Two novels about the sea published nineteen years apart, and two completely different ways of using it. Melville’s book (1851) is narrated by a schoolteacher who joins a whaling voyage and cannot stop explaining: whales, rope, the colour white, the organisation of a ship. Verne’s (1870) is narrated by a professor who is taken prisoner inside a submarine and shown wonders on a schedule.
Melville digresses because the digressions are the point; the whale is both an animal and a symbol he keeps failing to pin down. Verne catalogues because the catalogue is the attraction — the Nautilus, the wreck of the Atlantean city, the passage under the ice. One book is shaped like an essay, the other like an itinerary.
In length the difference is stark: Moby-Dick is about 211,000 words and Verne’s novel about 104,000, half as long. If you want the strangest book on this shelf, take Melville. If you want a clean adventure with a brilliant machine in it, take Verne.
The two books also disagree about the sea itself. For Melville it is a workplace and a grave, described by a narrator who has to earn his passage. For Verne it is a museum you travel through, and the Nautilus exists so that a passenger can look out of the window.
Side by side
Both editions are on this site, so the word counts and reading times are the numbers of the files you download. Screen versions are counted from the verified filmographies on the site; “none listed” means no version has been verified there yet, not that none exists.
| Moby-Dick | Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea | |
|---|---|---|
| Published | 1851 | 1870 |
| Author | Herman Melville | Jules Verne |
| Words here | 211,000 | 104,016 |
| Reading time | 12 h | 6 h |
| Screen versions | 11 | 9 |
| Free edition | Moby-Dick | Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea |
How to choose
- Read Moby-Dick if you have patience for digressions and want the densest prose here.
- Read Twenty Thousand Leagues if you want a shorter adventure with a strong central invention.
- Both editions are complete and uncut, so the word counts on this page match the files you download.
Questions readers ask
Is Twenty Thousand Leagues a translation?
Yes — Verne wrote in French, and every English edition is a translation, which is why word counts vary between editions.
Does Moby-Dick have chapters about whales?
It does: several dozen short chapters on cetology, whaling practice and the anatomy of the animal sit between the narrative chapters.
Which is longer?
Moby-Dick, at roughly 211,000 words against 104,000.
Both novels are in the complete catalogue. More head-to-head comparisons are in the comparison index, and word counts for everything are in the word-count table.