JasonKoivu

It loomed ahead like some primordial beast from the depths of hell, seemingly unconquerable....and yet I managed to finish reading Moby Dick.

Not sure I could have done it without an audiobook though. There were sections and scenes that enthralled, while others were watching-paint-dry-on-a-fence boring. I swear Melville wrote two books - an exciting sea adventure and the transcript to a lecture on whales - and after his publisher okay-ed the first, Melville slipped the second in when no one was looking just as the book was sent out to the printer's.

Melville's desire to teach his readers, as much or more so than to entertain them, is distracting from the main story - that taunt tale of man vs beast, personal vendetta, and obsession gone haywire - unwinding and grinding it to a halt. It's like grandma was knitting a wonderfully colorful blanket when the dementia took over for a bit and suddenly a scarf is sprouting off from one side. Eventually this long, monotone divergence comes back and connects to the original piece which finishes off very nicely indeed. However, in the end you're left with a very thick and mostly fantastic thing that you really love getting wrapped up in, but every time you do you get tangled up in that bloody scarf!