内容简介
ThePenguinEnglishLibraryEditionofMoby-DickbyHermanMelville.'Thefrailgunwalesbentin,collapsed,andsnapped,asbothjaws,likeanenormousshears,slidingfurtheraft,bitthecraftcompletelyintwain...'Moby-Dickisoneofthemostexpansivefeatsofimaginationinthewholeofliterature:themad,raging,ShakespeareantaleofCaptainAhab'sinsanequesttokillagiantwhitewhalethathastakenhisleg,anduponwhichhehasswornvengeance,atanycost.Acreationunlikeanyother,thisisanepicstoryoffatalmonomaniaandthedeepestdreamsandobsessionsofmankind.ThePenguinEnglishLibrary-100editionsofthebestfictioninEnglish,fromtheeighteenthcenturyandtheveryfirstnovelstothebeginningoftheFirstWorldWar.
作者简介
HermanMelville(1819-91)becameinhislatetwentiesahighlysuccessfulauthorofexoticnovelsbasedonhisexperiencesasasailor-writinginquicksuccessionTypee,Omoo,RedburnandWhite-Jacket.However,hismasterpieceMoby-Dickwasmetwithincomprehensionandtheotherlaterworkswhicharenowthebasisofhisreputation,suchasBartleby,theScrivenerandTheConfidence-Man,werefailures.Melvillestoppedwritingfictionandtherestofhislonglifewasspentfirstasalecturerandthen,fornineteenyears,asacustomsofficialinNewYorkCity.HewasalsotheauthoroftheimmenselylongpoemClarel,whichwassimilarlydismissed.AttheendofhislifehewroteBillyBudd,Sailor,publishedposthumouslyin1924.TheConfidence-ManandBillyBudd,SailorarepublishedtogetherinthePenguinEnglishLibrary.