:INFO
My Position on Moby Dick and Why I Hold It
Moby Dick is two books bound together. The first is one of the great American novels: a study in obsession, leadership, and the cost of pursuing something that does not care whether you exist. The second is a detailed scientific treatise on whaling published in 1851. Both are genuinely present. The first book is worth every page. The second book is Melville testing whether you want the first book enough to earn it. My position is that you should read the whole thing and I will defend that position.


:NOTE.half
The cetology chapters are a patience tax Melville collects before the payoff.
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:COUNTER.half
635 Pages

:QUOTE [quotetype:plain, subtitle:Herman Melville]
To produce a mighty book, you must choose a mighty theme.


:JOURNEY
Reading Moby Dick
5 Great opening
3 Patience tax
5 Portrait of obsession
5 Among the greatest

:GOAL [target:5, current:2]
Melville novels finished

:POLL
Did you finish Moby Dick on your first attempt?
Yes all the way through including the cetology chapters
Yes but I skimmed parts of the whale anatomy sections
No I put it down and have not returned
No I have not started it yet