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Moby-Dick

by Herman Melville

“Call me Ishmael.” A sailor explains why he goes to sea.

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Original language: EnglishLevel: Advanced3,383 characters · ≈ 5 minSource: Project Gutenberg

Opening lines

Call me Ishmael. Some years ago—never mind how long precisely—having little or no money in my purse, and nothing particular to interest me on shore, I thought I would sail about a little and see the watery part of the world. It is a way I have of driving off the spleen and regulating the circulation. Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul; whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses, and bringing up the rear of every funeral I meet; and especially whenever my hypos get such an upper hand of me, that it requires a strong moral principle to prevent me from deliberately stepping into the street, and…

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About the book

Moby-Dick is an epic novel by Herman Melville centered on the sailor Ishmael's account of Captain Ahab's vengeful quest for the giant white whale that bit off his leg. It combines realistic depictions of whaling with reflections on good and evil, class, and the existence of God. Its opening line, "Call me Ishmael," is among the most famous in world literature.

About the author

Herman Melville (August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891) was an American writer of the American Renaissance period, best known for Moby-Dick (1851), Typee (1846), and the posthumously published novella Billy Budd, Sailor. Moby-Dick would eventually be considered one of the Great American Novels.

Summary prepared with AI from Wikipedia: Moby-Dick (CC BY-SA)

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