The novel read by Woo Young-woo in the drama [The Strange Lawyer Woo Young-woo]
The first complete translation of Raymond Bishop's woodcut illustrations in Korea

Against the backdrop of an era of violence that enforced only absolute truth
An immortal classic that marked the beginning of experimental and avant-garde literature.

Moby Dick is not just a simple maritime adventure novel, but a multifaceted novel filled with numerous symbols and metaphors.
“Call me Ishmael.” This famous first sentence carries a symbolic meaning that runs through the entire novel (selected by the British daily newspaper The Telegraph as one of the ‘30 Greatest First Sentences in the World’).
In addition to the main character Ishmael, figures from the Bible and Greek mythology, such as Ahab, Jonah, Job, Prometheus, Perseus, and Narcissus, serve as major motifs and allegories.
Additionally, the narrative flows magnificently, with the dramatic confrontation between Captain Ahab and Moby Dick, the class and racial conflicts within the sailor community, and the individual characters and psychology of the characters all intertwined in a complex manner.

Published in 1851, Moby Dick already predicted the modernism that would come in the 20th century half a century earlier.
Unlike the 19th-century realist novelists who wrote novels from the position of God as if they knew all the truths of the world, 20th-century modernist novelists focused on dramatizing the narrator's subjective viewpoint and inner psychology as they viewed the world.
Thus, Moby Dick became the foremost work of American modernism and a representative work of symbolist literature with its groundbreaking fusion-style storytelling, original work structure, tracing diverse human figures, exquisite combination of story and symbol, deep religious and philosophical exploration of the mysteries of life, outstanding sense of humor and satire, open ending, and other unprecedented experimental and avant-garde forms.

So what does the white whale Moby Dick ultimately symbolize in this novel? The "white" whale isn't an absolute entity, limited to a single interpretation, but rather symbolizes virtually everything.
This is because the color of the symbol changes depending on the light the reader gives it.
In the translator's note, it is interpreted as god, monster, slavery, trauma, and mystery of existence from the religious, mythological, social, psychological, and philosophical aspects, respectively.
If you read the novel with these five interpretations in mind, the work's meaning will become more three-dimensional and richer.
Veteran classic translator Lee Jong-in translates Melville's signature solemn, bold, yet witty and delicate prose into excellent, highly readable Korean, offering a delightful reading experience.
Now the initiative for interpretation is given to each reader.
How about going on a long voyage to find your own 'white whale' through 'Moby Dick'?

Call me Ishmael.
A few years ago (don't ask me exactly when), with my wallet running low and nothing interesting happening on land, I decided I should take a boat out and explore the world's oceans.
This is how I shake off my depression and get the stagnant blood circulating in my body.
When I feel my lips growing increasingly grim, when my soul becomes like a damp November drizzle, when I find myself stopping in front of an undertaker or chasing after a funeral procession, when I must summon a great deal of moral courage to keep myself from running out into the street and knocking off people's hats in a fit of melancholy, then I think I must get to the sea as quickly as possible.
This method replaces a pistol and bullets for me.
Cato of ancient Rome threw himself on his sword while reciting philosophical sentences, but I quietly board the ship.
It's no surprise.
Although there may be differences in degree, anyone who knows the sea will eventually feel similar feelings toward the sea as I do.

---From "Chapter 1: Things That Appear Vaguely"

I was a devout Christian, born and raised in a strict Presbyterian family.
How could I, like you, pray to a piece of wood alongside a barbaric idolater? But what is worship? Ishmael, do you think that the benevolent God, the Lord of heaven and earth, of all people, including pagans, would be jealous of this insignificant, black piece of wood? That is impossible! But what is worship? Worship is doing God's will.
So what is God's will? It is God's will that I do to my neighbor what I would have them do to me.
Now Queekeg is my neighbor.
What would Queequeg like me to do? Worship with me in the Presbyterian way.
Then I too must join his worship.
You must become an idolater.
So I set fire to the shavings, helped the harmless little idol to stay on its feet, offered it some baked biscuits with Queekeg, bowed down before it two or three times, and kissed its nose.
After we finished the ceremony, we took off our clothes and went to bed.
There was nothing to be ashamed of, either in my conscience or in the world.
We talked some more and then fell asleep.

---From "Chapter 10 Close Friends"

"There is no true dignity in whaling?" The dignity of our profession is attested by the heavens.
There's a constellation called Cetus in the southern sky! What more proof is there? Even if you wear your hat pulled down low before the Russian Tsar, you must take it off before Queequeg! Needless to say, it's not like that.
I know a man who has killed 350 whales in his lifetime, and I think he is better than the great generals of ancient times who boast of conquering 350 walled cities.
And if by any chance there be any excellence in me which I have not yet discovered, and if it is not unreasonable that I should desire real fame in that small but very quiet world, but if I am truly entitled to it, and if I do in the future anything which is better done than left undone, and if, when I die, my executors, or rather my creditors, find a precious manuscript on my desk, I will hereby declare that all the honor and glory go to the whaling business.
Because the whaling ship is my Yale and Harvard.

