Cover of Moby-Dick

Moby-Dick

Herman Melville, 1851

American novelist, 1819–1891.

Moby-Dick is an 1851 novel by Herman Melville.

All-Time Canon
  • Critics' Darling

On 7 of the 12 lists it was eligible for.

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At a glance

Author
Herman Melville
First published
1851
Length
720 pages (UK paperback)
Genre
Literary fiction, Adventure, Philosophical

Is Moby-Dick worth reading?

7 of the 12 best-of lists it could have made include it, among them 100 novels everyone should read (The Telegraph) and Readers' top 100 novels (The Guardian).

ListPlaceOriginal
100 novels everyone should read (The Telegraph, 2009)No. 2See the list
Bokklubben World Library (Norwegian Book Clubs, 2002)ListedSee the list
Readers' top 100 novels (The Guardian, 2026)No. 12See the list
The 100 best novels of all time (The Guardian, 2026)No. 15See the list
The 100 best novels written in English (The Guardian / Observer, 2015)ListedSee the list
The 100 greatest novels of all time (The Observer, 2003)ListedSee the list
The Great American Read (PBS, 2018)ListedSee the list

Best edition of Moby-Dick

The edition we link to is the Penguin Classics paperback (2003), 720 pages.

Publisher
Penguin Classics (paperback, 2003)
Pages
720
ISBN
9780142437247

How critics and readers rate Moby-Dick

Critics rate it most highly: it earned 80% of the points available on critics' lists, against 34% on readers' and booksellers' lists.

Critics
80%
Prizes
Not eligible for any of these lists yet
Readers and booksellers
34%

Share of the available points it earned on each kind of list it was eligible for. How the scores work

Books like Moby-Dick

If you liked Moby-Dick, try The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn or The Count of Monte Cristo.

Lists used on this page