History Fact Finder | Culture and Recreation - What Is The Greatest American Novel?

What is the greatest American novel?

Although it is difficult if not impossible to judge any work as the "best" of its kind, Moby Dick (1851) by Herman Melville (1819–1891) is often considered the greatest American novel. An adventure that takes place on the high seas, it tells the story of a sea captain's search for the whale that ripped off his leg. In Moby Dick Melville also gives a penetrating critique of American class and racist prejudices, provides a volume of information on whale behavior, and presents his ideas about the nature of good and evil. The author was himself an experienced sailor, having left school at the age of fifteen to work on a ship and later returning to the sea at the age of twenty-one when he was employed on a whaling boat. During the eighteen months he spent on the whaler he was severely mistreated, so he jumped ship and escaped to an island where he was captured by local...

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