It was a very enthralling book...once one got past the enormous amount of pages written just on the various information that had been gathered on Leviathans. If those had never been written, this book may have been in my category of "best books read." I recommend this book as a good read, it just requires a bit of patience at times and commitment. If you're not willing to do either, well, then, forget it.

A lot of people are familiar with this story but fewer people have ever read it. Until now I was one of those people. And I could see why people would be put off by this book. It’s a good story, even a great story. But it is long. And Ismael, our narrator, is verbose to say the least. You have to be patient with him. You are a hundred pages into the book before you even get on the ship. It is a long time after that before you see any whales and a lot longer after that that you get to see Moby Dick himself. It’s not that nothing happens in the meantime. You get to know the crew and Ahab and you get to see the effect that the captain’s obsession with the famous whale has on him and his crew. Which is all good stuff. But Ismael goes on and on about everything. He gives you a catalog of all the whales he has seen represented in art and tells you how close they are to the real thing; he gives you a catalog of all the known whales; he discourses on the greatness of man. And there is a lot of sailing going on. I’ve never read anything else by Melville so I don’t know if it is author or the narrator that tends to be so wordy and tangential but for me there were long passages where I was at a loss as to what they added to the story and, quite frankly, I could have done without. Even with all of those things I really liked it but I’m glad I was reading another book at the same time or it might have become monotonous.

This is great! I loved ishmael having to sleep with a canibal-their relationship is so funny and yet so American. Maybe the ultimate American novel. Also am very caught up in the industry of whaling. out side of it being taboo in my lifetime, it was a huge part of our economy in the 1800's- and our energy before electricity and petroleum- a history we could learn something from.

One of the more boring classics.

Halfway through and loving it!

good to read!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

it is one of the best books ever!

I'm going to skip the words of praise for this book because you've probably already heard them. Some observations: 1) This book came out the same year as Darwin's Origin of Species. It's amazing because, in the chapters describing whales, evidence of evolution is described though not identified as such. It's clear that they had all the information they needed to see evolution in those days, it just took Darwin to interpret it. 2) This is one of those books that is amazing while you're reading it but it's hard to pick up. I would recommend setting yourself a schedule. 3) Looking for a similar but easier/more modern book to read afterwards? Interested in the subject matter of Moby Dick but can't get through the language? Try The Terror by Dan Simmons. It's amazing, it's similar to Moby Dick in some ways, but it's different enough that comparing them won't diminish either of them.

They call me Ishmael ! With Ishmael joining the rag tag crue of Captain Ahab...they all join the hunt for the Great Whale. Classic

They call me Ishmael ! The wonderful and tragic story of the hunt for the great Whale. True classic