When Ishmael sets sail on the whaling ship Pequod one cold Christmas
Day, he is clueless to the horrors that await him on the vast and
merciless ocean. The ship's strange captain, Ahab, is in the grip of an
obsession to hunt down the famous white whale, Moby Dick, and will stop
at nothing on his quest to annihilate his nemesis. Considered a failure
during Melville's lifetime but now hailed as a classic American novel,
Ishmael's story combines symbolism and philosophical debate with
gripping adventure narrative in an uncanny and unforgettable fashion. An
extract from Narrative of the Most Extraordinary and Distressing
Shipwreck of the Whale-ship Essex by Owen Chase--which inspired
Melville's own story--is also included.