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Moby Dick

By: Herman Melville
Narrated by: William Hootkins
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Publisher's summary

"Call me Ishmael." Thus starts the greatest American novel. Melville said himself that he wanted to write "a mighty book about a mighty theme" and so he did. It is a story of one man's obsessive revenge-journey against the white whale, Moby-Dick, who injured him in an earlier meeting. Woven into the story of the last journey of The Pequod is a mesh of philosophy, rumination, religion, history, and a mass of information about whaling through the ages.
Public Domain (P)2005 NAXOS AudioBooks Ltd.

Featured Article: The top 100 classics of all time


Before we whipped out our old high school syllabi and dug deep into our libraries to start selecting contenders for this list, we first had to answer the question, "How do we define a classic?" The answer isn’t as straightforward as you might guess, though there’s a lot to be said for the old adage, "You know it when you see it" (or, in this case, hear it). Of course, most critically, each of our picks had to be fabulous in audio. So dust off your aspirational listening list—we have some amazing additions you don’t want to miss.

What listeners say about Moby Dick

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Stunning performance

Moby Dick is a difficult tome for the average reader; this narration makes it approachable and enjoyable. I enjoyed the skill, the wondrous ability to turn a phrase, of this fabulous classic writer the first time I read from paperback, it was one of those books that cracks open places in the heart to shed a little light. & I did miss being able to easily highlight and savor a phrase now & then... but definitely worth it because the magnificent performance lent so much depth to the story & enhances my understanding. Bravo!!!

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Greatest of all time.

This is my favorite of favorites. The narration could not be better. great book for hunters and fishermen. No romance, no mushy feelings, just rough and tough and humorous highseas adventure. Best narrator in the business.

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Wow

The Narrator captures the central essence Melvilles work, and his voices for the characters are spectacular. Definitely a must listen, and it goes great when read along with the text. Highly recommended, it makes you fully appreciate and comprehend a most difficult and intimidating epic.

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A whale of a tale

Excellent performance. Intense - I could see ole Gregory Peck reprising his role as Ahab.

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what a story

a wonderful read. very long read but all worthwhile. would read again. or listen again.

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Extremely Well Read

The narrator did an excellent job with this read. Highly recommend this version of the book.

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listen to this book at one point for speed

as everyone knows this is classic and is an important book to read. Also feel free to skip over the chapters describing whales describing how to render fat describing other minuscule parts. They really don't add that much to the story. Look for imagery in the last one tenth of the book that will make everything else worth the time and effort

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Excellent narration

The narrator was excellent!! The story of the whale is good, but he went off on too many side stories.

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Worth the time.

Superb narration of this classic novel. Melville‘s style is intricate and unique and highly entertaining.

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Truely worthy of great praise

I never knew how much I was missing out. I normally get bored with long books. But this audio book was performed so well and everything was fantastic. I feel like going to sea on an adventure of my own.

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