Inscrutable Malice: Theodicy, Eschatology, and the Biblical Sources of "Moby-Dick" - Hardcover

"Cook has accomplished the most precise, searching, and in-depth investigation of a subject whose importance cannot be overestimated for this particular author. Melville's 'saturation' by the Bible has never before been explored with the exhaustive approach it warrants. This study's extensive documentation alone will serve readers as a valuable resource, and Cook's analysis of scripturally influenced subject matter in Melville's narrative is unprecedented in scope and detail." -- Steven Olsen-Smith, Associate Professor of English at Boise State University and General Editor of Melville's Marginalia Online. ""Moby-Dick" has long been recognized as a landmark in American literary and religious history, but the goal of showing how these aspects of Melville's novel are related has proved elusive. Through an inspired combination of biblical scholarship, comparative religion, intellectual history, and aesthetics with Melville's own patterns of reading and intellectual inquiry, Jonathan Cook's study illuminates brilliantly "Moby-Dick"'s status as both an exceptionally important artifact in religious history and a superb piece of literary art. Cook's wide-ranging review of the scholarship on "Moby-Dick" and his clear prose style contribute to making this essential reading for anyone seeking to understand America's most important novel, the religious context from which it emerged, and the history of intellectual engagement it has inspired." --Brian Yothers, Associate Professor of English at the University of Texas at El Paso and author of "Melville's Mirrors: Literary Criticism and America's Most Elusive Author" Cook has accomplished the most precise, searching, and in-depth investigation of a subject whose importance cannot be overestimated for this particular author. Melville s saturation by the Bible has never before been explored with the exhaustive approach it warrants. This study s extensive documentation alone will serve readers as a valuable resource, and Cook s analysis of scripturally influenced subject matter in Melville s narrative is unprecedented in scope and detail. -- Steven Olsen-Smith, Associate Professor of English at Boise State University and General Editor of Melville s Marginalia Online. Moby-Dickhas long been recognized as a landmark in American literary and religioushistory, but the goal of showing how these aspects of Melville s novel are related has proved elusive. Through an inspiredcombination of biblical scholarship, comparative religion, intellectual history, and aesthetics with Melville s own patterns of reading and intellectual inquiry, Jonathan Cook s study illuminates brilliantlyMoby-Dick s status as both an exceptionally important artifact in religious history and a superb piece of literary art. Cook s wide-ranging review of the scholarship onMoby-Dickand his clear prose style contribute to making this essential reading for anyone seeking to understand America s most important novel, the religious context from which it emerged, and the history of intellectual engagement it has inspired. --Brian Yothers, Associate Professor of English at the University of Texas at El Paso and author ofMelville s Mirrors: Literary Criticism and America s Most Elusive Author"

Though "Moby-Dick" is one of the most-discussed and most-read works of American literature, the influence of the Bible has been overlooked in many contemporary studies of the novel. In "Inscrutable Malice", Jonathan A. Cook expertly illuminates Melville's abiding preoccupation with the problem of evil and the pervasive role of the Bible in shaping his iconic work. Drawing on recent research in the fields of biblical studies, the history of religion, and comparative mythology, Cook provides a new interpretation of "Moby-Dick" that places Melville's creative adaptation of the Bible at the center of the novel. Cook identifies two central concerns: the attempt to reconcile the goodness of God with the existence of evil and the discourse of the Christian end times involving the final destruction of evil. With his detailed reading of "Moby-Dick" and the Bible, Cook makes a significant departure from the approaches of many recent works of Melville criticism. Accessible and erudite, "Inscrutable Malice" will appeal to scholars, students, and enthusiasts of Melville's classic novel.