Like most of the planet, I have heard of Moby Dick. I know of Captain Ahab, the great white whale, and even remember Starbucks is named after the first mate on the boat. I also know Moby Dick has a reputation of being a difficult book that people often quit. It was Benjamin McEvoy who convinced me this is a great work of literature and the type of book one should read for their own journey.
The book took me just over two months to complete. It is in stiff competition with The Last Man for the most challenging book of the year. The language of the 1800’s is different enough that it takes much more of my concentration to get through a page. Moby Dick is much more meandering than a direct story from start to finish. One of the helpful bits of advice from McEvoy was to approach each chapter as its own moment and to worry less about trying to piece together the plot. This was helpful as much of the book strays towards in depth technical knowledge of whales, catching of whales, and butchering of whales. This book is clearly Herman Melville geeking out about whales in the context of a novel. I don’t think I will be actively suggesting this book to others, but I will hang on to my copy if ever I get drawn back to it down the road.