NEWS / WEB SERVICES

Google doodles for Herman Melville’s Moby Dick

| by tech2 News Staff | Web services

One of the most iconic books to have ever been written was Moby Dick by Herman Melville. This book was first published in 1851 and is believed to be one of the Great American Novels and is also recognized as a treasure of world literature. Google has paid tribute to the book by creating a doodle to celebrate the 161st anniversary of Melville’s enigmatic whale Moby Dick.

Google has prepared two separate doodles to honour the novel and each representation captures the essence of the book. The first one that is portrayed on Google’s home page shows the ship being piloted by Captain Ahab and his sailors. The mysterious and ferocious white sperm whale is shown in the background.

The sperm whale at the back

The sperm whale at the back

 


At first sight, you really can't see the huge whale, which is a nod to the elusiveness Moby Dick. But if you look at the image hard enough you can see the eye of the whale and the water that spurts out of the its blowhole making the ‘L’ in Google logo, which is seen in the sky at the back and this illustration captures the enigma of Moby Dick beautifully.

The second doodle is featured in the search page of Google where the whale takes dominance in the logo. This time Google takes the shape of the whale gliding peacefully on rough seas.

Herman Melville, born in the 19th century was an American novelist and short story writer along with being an essayist and poet. Though he had a range of literary works, Melville was widely known for Moby Dick and was the first writer to have his pieces collected and published in the Library of America.

Moby Dick or The Whale was first published in 1851 and this day celebrates its 161st anniversary. Moby Dick is about a sailor known as Ishmael on a whaling ship called the Pequod with Ahab as the Captain. The book has many iconic characters, each of whom play an important role in the story line and have varied personalities.

In the book, Ishmael learns that Ahab is out to seek an enigmatic sperm whale, Moby Dick in order to seek revenge. Captain Ahab has been hunting Moby Dick because in a previous encounter, this mysterious whale had destroyed his ship and had bit off his leg.

The book contains large sections that have been mostly been narrated by Ishmael that have nothing particularly to do with the story line of the book but rather has a lot of focus on the whaling business.

The book was first published by Richard Bentley in London on October 18, 1851 and has been classified as American romanticism.

When the book was first published, it received mixed reviews but Moby Dick later on went to be considered as a part of the Western Canon.

Tags: Google doodle , Google doodles , interactive Google doodles , doodles , Google Doodle Moby Dick , Moby Dick , Todays google doodle , Moby dick google doodle , Herman Melville , Herman Melville Moby Dick , Herman Melville The Whale , Herman Melville Google Doodle , google doodle Herman Melville

Valentine's Day Google Doodle

13 Feb, 2012, 10:11 pm IST

Valentine's Day Google Doodle

Charlie Chaplin Google Doodle

14 Apr, 2011, 06:06 am IST

Charlie Chaplin Google Doodle

 


SPOTLIGHT

5 Websites to buy cool and quirky gadgets

5 Websites to buy cool and quirky gadgets

If you like collecting some really cool and bizarre stuff, or you are...

By Priyanka Tilve

High-speed Internet plans in India

High-speed Internet plans in India

We can pin our hopes on ISPs who are now providing Internet speeds over...

By Naina Khedekar , Priyanka Tilve

The state of Internet connectivity in India

The state of Internet connectivity in India

A decade ago Internet connectivity may have been considered a luxury, but...

By Nachiket Mhatre

MORE FEATURES

Glympse Review

Glympse Review

09 Feb, 2013, 12:44 PM IST

 9.0

A glimpse of Glympse, a free-of-cost web service using which you can share your location in real-time with people you choose.

WeTopia - Social gaming for social good

YouTube's Create Your Own Video Services

MORE REVIEWS

Activision releases new Call of Duty: Ghosts trailer on Vine

Jonathan Bergeron

Tue May 21, 07:20:05

How To: Root the Samsung Galaxy S4 I9500

Prashant Jaiswal

Tue May 21, 03:05:52

Activision releases new Call of Duty: Ghosts trailer on Vine

Nelson J Hidalgo

Tue May 21, 02:08:42

MORE DISCUSSIONS