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Moby-Dick

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Moby-Dick

By: Herman Melville
Narrated by: Frank Muller
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About this listen

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. Classics Fiction Genre Fiction Sea Adventures Adventure Witty

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)

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So many people have applauded this book, so that I finally listened to it on audiobook.
I'm glad I now have; there are moments of exquisite and inspired writing. I just wish that I hadn't had to wade through chapters of boredom, in which whales, ships, etc. are described in painful and boring detail, resulting in the story being put on hold so that the author could indulge in a lecture.
Despite the boring chapters, I'm still glad I've now listened to the book. The narrator did an admirable job of the challenging narrative.

Glad I finally read this book

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There are plenty of versions of Moby Dick on Audible. this one has my favourite narrator by far.
Although I must warn that it seems to contain at least one scratchy and garbled section lasting about 15 seconds that I have to assume is a result of some kind of error from when the original tape was being digitised. The section in question occurs during a lengthy tangent about the ship's mast and crow's nest. So it didn't really affect my comprehension of the story.

well read, but suffers from some technical issues

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How can an audiobook not be checked and double checked for audio skipping? Chapters 72 and 133 are the prime examples! Audio skipping is relentless and completely destroys any mood that the performance deserves.

Beautifully delivered but plagued with audio skipping

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very overrated, hard to get through, boring, almost all whale facts and not much story

overated

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Fabulous in every sense. Beautifully read. I too wished for the story to progress and had I been reading I definitely would have skipped but listening to the extraordinary narrative read with such gusto that I was entranced. I was sorry that Queequeg became a minor character and that he sank without even a mention. I was also sorry that we are no longer privy to Ishmael’s thoughts and training as a whale man once he goes on board.

Fabulous

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In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.