--- product_id: 4037948 title: "Moby-Dick (Norton Critical Editions)" price: "Bs.110" currency: BOB in_stock: false reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.bo/products/4037948-moby-dick-norton-critical-editions store_origin: BO region: Bolivia --- # Moby-Dick (Norton Critical Editions) **Price:** Bs.110 **Availability:** ❌ Out of Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** Moby-Dick (Norton Critical Editions) - **How much does it cost?** Bs.110 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Currently out of stock - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.bo](https://www.desertcart.bo/products/4037948-moby-dick-norton-critical-editions) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description A section of "Whaling and Whalecraft" features prose and graphics by John B. Putnam, a sample of contemporary whaling engravings, as well as, new to this edition, an engraving of Tupai Cupa, the real-life inspiration for the character of Queequeg.Evoking Melville’s fascination with the fluidity of categories like savagery and civilization, the image of Tupai Cupa fittingly introduces "Before Moby-Dick: International Controversy over Melville," a new section that documents the ferocity of religions, political, and sexual hostility toward Melville in reaction to his early books, beginning with Typee in 1846.The image of Tupai Cupa also evokes Melville’s interest in the mystery of self-identity and the possibility of knowing another person’s "queenly personality" (Chapter 119). That theme (focused on Melville, Ishmael, and Ahab) is pursued in "A Handful of Critical Challenges," from Walter E. Bezanson’s classic centennial study through Harrison Hayford’s meditation on "Loomings" and recent essays by Camille Paglia and John Wenke.In "Reviews and Letters by Melville," a letter has been redated and a wealth of new biographical material has been added to the footnotes, notably to Melville’s "Hawthorne and His Mosses." "Analogues and Sources" retains classic pieces by J. N. Reynolds and Owen Chase, as well as new findings by Geoffrey Sanborn and Steven Olsen-Smith. In "Reviews of Moby-Dick" emphasizes the ongoing religious hostility toward Melville and highlights new discoveries, such as the first-known Scottish review of The Whale. "Posthumous Praise and the Melville Revival: 1893-1927" collects belated, enthusiastic praise up through that of William Faulkner. "Biographical Cross-Light" is Hershel Parker’s somber look at what writing Moby-Dick cost Melville and his family.From Foreword through Selected Bibliography, this Sesquicentennial Norton Critical Edition is uniquely valuable as the most up-to-date and comprehensive documentary source for study of Moby-Dick. Review: Big, Big, Big - I read Moby-Dick several times in college almost forty years ago. Now I'm taking a night class and reading it with life experience of forty years. Awe is the feeling that constantly gets evoked as I read. Why awe? Capacious. That is the word that repeats again and again in my head. Moby-Dick is a vibrantly colored hot air balloon that keeps growing in size as I read it. First, Melville's subject is the sperm whale, one of the largest creatures on earth. But we don't just learn about the sperm whale but about all whales. Then we learn about whaling and its nobility. Here is where it gets very interesting. We participate in whaling, its skill, equipment, courage, risks and economy AND about how it results in the gruesome destruction of the whale. We feel the horror inflicted on the whales and we feel the nobility of the activity that slaughters them. Melville doesn't allow us to avert our eyes either to the daring of whaling or to the viciousness of the slaughter. That is where the book inflates even more because he holds both perspectives equally which is a much larger place than if he had taken sides. The book also foreshadows modernism by using a variety of narrative techniques; theater, pure narration, encyclopedic explanations and subjective interior monologues. Melville is constantly breaking up the narrative with omniscient recitations of fascinating information about his subject matter. And like Ulysses or the Waste Land, he piles on the reference to Shakespeare, the Greeks, Christianity and the Hebrew traditions. There are many references with regard to Ahab and the Whale regarding evil and Satan. Yet Ahab has great respect and reverence for Moby Dick. Ahab himself knows he is obsessed and but can have great compassion like his feelings for the lowly addled Pip. So yes there is evil afoot in the book but it isn't the kind that that creates simple polar opposites. As Ahab describes Moby-Dick (has) `an inscrutable malice sinewing through it' that describe the book as well. There is evil and there is also goodness that coexists in the book making the reader feel that he has to take sides. If the reader resists this temptation he or she will experience the awe of a deep and ever expanding mystery. Review: This Is NOT An Adventure Story - Moby Dick is not an adventure story - it is an allegory of the human condition amidst the setting of the whaling profession. Mankind's varied quest for greed, lust, longing, vengeance and fulfillment. Moby Dick is all of these human yearnings and more in one book. If you want an adventure story there are other books out there that will quench your thirst. If you approach Moby Dick the same as most unwilling High School students do, you won't even get a 100 pages into it and will become disillusioned and discouraged because it wasn't quite the adventure story you were hoping for and the end result, You Will Never Finish It! Leave your expectations behind. Moby Dick is great Literature! But it isn't the formulaic rhythm we find in today's bestsellers. In fact in 1851 it wasn't the normal piece of literature people EXPECTED it to be. Cast aside these expectations, and take your time. This will not be a quick read. If it takes you a couple of months or a year, stay with it. In fact read other books while reading Moby Dick. Like I mentioned before, it is not a quick read, it will be one you savor and slowly digest. Think of a glass of fine Cabernet. You sip that glass, you don't gulp it. Just keep reminding yourself when you come to certain parts of the book that do not seem to have anything to do with the overall narrative thread of the story that Moby Dick is an allegory of the human condition of greed, lust, longing and vengeance. This piece of literature is an overall experience that will linger with you for years to come - if you allow it to do so. ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #195,369 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #100 in American Literature Criticism #452 in Literary Criticism & Theory | | Customer Reviews | 4.4 out of 5 stars 134 Reviews | ## Images ![Moby-Dick (Norton Critical Editions) - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81bXcPDkO5L.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Big, Big, Big *by R***N on July 19, 2015* I read Moby-Dick several times in college almost forty years ago. Now I'm taking a night class and reading it with life experience of forty years. Awe is the feeling that constantly gets evoked as I read. Why awe? Capacious. That is the word that repeats again and again in my head. Moby-Dick is a vibrantly colored hot air balloon that keeps growing in size as I read it. First, Melville's subject is the sperm whale, one of the largest creatures on earth. But we don't just learn about the sperm whale but about all whales. Then we learn about whaling and its nobility. Here is where it gets very interesting. We participate in whaling, its skill, equipment, courage, risks and economy AND about how it results in the gruesome destruction of the whale. We feel the horror inflicted on the whales and we feel the nobility of the activity that slaughters them. Melville doesn't allow us to avert our eyes either to the daring of whaling or to the viciousness of the slaughter. That is where the book inflates even more because he holds both perspectives equally which is a much larger place than if he had taken sides. The book also foreshadows modernism by using a variety of narrative techniques; theater, pure narration, encyclopedic explanations and subjective interior monologues. Melville is constantly breaking up the narrative with omniscient recitations of fascinating information about his subject matter. And like Ulysses or the Waste Land, he piles on the reference to Shakespeare, the Greeks, Christianity and the Hebrew traditions. There are many references with regard to Ahab and the Whale regarding evil and Satan. Yet Ahab has great respect and reverence for Moby Dick. Ahab himself knows he is obsessed and but can have great compassion like his feelings for the lowly addled Pip. So yes there is evil afoot in the book but it isn't the kind that that creates simple polar opposites. As Ahab describes Moby-Dick (has) `an inscrutable malice sinewing through it' that describe the book as well. There is evil and there is also goodness that coexists in the book making the reader feel that he has to take sides. If the reader resists this temptation he or she will experience the awe of a deep and ever expanding mystery. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ This Is NOT An Adventure Story *by J***J on December 2, 2012* Moby Dick is not an adventure story - it is an allegory of the human condition amidst the setting of the whaling profession. Mankind's varied quest for greed, lust, longing, vengeance and fulfillment. Moby Dick is all of these human yearnings and more in one book. If you want an adventure story there are other books out there that will quench your thirst. If you approach Moby Dick the same as most unwilling High School students do, you won't even get a 100 pages into it and will become disillusioned and discouraged because it wasn't quite the adventure story you were hoping for and the end result, You Will Never Finish It! Leave your expectations behind. Moby Dick is great Literature! But it isn't the formulaic rhythm we find in today's bestsellers. In fact in 1851 it wasn't the normal piece of literature people EXPECTED it to be. Cast aside these expectations, and take your time. This will not be a quick read. If it takes you a couple of months or a year, stay with it. In fact read other books while reading Moby Dick. Like I mentioned before, it is not a quick read, it will be one you savor and slowly digest. Think of a glass of fine Cabernet. You sip that glass, you don't gulp it. Just keep reminding yourself when you come to certain parts of the book that do not seem to have anything to do with the overall narrative thread of the story that Moby Dick is an allegory of the human condition of greed, lust, longing and vengeance. This piece of literature is an overall experience that will linger with you for years to come - if you allow it to do so. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Pretty advanced for the mid-nineteenth century *by K***O on January 30, 2016* I hope that I can convince folks who intend to read Moby Dick to purchase this Norton Critical Edition. I found this edition absolutely necessary (critical? LOL) to my understanding of the novel. Its footnotes explain words,references and the historical setting. If I'd just picked up an un-annotated version I can assure you that I wouldn't have understood many of the words, usages, and contexts. The book itself is a marvel. I didn't read it in a hurry. Did you know that Melville's writing career was deeply damaged by the Evangelical Newspapers that existed then?. Did you know that Ishmael and Queegqueeg "got married" and slept in the same bed for a time? Pretty advanced for the mid-nineteenth century. No wonder the Evangelicals despised him! Of course, they really started attacking him much earlier, for the novels he'd written set in the South Seas. The reality is that Herman Melville wrote the Great American Novel in his middle age and spent the rest of his life trying to support his family as a mid-level bureaucrat. An amazing book, most strongly recommended. --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.bo/products/4037948-moby-dick-norton-critical-editions](https://www.desertcart.bo/products/4037948-moby-dick-norton-critical-editions) --- *Product available on Desertcart Bolivia* *Store origin: BO* *Last updated: 2026-05-28*