
Moby-Dick
American novelist, 1819–1891.
Moby-Dick is an 1851 novel by Herman Melville.
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).
| List | Place | Original |
|---|---|---|
| 100 novels everyone should read (The Telegraph, 2009) | No. 2 | See the list |
| Bokklubben World Library (Norwegian Book Clubs, 2002) | Listed | See the list |
| Readers' top 100 novels (The Guardian, 2026) | No. 12 | See the list |
| The 100 best novels of all time (The Guardian, 2026) | No. 15 | See the list |
| The 100 best novels written in English (The Guardian / Observer, 2015) | Listed | See the list |
| The 100 greatest novels of all time (The Observer, 2003) | Listed | See the list |
| The Great American Read (PBS, 2018) | Listed | See 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.
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.

