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The initial reviews of the novel were critical, and it was not until the 20th century that it received immense praise. Now, 155 years later, it is less popular among teachers. The shifting popularity of the novel may reflect the shifting views toward Christianity in American schools, as the novel's invocation of religion was perhaps too superficial for schools in the 1850s but too much for schools today.
The initial reviews of the novel were critical, and it was not until the 20th century that it received immense praise. Now, 155 years later, it is less popular among teachers. The shifting popularity of the novel may reflect the shifting views toward Christianity in American schools, as the novel's invocation of religion was perhaps too superficial for schools in the 1850s but too much for schools today.
[[Nathaniel Hawthorne]] and Herman Melville were contemporaries; in 1850, they were both living near each other in the Massachusetts Berkshires, and met each other one day for a hike up Monument Mountain. They were briefly friends, but had a falling out. Hawthorne was an early admirer of Melville's writing. In one of his books, a story-teller talking to children in the Tanglewood area, tells them about all the distinguished literati living in the area, and says:
:But, here in Lenox, I should find our most truthful novelist, who has made the scenery and life of Berkshire all her own. On the hither side of Pittsfield sits Herman Melville, shaping out the gigantic conception of his 'White Whale,' while the gigantic shape of Graylock[sic] looms upon him from his study-window.<ref>Hawthorne, Nathaniel (1852), ''A Wonder-Book for Girls and Boys:" "Bald-Summit. After the Story."[http://www.eldritchpress.org/nh/wb6c.html Online]</ref>
Melville called his house in the Berkshires "Arrowhead." He lived there from 1850 to 1862. It has been preserved by the Berkshire Historical Society, which offers tours to visitors. The Society has managed to preserve not only the house, but the view of Mount Greylock from his study window. From this angle of view, the mountain resembles the profile of a sperm whale, and was one of the inspirations for his story.<ref>[http://www.mobydick.org/hm.html Herman Melville's Arrowhead] (Berkshire Historical Society website]; [http://www.mobydick.org/images/landscape.jpg Mt. Greylock] as viewed today from Arrowhead.</ref>
==References==
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