The Trying-Out of Moby-Dick

by Howard Paton Vincent

The Trying-Out of Moby-Dick traces the sources of Moby-Dick through Melville's reading of the natural history books and seafaring accounts of his day, as well as, of course, from his own experience. The author also indicates how the impact of Shakespeare and the acquaintance with Hawthorne moved Melville to transform what had begun as a popular seas story into an epic. By observing the way in which a great writer gleaned his material and transmuted it through his own consciousness and experience into a philosophical and literary masterpiece, the reader gets insights into the workings of the creative process itself. This book is more than a basic study of Moby-Dick it's also a major study of the literary mind.

400 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1980

Reviews

[dana · Rating 2 out of 5]

-5 stars because I had to read it on archive.org and it made me so mad I had to take a nap. +2 stars for mentioning dickens