Read this when
Moby-Dick
When the grudge starts steering the whole ship. 🐋 Ahab never let it go; Ishmael was the one who survived.
Who it's for
The reader sees fixation from two angles: from inside Ahab's rhetoric, which is genuinely stirring, and from Ishmael's wider, wry view, which shows what it costs.
Feelings it meets
What it is
Herman Melville's 1851 novel is narrated by Ishmael, who signs on to the whaling ship Pequod and befriends the harpooneer Queequeg. The ship's captain, Ahab, turns the voyage into a quest for vengeance against Moby Dick, the white sperm whale that took his leg on a previous voyage, despite objections from the chief mate, Starbuck.
Where to find it
Public domain in the US (1851, English); free on Project Gutenberg and Standard Ebooks, with free LibriVox recordings. In print everywhere and in libraries (Libby/Hoopla); several commercial audiobook.
Before you start
Heads up: Brief suicidal thoughts; whale killing.
Age: Ages 14+
He's more myself than I am.Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights, Chapter IX
