文档介绍：Herman Melville
(August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891)
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Herman Melville was a novelist and poet. He was born in a merchant family. His father died when he was eleven years old. He dropt out of school in his fifteen-year- old. He had been a bank clerk, clerical, clerk, farm worker and teacher to make a life. Since 1839, he had been a sailor in a variety of ship. His sailing experience has accumulated a bit thick material for his literature . Form 1866 to 1885, he became a customs officials of New York. He died of illness in 1891. In the early 40s, he started writing novels. His works include "Tybee," "Mardi" ,”Redburn”, ”White Jacket” ,”Moby Dick”, ”The Confidence Man”, “Battle Pieces”, “Clarel” and two poems “John Marr and Other Sailors” “Timoleon”.
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《雷得本》
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His first three books gained much attention, the first becoming a bestseller, but after a fast-blooming literary success in the late 1840s, his popularity declined precipitously in the mid-1850s and never recovered during his lifetime. When he died in 1891, he was almost completely forgotten. It was not until the "Melville Revival" in the early 20th century that his work won recognition, most notably Moby-Dick which was hailed as one of the chief literary masterpieces of both American and world literature. He was the first writer to have his works collected and published by the Library of America.
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Moby Dick was a flop at the time, but Melville is remembered as the American Shakespeare
《白鲸》在当时是部不怎么受欢迎的作品，但麦尔维尔现在被认为是美国的莎士比亚。
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Captain Ahab
Ishmael
Starbuck
Queequeg
Character
list
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Captain Ahab
the Captain of the Pequod
a grave older man
He has spent nearly forty years as a sailor
The novel is essentially the story of Ahab and his quest to defeat the legendary Sperm Whale Moby Dick, for this whale took Ahab's leg, causing him to use an ivory leg to walk and stand. Ahab is a dour, imposing man who frightens his crew through his unwav