Herman Melville, born on August 1, 1819, in New York City, was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet renowned for his contributions to American literature during the 19th century. Melville's most famous work, "Moby-Dick," published in 1851, is often considered one of the greatest novels in the English language. His writing explores complex themes such as the human psyche, the struggle between good and evil, and the inherent darkness within humanity. Melville's adventurous life, including his experiences as a sailor, provided him with a wealth of material that he drew upon in his literary creations. While his works initially received mixed critical and commercial success during his lifetime, Herman Melville is now celebrated as a literary giant whose contributions continue to influence and inspire generations of readers and writers alike.







Herman Melville

Few things, even in literature, can really be said to be unique — but Moby Dick is truly unlike anything written before or since. The novel is nominally about the obsessive hunt by the crazed Captain Ahab of the book’s eponymous white whale. But interspersed in that story are digressions, paradoxes, philosophical riffs on whaling and life, and a display of techniques so advanced for its time that some have referred to the 1851 Moby Dick as the first “modern” novel. (Summary by Stewart Wills)

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