Moby Dick - Softcover

Herman Melville; Dick Giordano; Lew Sayre Schwartz

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0618265724 ISBN 13: 9780618265725

Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers, 2002

Synopsis

Killing a sixty-ton sperm whale that could destroy a boat with a flick of its massive tail was no easy task. Whalemen of the early nineteenth century were not just hunters, they were also explorers—sailing on the uncharted sea in search of some of the largest creatures on earth. The most famous whale of all? Moby Dick.
Here are Ishmael, Queequeq, Ahab, and of course, Moby Dick, rendered anew in a dynamic comic book adaptation of one of the greatest American novels ever written. The book also includes information about Herman Melville, facts about whales, and the history of the whaling industry. With all the flare and blaze of Melville’s original story, Moby Dick is sure to intrigue a new generation of readers with this fast-paced and electric portrayal of the famous battle between man and beast.

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From School Library Journal:

Grade 4-8-In trimming Melville's leviathan novel down to picture-book length, some of what made the original so intriguing is inevitably lost; what this version retains is the main action of the story and details of life at sea. The former is captured admirably by dramatic illustrations that have a classic comic-book feel. Unfortunately, the flow of the story is often confusing: the loss of a first-person narrator relegates Ishmael to near nonexistence; the flow of images can be disjointed, leaving readers wondering what panel to read next; and the text, while suitably hyperbolic, is awkwardly reliant on ellipses and exclamation marks. Just as in the original tale, information on whalers and whaling appears throughout the work, yet here the handling is uneven. "Ambergris" is clarified in a side panel, "captor pilings" go unexplained, and "scrimshaw" is mentioned in one of three short essays (on Melville; whales; and New Bedford, CT) that bookend the main text. Readers looking for an introduction to Melville's most famous work may find this title useful; otherwise, it is an additional purchase, particularly for those who already own Will Eisner's mythic comic adaptation (NBM, 2001) or those lucky enough to have acquired Bill Sienkiewicz's breathtaking "Classics Illustrated" edition (Berkley, 1990).
Douglas P. Davey, Guelph Public Library, Ontario, Canada
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0618265724
• ISBN 13: 9780618265725
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 48