Today in History: Moby-Dick, a novel by Herman Melville, was published on this day in 1851. The book is the sailor Ishmael's narrative of the obsessive quest of Ahab, captain of the whaling ship Pequod, for revenge on Moby Dick, the giant white sperm whale that on the ship's previous voyage bit off Ahab's leg at the knee. William Faulkner said he wished he had written the book himself, and D. H. Lawrence called it "one of the strangest and most wonderful books in the world" and "the greatest book of the sea ever written". Its opening sentence, "Call me Ishmael", is among world literature's most famous. Its reputation as a "Great American Novel" was established only in the 20th century, after the centennial of its author's birth. In fact, the book almost fell into obscurity. Only 3715 copies were purchased during Melville's lifetime. By comparison, his first novel, Typee-sold three times as many. In the states, Melville's total earnings from Moby-Dick amounted to the small sum of $556.37. After Melville passed away Moby-Dick was reprinted and, this time around, critics started to take it more seriously.
Many books in the past have almost disappeared as well, including "Animal Farm" by George Orwell, "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, “A Confederacy of Dunces” by John Kennedy Toole, “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance” by Robert Pirsig, “A Wrinkle in Time” by Madeleine L’Engle, “Carrie” by Stephen King, "The Spy Who Came in from the Cold" by John le Carré, "Lord of the Flies" by William Golding and "Gone with the Wind" by Margaret Mitchell.
Did you know Starbucks got its name from Moby Dick?
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