We’re listening to Moby-Dick Big Read, which is a production by 135 different folks (from Benedict Cumberbatch to unknowns), each reading one chapter. Here’s the website. You can listen online via SoundCloud or download it as a podcast from iTunes.
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You can also listen to the book through Hoopla. Hoopla is a free service offered through libraries All you need is a library card. Hoopla streams movies, music, books & audiobooks for a certain length of time. Audiobooks are 3 weeks. It’s a wonderful service.
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I literally chuckled out loud about this topic because back in the days when I finished every book I started and was constitutionally unable to skip a single word, I attempted to read Moby Dick THREE times. Then a New Year issue of the NYT book review (back in those long lost days when they still had the “think piece” on the cover – I still miss it) had piece where they asked famous smart people what “must read book” could they never finish. Lucky me someone said Moby Dick! From that day to this (well over 30 years) I no longer have any guilt about not reading that book. I think I even gave it away!
However, for those of you far more literate than I, there’s free audio of it at LibraVox.
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I’m in! I have to confess that I have never listed to an audiobook in my life. I’m very much a tactile reader, and I love the feel and smell of books, so I haven’t taken advantage of any of the alternative ways to “read” them. But, I’m in a full length (leg) cast for the next six weeks, so I anticipate having plenty of knitting and book listening time.
I did read Moby Dick in high school and I loved it. 
At one point, I did have a Melville family recipe for ginger cookies, but I haven’t seen it in ages. . . will have to see if I can locate it to go along with the book.
And, finally, I have driven by the Melville home in Pittsfield, Massachusetts so many times and never stopped in for a visit. I’m thinking that this experience is going to motivate me to actually get there, plus maybe visit some other literary landmarks (like Edith Wharton’s home) in the western part of the state this spring. There’s also some good yarn shopping out that way!
ETA - I forgot, the New Bedford Whaling Museum in Massachusetts hosts an annual Moby Dick reading marathon, where the book is read from start to finish, usually in January. I’ve always thought about that, but this audiobook is a much more doable alternative!
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I have made several unsuccessful attempts to read Moby Dick over the years and I have never gotten very far into the book. Surprisingly this audio version is fun. I like hearing the different narrators and their interpretations of the text. Some chapters have background sounds like waves crashing on the beach. A few chapters a day will make for an enjoyable “read.”
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The waves and seagulls! Loved the surprise of that.
I’m looking forward to listening to this, I think the different narrators will make it fun.
Has anyone seen the movie In the Heart of the Sea about Herman Melville? We enjoyed it!
That was a wonderful movie. I was firmly rooting for the whale, what about you?
I root for all the animals: Wilbur, Babe, Bambi, Baloo, Eeyore.
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I haven’t seen the film yet (astonishingly) though I read the book at the same time I was reading Moby Dick the first time round (and listening to whatever Aubreyad book had a lot of whalers in it.)
I felt I was quite the expert on whaling by the end of the three. I’ve lost that now 
We were at the edge of our seats for the whale bits!
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I had read on IMDB that there were a lot of historical inaccuracies, but it was still entertaining. I picked it out to watch with my husband because our taste in movies does not always overlap. Often he is watching something on the tv and I have my headphones on and am watching what I want on the iPad.
Cujo, the shark from Jaws, the birds…
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Just a note about how to listen. There is a podcast app on apple tv through which you can listen to the podcast, “Moby Dick Big Read”. I love technology:)
and dumplings ( chapter three)
Isn’t it funny how the husband always gets the tv. Why is that? That’s how it works in my house.
Ha! I think it’s a combination of his hearing loss, his lack of computer savvy, and that many of the things I want to watch are podcast or YouTube based. But our cable has been on the fritz for two weeks now, so he’s had quite the education. They insist they have to come here but we’re not able to hang around for them. We can watch cable on the laptop, and everything else we can cast to to tv or watch through Wii. I’ve assigned him the job of dealing with the cable company as I have been having rage issues since the election…