Read The Classics: Moby-Dick

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The Multnomah County Library invites you to take part in a new book series, where you can read some of the best all-time classics and discuss them under the leadership of Jay Dickson, Professor of English and Humanities at Reed College. Participation is free, but registration is required. You can register online at http://www.multcolib.org/events/classics/1800.html
A limited number of books will be available free of charge for those who pre-register.

Although it received mixed reviews upon its publication in 1851, Moby–Dick or, The Whale has gone on to become one of the most highly acclaimed novels in the English language and has often been dubbed one of the most important claimants for the title of "The Great American Novel." Herman Melville's longest and most famous novel not only tells of the adventures of the sailor Ishmael aboard the whaler Pequod as he comes to realize its maniacal skipper, Captain Ahab, seeks to revenge himself upon the fabulous white whale that once tore off his leg, but also acts as a kind of encyclopedia of whale–lore, of sailing, and even of the world at large in the mid–19th century. Part Shakespearean tragedy, part Miltonic epic, part homoerotic pastoral idyll: Melville's masterwork blends all kinds of literary styles to consider the position of humanity in a dangerous and threatening universe that bids to annihilate it.