The book belongs to the so-called American Renaissance and has been classified from late Romanticism to early Symbolism. When it was published, it received mixed reviews and was a commercial failure. When its author died in 1891, it was out of print. Its reputation as a great American novel began to spread in the early 20th century, with the centenary of Herman Melville's birth. William Faulkner said he wished he had written it himself, and D. H. Lawrence called it "one of the strangest and most wonderful books in the world" and "the greatest book about the sea ever written." The opening sentence "Call me Ishmael" is among the most famous in world literature. This classic work is now available in comics!

"Call me Ishmael. Some years ago - never mind how long precisely - having little or no money in my purse, and nothing particular to interest me on shore, I thought I would sail about a little and see the watery part of the world. It is a way I have of driving off the spleen and regulating the circulation. Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul; whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses, and bringing up the rear of every funeral I meet; and especially whenever my hypos get such an upper hand of me."