Moby-Dick

 Herman Melville (1819-1891), the celebrated American novelist, short-story writer and poet, was born on 1 August 1819 in New York City, the third child of Allan Melvill and Maria née Gansevoort. Herman Melville himself was later to add the final 'e' to his surname. He was descended from two prominent colonial families: his paternal grandfather, Major Thomas Melvill, had taken a leading part in the Boston Tea Party, while the other side of his family were descended from a leading New York Dutch-American clan, and his maternal grandfather, General Peter Gansevoort, had been a hero of the Saratoga campaign. Herman Melville's father was an importer of French goods; he overextended himself financially, became bankrupt and, already somewhat emotionally unstable, went insane, dying in 1832 when Melville was twelve. Melville's mother, later portrayed unflatteringly as Mrs. Glendinning in Pierre, was left with eight children, the family being nearly destitute and largely dependent on her well-off kin.

The best scene without doubt of G. Peck

Ye damned whale. From hell's heart I strike at thee. With my last breath I spit at thee. Thou damned whale.". Among the greatest lines in modern literature delivered by one of the finest actors of modern times. We are invited with these lines and this scene to ask ourselves what or who is our "damned whale" for which we will sacrifice everything to pursue with total abandon.