---From "Chapter 24 Defense"

At that time, I went up to the deck to stand the morning duty, but as soon as I turned my gaze to the stern railing, an ominous feeling came over me and my whole body began to tremble.
Before I could even recognize the source of my premonition, reality unfolded before my eyes.
Captain Ahab was standing on the stern deck.
There was no sign that he was sick or recovering.
He looked like a man who had been engulfed in flames and had broken his limbs, but had managed to break free from the stake before he could use them completely, or before he had lost all the strength he had gained over the years.
His tall, broad-shouldered body seemed to be made of solid bronze.
Like the bronze statue of Perseus cast by Cellini, the body seemed to retain its shape in no way.
From his ashen hair he could see a thin, leaden scar running down one side of his tanned face and neck, disappearing into his clothes.
…I was so struck by Ahab's gloomy appearance and the long, leaden scar that for a time I hardly noticed that much of the overwhelming gloom came from the savage white legs on which he stood, supporting a part of his body.
I had heard before that this ivory bridge was made from the jawbone of a sperm whale ground down during a voyage.

---From "Chapter 28 Ahab"

The rest of the body was covered in the same white stripes, spots and marble patterns, giving it the appearance of being wrapped in a shroud, and eventually the whale was given the unique name of 'white whale'.
When you see the vivid image of Moby Dick gliding through the deep blue sea at midday, leaving behind a golden, creamy foam like the Milky Way, you can't help but think that the name "White Whale" is a perfect fit for him.
What makes the whale so feared is not its unusual size, striking coloration, or deformed lower jaw, but its unparalleled intelligence and hostility.
According to specific testimony, the guy has clearly shown this trait on several occasions when attacking people.
Above all, the whalers were astonished by the creature's deceptive retreat.
More than once did Moby Dick appear to swim anxiously before his proud pursuers, then suddenly veer off and smash into the boats, sending the frightened boats scrambling back to their own ships.

---From "Chapter 41 Moby Dick"

“Come on, come on, my dear subordinates.
Row, my children.
“Row, my little ones,” Stubb said with a long sigh, as if trying to calm his still-uneasy subordinates.
"Hey, why don't you row until your back breaks? What the hell are you looking at? Those guys in that boat? Tsk! Five more people just came to help us.
Don't worry about where they come from.
The more people who come to help, the better.
Stir, keep stirring.
Don't worry about the fire and brimstone of hell.
Even the devil is a good friend if you get to know him.
Yeah, okay.
Now you're stirring it properly.
That's a 1,000 pound oar.
It looks like it's going to wipe out all the money.
Heroes, let us cheer for the golden cup filled with sperm whale oil! Let us give three cheers! Everyone is brimming with energy.
Calm down, calm down.
Don't rush.
Don't rush.
Why can't you row hard, you scoundrels! Bite everything, you dogs! Yeah, yeah, like that.
Gently, softly.
Yeah, that's it.
You bastards that the devil will bite, you rag-picking vagabonds, you're all asleep.
Sleepyheads, stop snoring and start rowing.
Row the boat, quickly.
Row, can't you? Row, won't you? Why don't you row until your bones break? Row until everything breaks.
I'm telling you to scream until your eyes pop out.
“Now!” he said, drawing a sharp dagger from his belt.
“Okay, everyone, draw your daggers and bite your lip and row.
Yes, yes.
I think I'm finally doing it right.
You're sharp as a knife.
"Forward, forward, silver spoons! Forward, threaders!"
---From "Chapter 48: The First Boat Departure"

“Sharks, I don’t blame you for your appetite.
It can't be helped because it's nature.
But controlling that evil nature is what's important.
Of course you are a shark.
But if you know how to control your inner shark, you too can become an angel.
An angel is simply a being who masters the shark within himself.
Listen carefully, brothers.
I hope you behave a little when you eat that whale.
Don't steal the whale blubber that goes into your neighbor's mouth.
Doesn't any shark have the same rights over that whale? In fact, you have no rights over that whale.
That whale belongs to someone else.
Some of you may have jaws much larger than those of other sharks.
There are some that have big mouths but small bellies.
So, having a big mouth doesn't mean you should swallow everything indiscriminately, but it means you should break through the chaos and share what you take with the baby sharks who can't fill their bellies."
---From "Chapter 64: Stubb's Dinner"

But he was only looking at what was too close to the boat.
Moby Dick was now swimming steadily forward again, as if he intended to escape with the corpse hanging from his body, or as if the spot where they had last met were merely a stopover on his way downwind.
The whale now passed by the main line, almost brushing past.
The main line had been approaching the whale from the opposite direction a moment ago, but then stopped for a moment.
The whale was swimming at full speed and now seemed intent on going straight on its way.
“Oh, Ahave!” cried Starbuck.
“It’s the third day, but it’s not too late.
Look! Moby Dick isn't chasing you.
“You are the one who is chasing the whale like crazy!”
---From "Chapter 135: The Chase - Day 3"

“I will turn my back on the sun.
Oh Tashtego, let me hear the sound of your hammer.
Oh, the three spires of my ship that know no surrender.
You are a keel that has not gone to the gold.
A hull that only God can torment.
You, firm deck, proud height, prow pointing to the North Star.
Oh, ship, facing an honorable death! Are you truly willing to leave me behind? Will you deny me even the last precious pride enjoyed by even the most wretched shipwrecked captain? Oh, the lonely death of a lonely life.
Oh, at this very moment I feel that in the greatest sorrow of life there is the greatest greatness.
Ho, ho! You, wave that surges from the far reaches of the sea, raging waves of my past life, push me higher, above the white peaks of death! Whale that destroys all but cannot conquer, I come toward you.
I will fight you to the end, stab you in the heart of hell, and spit my last breath filled with hatred at you.
Sink all coffins and caskets into one pit! But no coffin, no pedestal, can ever be mine, so even if I am torn to pieces by you, I will still pursue you.
“You damn whale! That’s why I don’t throw my spear.”

---From "Chapter 135: The Chase - Day 3"