Gone fishing

Great book sorry didn't read it sooner.
Highly recommend it to all. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Wonderful narration

Melville’s writing speaks for itself but Tim Campbell brings life to the characters without any prejudice to your imagination as to how the scene is unfolding.

Awesome story, awesome narrator

I got this version based on the narrator. I was not disappointed. He was awesome. Did very well reading the story and the characters.

I normally shy away from such descriptive stories but really wanted to read Moby Dick. Finding the right narrator helped. Because this was SO descriptive. I learned more about whales than I ever thought possible. The story is just amazing in itself. What got me and really hooked me was the humor in it. That was surprising. I was not bored at any point. It is a very well written story. Even made me look things up online because my interest was so piqued.

I will definitely listen to this one again.

A wonderful and spirited reading of this classic

I don't know if there is a better book about 19th century whaling or about obsession. I've read Miby Dick several times since I was a kid and I glean new insight from it each time.

The narration on this version is really good too. Melville can drag on in places but the narrator really pulls you through with his performance.

I highly recommend this book.

Excellent narration for a classic

Considered a classic for good reason. To get the most out of it it's helpful to know what to expect. At one level it's a story of high adventure. But in terms of action and plot it moves along very slowly. There are repeated digressions from the story and dense reflections on whaling and cetology. And I can see readers getting frustrated with that. But the key is to see these passages not as so many accretions but as the marrow of the novel. Relish them. Ishmael's many musings are fantastic, often entertaining, and frequently profound. In his discussions on the day-to-day life of a whaler he draws insights relevant to the human condition and existence. Just a delightful read.

The narration is excellent. Very expressive with distinctive and fitting voices for each character.

Not What I Expected

I have been putting off reading Moby Dick since (1) it was a fairly lengthy book and (2) I wasn't sure I wanted to read/listen to an old man ranting about a whale for that length of time (which was my before-reading impression of the book based on most one or two sentence synopses of the book that I have come across during my life). Well, I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised that this book did NOT live up to those expectations.

First of all, I have to say that I don't think I would have gotten as much out of this book if I had read the written version. This narrator knew EXACTLY how to read the book and how to insert the appropriate emotion for each character as they spoke whereas, I would have struggled with "hearing" some of those voices in the way the book was written (I occasionally would go back and forth between the written and spoken book). This was particularly important as there was surprisingly a fair amount of humor in the story, especially at the beginning.

One other thing I was impressed about, given the time period it was written in, was how the author made a point of talking about the ethnic diversity of the men in the ship and how that actually enhanced the functioning of the crew as men from certain areas of the world had more experience in dealing with whales and being on the ocean. And, Ishmael, having little of that experience, appeared to be one of the lowest paid members of the crew (or would have been, if there had been a payout).

Speaking of the lack of payout, when the traumatic ending occurred, I couldn't help but remember a comment Ishmael made close to 40% in of the book, "For God’s sake, be economical with your lamps and candles! Not a gallon you burn, but at least one drop of man’s blood was spilled for it."

So, if you are going back and forth on deciding if you want to spend the 22 hours listening to this book, I would say it is definitely worth the listen. (Feel free to zone out, though, when the author decides to deliver an almost encyclopedia description of every type of whale there is. I'm thinking he wanted to educate the general population regarding that there was more than one type of whale, and also to bring attention to the magnificence of Moby Dick being the type of whale he was.)

The descriptive language

The use of descriptive language was beautiful, my favorite sentences from this book was towards the end of the book.