teapup 's review for:

Moby-Dick: Or, the Whale by Herman Melville

5.0

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Third time through. I think most people know the basic story, so there's not much to say. If you haven't read the book, you might be surprised to realize that it's actually two books in one: an adventure story and a mixture of philosophical musings and whaling facts. Which make for a deeply weird book - it didn't gain popularity until 70 years after its writing, at the dawn of Modernism, but I think of it fitting better with books written many decades after that even, like Infinite Jest.

This time, I opted for the audiobook, and am glad I did. It made the more dry chapters (and there are many) go more quickly than expected. Having a great narrator also highlighted just how passionate, brilliant, terrifying, and maniacal a character Ahab is.