Which novel begins with the line "Call me Ishmael"?

The novel that begins with the line “Call me Ishmael” is Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick. The sentence introduces Ishmael, the narrator, whose first-person account carries readers from ordinary seafaring life into Captain Ahab’s obsessive hunt for the white whale.

Published in 1851, Moby-Dick was initially titled The Whale in Britain. The novel draws on Melville’s experiences as a sailor, the real 1820 sinking of the whaling ship Essex, and a wide range of biblical, classical, scientific, and maritime references. Its narrative combines adventure, philosophical reflection, natural history, and experimental prose.

A common mix-up is confusing the opening line with the novel’s title or with the plot’s most famous character. Ishmael is not the captain; Captain Ahab commands the Pequod. The whale is commonly called Moby Dick, though the original title-page styling used “Moby-Dick” with a hyphen. The famous opening is also frequently shortened in quotation, but the full first sentence begins with Ishmael’s invitation to call him by that name.