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''Moby-Dick'', a novel by [[Herman Melville]] published in 1851, is considered one of the finest novels in the English language.  The facts concern an obsession by one Captain Ahab to hunt and kill an albino whale named Moby-Dick.  The meaning addresses the human struggle for meaning, happiness, and salvation.  Historians view Moby-Dick as the epitome of American Romanticism.  "Call me Ishmael" is the famous beginning of the book, and it cites other biblical figures and themes throughout its story.

''Moby-Dick'', a novel by [[Herman Melville]] published in 1851, is considered one of the finest novels in the English language.  The facts concern an obsession by one Captain Ahab to hunt and kill an albino whale named Moby-Dick.  The meaning addresses the human struggle for meaning, happiness, and salvation.  Historians view Moby-Dick as the epitome of American Romanticism.  "Call me Ishmael" is the famous beginning of the book, and it cites other biblical figures and themes throughout its story.

The initial reviews of the novel were critical, and it was not until the 20th century that it received immense praise.  Although the book initially received mostly negative reviews, a hundred years later ''Moby-Dick'' received praise as perhaps the greatest novel in the English language.  Now, 155 years later, it is less popular in academic circles.  The shifting popularity of the novel may reflect the shifting views toward Christianity in academic circles, as the novel's invocation of religion was perhaps too superficial for academics in the 1850s but too much for academics 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.