Considered by many to be the great American novel, Herman Melville's 1851 tale is the epic saga of Ahab, the brooding and obsessed sea captain of a whaling ship, and his quest to kill a white whale called Moby Dick, who has both ruined fleets and taken his leg. Seen through the eyes of the young crewman Ishmael, the hair-raising voyage on board the vessel Pequot is filled with physical danger for the crew, and the perils of the sea. It is made even more dangerous by Ahab's fervent desire to destroy the whale with a fierce, dogged determination that seemingly descends into madness. It is a compelling tale of humans pitted against the unforgiving natural world, with its twists and turns of fate, creating one of the most masterful adventure stories and psychological dramas ever told. "As for me, I am tormented with an everlasting itch for things remote. I love to sail forbidden seas, and land on barbarous coasts." Superb chunky unabridged edition with short notes and fairly large print and a note on etymology (supplied by a late consumptive Usher to a grammar school).
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