Moby Dick

April 1, 2017

A wandering narrator in search of adventure finds friendship in the form of a heavily tattooed South Sea chieftain and more than he bargained for as a crewman aboard the whaling ship Pequod. The sinister captain Ahab is tormented by an all-consuming thirst for revenge against the whale that ate his leg. Herman Melville's 1851 great American novel is now a newly translated graphic novel, rendered in stark black and white by illustrator/author Chaboute (Alone). Winnowing Melville's text down to its essential passages, focusing on the trials faced by the crew of the Pequod as they chase the great white whale across the treacherous sea, Chaboute leaves much of the original work intact in the form of captions and spoken dialog. This gives readers a sense of the novel even as some of Melville's diversions and discourses on ocean life and natural history are not included. VERDICT Chaboute's skillful adaptation and exquisite artwork perfectly capture the air of doom and gloom that pervades the tale of these doomed sailors and their monomaniacal captain. For fans of Moby-Dick and newcomers alike.--TB

Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2018

With three words, "Call me Ishmael," Melville boldly opens his epic novel in the first person. This suits French graphic novelist Chaboute just fine: his Ishmael becomes both sympathizer and adversary to the obsessed Captain Ahab-his foil as well as his conscience. Second billing goes to tattooed harpoonist Queequeg, who agrees to join Ahab's vengeful quest to kill the white whale, despite knowing the risks to the crew. Chaboute balances their extreme behavior by portraying the day-to-day work of carpenters and blacksmiths aboard the ship Pequod. If he reinvents Ishmael a bit, depicting him as a young man craving adventure rather than as a poor farmer who signs away three years of his life-perhaps to die-to seek his fortune on the high seas, it's only to draw readers in. Each of the graphic novel's 30 chapters begins with its own title page, featuring an apt Melville passage. Only the sea captures Chaboute's imagination more than Moby-Dick itself in its overwhelming vastness and as a metaphor for the great unknown. Black-and-white frames rock and sway like the ocean deep, splashing their inky waves the way water might wet the lens of a camera. It's up close and personal-as Melville intended. VERDICT A beautiful rendition of the classic, available for the first time in English since it was first published in France in 2014. An inspiring addition to graphic novel collections.-Georgia Christgau, Middle College High School, Long Island City, NY

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.