“Moby-Dick is the great AmerÂiÂcan novÂel. But it is also the great unread AmerÂiÂcan novÂel. SprawlÂing, magÂnifÂiÂcent, deliriÂousÂly digresÂsive, it stands over and above all othÂer works of ficÂtion, since it is bareÂly a work of ficÂtion itself. Rather, it is an exploÂsive expoÂsiÂtion of one man’s invesÂtiÂgaÂtion into the world of the whale, and the way humans have relatÂed to it. Yet it is so much more than that.”
That’s how PlyÂmouth UniÂverÂsiÂty introÂduces HerÂman Melville’s clasÂsic tale from 1851. And it’s what set the stage for their web project launched back in 2012. Called The Moby-Dick Big Read, the project feaÂtured celebriÂties and lessÂer known figÂures readÂing all 135 chapÂters from Moby-Dick — chapÂters that you can start downÂloadÂing (as free audio files) on iTunes, SoundÂcloud, RSS Feed, or the Big Read web site itself.
The project startÂed with the first chapÂters being read by TilÂda SwinÂton (ChapÂter 1), CapÂtain R.N. Hone (ChapÂter 2), Nigel Williams (ChapÂter 3), Caleb Crain (ChapÂter 4), Musa OkwonÂga (ChapÂter 5), and Mary NorÂris (ChapÂter 6). John Waters, Stephen Fry, Simon CalÂlow, Mary OlivÂer and even Prime MinÂisÂter David Cameron read latÂer ones.
If you want to read the novÂel as you go along, find the text over at Project GutenÂberg.
TilÂda SwinÂton’s narÂraÂtion of ChapÂter 1 appears right below:
An earÂliÂer verÂsion of this post appeared on our site in 2012.
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RelatÂed ConÂtent:
An IllusÂtraÂtion of Every Page of HerÂman Melville’s Moby Dick
How Ray BradÂbury Wrote the Script for John Huston’s Moby Dick (1956)
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