The book of sea monsters

The book of sea monsters Leviathans of literature

Book - 2025

"For centuries, sea monsters have haunted the depths of human imaginations. With their ship-sinking size, claws, tentacles and bloodlust, they represent our greatest fears: the unknown, the dark, the natural world and that which lurks within. From ancient myths and natural histories to classic literature and modern scientific discoveries, this absorbing exploration of the sea monster in all its tentacular forms is a deep dive into the world of sirens, leviathans and kraken of ancient myth to the modern day, revealing how these creatures have shaped our fears, stories and understanding of the ocean. Bringing together excerpts from Homer's 'Odyssey,' 'Beowulf,' Herman Melville, and the works of Edgar Allan Poe, J...ules Verne, HP Lovecraft and more, with lively introductions and beautifully gory artwork, this gorgeous book is sure to draw you in and drag you down..."--Page 4 of cover.

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Subjects
Sea monsters > Literary collections.
Sea monsters in literature.
Monstres marins > Anthologies.
Sea monsters
Literary collections
Literature
Literature.
Literary criticism.
Littérature.
Critiques littéraires.
Genres
Literary collections
Literature
Literary criticism
Littérature
Critiques littéraires
Published
London : Adlard Coles [2025]
Language
English
Item Description
Includes index.
Physical Description
219 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 24 cm
ISBN
9781399414524
  • Introduction
  • 1. Enuma Eliš (Unknown)
  • 2. Odyssey (Homer)
  • 3. The Aeneid (Vergil)
  • 4. Metamorphoses (Ovid)
  • 5. Naturalis Historia (Pliny the Elder)
  • 6. The Book of Jonah (Unknown)
  • 7. Beowulf (Unknown)
  • 8. The Natural History of Norway (Erik Pontoppidan)
  • 9. 'The Sea-Nymph' (Ann Radcliffe)
  • 10. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (Samuel Taylor Coleridge)
  • 11. 'The Kraken', 'The Merman' and 'The Mermaid' (Alfred Tennyson)
  • 12. 'The City in the Sea' (Edgar Allan Poe)
  • 13. Moby-Dick (Herman Melville)
  • 14. 'Leviathan' (Celia Thaxter)
  • 15. 'Caliban upon Setebos' (Robert Browning)
  • 16. Toilers of the Sea (Victor Hugo)
  • 17. Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (Jules Verne)
  • 18. 'In The Abyss' (HG Wells)
  • 19. 'The Terror of the Sea Caves' (Sir Charles GD Roberts)
  • 20. The Seafarer' (Ezra Pound)
  • 21. 'The Thing in the Weeds' (William Hope Hodgson)
  • 22. 'Sea-Heroes', 'Thetis' and 'At Ithaca' (H.D.)
  • 23. 'Dagon' and 'The Temple' (HP Lovecraft)
  • 24. The Maracot Deep (Arthur Conan Doyle)
  • Credits and Acknowledgements
  • Index
Review by Library Journal Review

This anthology collects 24 examples of sea monsters in literature, arranged chronologically by the date of the work (spanning from circa 9 BCE to the late 1920s). Arasu (Sch. of Humanities, Univ. of Western Australia) introduces each selection (all of which are in the public domain) with introductory paragraphs of biographical and historical narrative, adding context to the poems and story excerpts. Woodcut illustrations of other mythological creatures, reproductions of artwork (most of it contemporary to the literature), and portraits of the authors add visual interest. VERDICT An interesting exploration of a niche topic. Will likely find its best reader match shelved with literature rather than cryptids or mythical creatures.

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Review by Kirkus Book Review

Creatures from the deep. This beautifully illustrated anthology introduces us to, or reacquaints us with, passages or complete stories and poems about sea monsters. It presents the sources in chronological order "so as to trace a narrative of maritime and cultural history as sea monsters move from highly speculative, primordial entities to the apocalyptic cryptozoologist imaginings in modern science fiction in the Western imagination." To that end, we start with a Babylonian creation myth, excerpts fromThe Odyssey andThe Aeneid, with ports of call inThe Book of Jonah andBeowulf, all presented in readable prose translations. We then move to more modern examples, including Victor Hugo, H.G. Wells, and Ezra Pound. The selections conclude with Arthur Conan Doyle. The extract fromMoby-Dick tells us that Ahab recognized that a giant squid is not a whale, since he had read Erik Pontoppidan'sThe Natural History of Norway, which--fortunately for us--is also included. Each text has a brief preface and is suitably illustrated by either a maritime reference (fish, boats, sea monsters) or a representation of the featured author. It functions as a sort of Great Books seminar for readers with a short attention span. The book reminds us of how great some of the poems are and where "water, water everywhere / and not a drop to drink" actually comes from. The anthology also prompts musings about erotic and psychological elements pertaining to sea monsters; an example may be a possible feminist critique of mermaids. Just as Thoreau escaped the desperate city for the desperate country, so humankind fled the monsters among us only to succumb to their nautical cousins--escaping the devil, so to speak, for the deep blue sea. A wonderful aquarium of sea monsters. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

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