Moby-Dick; or, The Whale

This edition brings together Herman Melville’s greatest work—the majestic novel “Moby-Dick” and his finest novellas and short stories—offering a complete view of the author’s artistic range. A sailor by destiny and a mythmaker at heart, Melville created an epic tale of the hunt for the white whale that has long transcended the bounds of adventure fiction. “Moby-Dick” is both a philosophical parable about the confrontation between man and fate, a tragedy of obsession, and a symbolic journey into the depths of human consciousness. The texts accompanying the novel—from maritime novellas to psychological parables—reveal the writer’s inner world and his preoccupation with loneliness, freedom, human nature, and the mystical power of the ocean. Together, they provide a panoramic view of the work of an author who transformed his own maritime experience into a myth of struggle, freedom, and human rebellion. “Moby-Dick” is one of the peaks of world literature, a book that defined the character of the American novel. It impresses with the scale of its conception, the depth of its symbolism, and the power of its style. The novellas and short stories included in this edition allow readers to see Melville from many perspectives—as a master of maritime prose, a subtle psychologist, and a philosopher.This edition is ideal for anyone who enjoys profound, multilayered works about man and his inner struggle; for readers who appreciate adventure stories with a philosophical subtext; for fans of Joseph Conrad, Jack London, and Nathaniel Hawthorne; and for anyone seeking literature in which the ocean is not a setting, but a metaphor for fate.Herman Melville was an American writer whose life was tied to the sea as much as his books. It was only decades after his death that he was recognized as one of the greatest authors of the nineteenth century. His greatest novel, “Moby-Dick,” became a myth of American culture and proved that New World literature was capable of creating works of global significance. Melville left behind a rich legacy—from maritime adventure stories to philosophical parables in which the traveler’s experience is transformed into profound insight into the human condition.