Herman Melville
The Wager review: David Grann’s magnificent shipwreck epic
New masterpiece from the author of Killers of the Flower Moon and The Lost City of Z is as much about literature as adventure
Matthew Teague
30, Apr, 2023 @6:00 AM
Top 10 novels and stories about prophets | Aidan Cottrell-Boyce
Whether sad, fierce or downright murderous, these clairvoyant figures have enthralled writers from Sophocles to Charlotte Brontë and Hilary Mantel
Aidan Cottrell-Boyce
04, Jan, 2023 @12:00 PM
Up from the Depths by Aaron Sachs review – riveting journey into the worlds of Melville and Mumford
A stylish double biography paints a picture of the modern age through the eyes of two uniquely perceptive American writers
Madoc Cairns
15, Aug, 2022 @6:00 AM
Mythic white sperm whale captured on film near Jamaica
Type of whale immortalised in Moby-Dick has only been spotted handful of times this century
Philip Hoare
30, Nov, 2021 @4:53 PM
The 20-page rule: how much time should you give a devastatingly boring book?
Novelist Mark Billingham advises readers to angrily launch a book across the room after 20 non-gripping pages – but almost 40% of people will keep going right to the end
12, Oct, 2021 @1:36 PM
‘You think wrong!’: top 10 rants in literature
Some distrust kvetching in print, but writers from Shakespeare to Valerie Solanas show there’s nothing wrong with constructive – and even destructive – criticism
Lucy Ellmann
25, Aug, 2021 @11:00 AM
Moby on fame and regret: ‘I was an out-of-control, utterly entitled drink and drug addict’
He declared his intention to go away for a while after pointed criticism of his second memoir. But now the musician is back with a new album - and a visceral documentary
Tim Jonze
12, Apr, 2021 @5:00 AM
Top 10 Shakespearean books | Robert McCrum
William Shakespeare’s influence on English literature is enormous, but from Dr Johnson to Germaine Greer, some outstanding works have explored his legacy and life story
Robert McCrum
02, Dec, 2020 @11:00 AM
'It had been on my shelf for years': readers share their lockdown reads
Publishers report that coronavirus has boosted sales of long, classic novels. You reveal the great baggy monsters you’ve found the time to tackle
Guardian readers and Rachel Obordo
06, Nov, 2020 @10:00 AM
Nina Stibbe: 'I read a few pages of Moby-Dick and switched to Jaws'
The author on being inspired by Sue Townsend, frightened by Beatrix Potter – and the monologue she wishes she’d written
Nina Stibbe
18, Sep, 2020 @9:00 AM
André Aciman: 'I couldn’t finish Moby-Dick. I lacked the patience'
The author of Call Me By Your Name on laughing out loud at The Pickwick Papers and racing through Enid Blyton
André Aciman
24, Apr, 2020 @9:00 AM
Moby-Dick is a slippery book | Letter
Letter: Philip Hoare offers further insight into sperm whales and ponders Herman Melville’s intentions
Letters
09, Aug, 2019 @4:33 PM
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