Rating: 
Summary: bad narration
Review: If you care at all about this vital novel, don't purchase the audiocassette version of Moby Dick read by Burt Reynolds. I could hardly bear it after listening to the first tape. Reynolds' accents--often what come across as drunken rants--are sometimes impossible to understand, and he makes Ishmael sound like a silly old salt o' the sea. A great work brought low.
Rating: 
Summary: Truly the greatest American novel
Review: Ironcially, Moby Dick is not the real star of this novel, but he (the whale) is merely used as a vehicle for Melville to describe whaling as an industry and as a way of life. The whale only manifests himself in the very end of the novel. However, Melville describes the characters and the events so expertly that one cannot help but to be intrigued by the ideas and situations outlined therein. You can almost smell the salt air. P.S. I have often heard that the one unanswered question in the book is this: Why does Captain Ahab hunt the whale, for revenge or to rid the world of a creature he believes is evil? Interesting question, a selfish act versus a selfless act. Well, as far as I could ascertain, it is clearly a story of a madman obsessed with vengeance. Read for yourself and see if you don't agree.
Rating: 
Summary: very well written one of the classics
Review: I believe that this is one of the timeless classics and all young people should read. It keeps your interest and informs you of how things used to be done in the olden days, although it is a little far fetched for my taste.
Rating:
Summary: Pack Your Bags And Sail Away!
Review: Run -- quickly --- jump aboard! Or the Pequod will sail without you! The things you'll need while aboard: a brain (one in good working order); a soul (for that is what this books is about); patience (the Pequod does not sail in a straight line, and neither does the narrator); popcorn (always eat popcorn while reading this book); a bookmark (you will NOT be able to read this book in one sitting, and I don't care HOW fast you read) Now be off! Off with you now!!
Rating:
Summary: it's very inspiring to all audiences
Review: it, a masterpice that needs to be collected by anyone outher it is one of the best books i have ever read.
Rating:
Summary: Would've been victim of modern-day editorial harpooning
Review: This is a long, wandering read to be sure, but also beautiful and rewarding. But I couldn't stop wondering how much of this book, if forced to adhere to the more streamlined conflict/resolution editorial standards of today, would've been left on the cutting-room floor? In its pared-down form, would this still be the classic we hold it to be? Probably not. The Sperm Whale might be an endangered species, but books like this one are altogether extinct.
Rating:
Summary: This book is a classic, every whale lovers dream!
Review: Wow, what can I say, this book is a classic! If you liked Jolanda's Ride in Paradise, you will love this book. Abraham is just the man, his bravery shines through Melville's writing, I've read this many times, and I still love it.
Rating:
Summary: This book needs to be longer!
Review: I would like to believe that Melville was years (maybe centuries) ahead of his time, but more than likely he was just plain nuts, apparently stalking Hawthorne and who knows what else. This shouldn't stop you from enjoying the fun though! In MD we basically have two ideas going on, with Ahab's whole monomaniac pursuit of the whale bookending hundreds of pages that essentially capture Ishmael's (sun)baked thoughts during his three years or so on board the Pequid. This middle section will either bore and repel the reader, or suck them in, resembling some post modern-ish films like Satyricon, or perhaps the writings of some lost beat author. This middle section is a detailed narrative of every thought that strikes Ishmael's mind as he is immersed in what must be a remarkably dull setting. So instead, his mind wanders, seeing analogies in every bit of rope and whale tissue to the relationship between man and God, man and nature, man in society, etc. The idea is so absurd and executed so bombastically that it works. Had the man he dedicated this book to (Nathaniel Hawthorne) wrote MD instead, it would have been awful, but Melville can write about Ahab's pipe with enthusiasm, and put that very same pipe into a mythic perspective! Of the outer story, what is there left to say? Only an American author could take the standard tragedy of man bested by the fates and turn it into man bested by the fates/decides to hunt down and kill God! An absolutely fantastic and unforgettable book, but I would have enjoyed more ramblings from Ishmael. I'm serious!!!
Rating:
Summary: "Call me disapointed and Call him confused"
Review: Yeah that's right. I got to be honest, I've only read 10 chapters and that was all that I could take from from this major let down. Honestly I haven't read a good "american classic" if there is such a thing maybe for the exception of Huck Finn. Those chapters about Ishmael sleeping with whatever his name was and Ishamel had such a good time with the other guy's arm over him and leg over him that he didn't know if he was straight or gay any more. But that's not the point, the point is that this book is horrible, it is even worse then another so called american classic "the red badge of courage". I love literatur just as much as the next guy but we must face it 100 years or so ago American literature was reall weak and lagging from the rest of the world, perhaps now they're starting to catch up with writers like Ann Rice and them.
Rating:
Summary: Call Me Ishmael
Review: This is the greatest novel ever. Of course, I can't be sure of that, because I haven't read every novel ever written. But Herman Melville's book is an epic masterpiece, and one that kindled an interest in classic American literature for me...even if it took me 5 months to finish it.I think the basic plot is very good, Ahab searching for the whale, and all...but I never got to deep into wondering what Moby Dick represented or what Ahab represented. But I got a lot out of the middle section, which examines Man's place in the grand scheme of the world. This novel is really great--I highly recommend it.
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