Moby-Dick (1851)
0.4633Canon Score · ranked #8 all time
Aggregated from 11 of 14 authoritative lists, weighted by authority and adjusted for each list's scope and age. How scoring works →
About the book
"Command the murderous chalices! Drink ye harpooners! Drink and swear, ye men that man the deathful whaleboat's bow -- Death to Moby Dick!" So Captain Ahab binds his crew to fulfil his obsession -- the destruction of the great white whale. Under his lordly but maniacal command the Pequod's commercial mission is perverted to one of vengeance. To Ahab, the monster that destroyed his body is not a creature, but the symb
Why it ranks #8
Every list on which Moby-Dick appears, with its position as published.
| List | Authority | Position |
|---|---|---|
| The Novel 100 (Burt) | Editorial list | #6 / 100 |
| OCLC/WorldCat Top 500 Novels (2019) | Editorial list | #9 / 500 |
| BBC 100 Stories That Shaped the World | Major international poll | #40 / 100 |
| PBS Great American Read (2018) | Editorial list | #72 / 100 |
| BBC Big Read Top 200 (2003) | Editorial list | #161 / 200 |
| Bokklubben World Library (2002) | Major international poll | Selected |
| Guardian 1000 Novels (2009) | Critics' canon | Selected |
| 1001 Books You Must Read (union) | Critics' canon | Selected |
| Bloom, The Western Canon (1994) | Editorial list | Selected |
| Observer 100 Greatest Novels (2003) | Editorial list | Selected |
| Telegraph 100 Novels (2009) | Editorial list | Selected |