Moby Dick

I listened to this at week maybe three weeks ago so I'm trying to remember everything.

Once upon a time I tried to actually read it versus listening to it and couldn't remember anything beyond, "Call Me Ishmael".  It's very old fashioned which may be hard for younger readers but is definitely worth being called a classic.  The difference between old time books and things written in the last hundred years is the vast amount of extra information that editors now adays won't let into the book for fear it will bog the reader down.  And it can.  Everything you ever wanted to know about whales but were afraid to ask is included like the difference between a sperm whale and a humpback whale for starters.

Like the movie Jaws the real action comes at the end when you finally meet the elusive Moby Dick, the great white whale (sperm whale if I remember rightly) that Captain Ahab is obsessed with ever since she took his leg.  Unfortunately the name Ahab is a name better known with this work than the Bible where it's taken from.  Ahab, you may or may not remember is the wicked king married to Jezebel.  There's a reason why he shares the name of the notorious king that most of us in the 21st century have probably forgotten.  I'm sure it's lost on me.

If you want an old timey adventure story I'd suggest you start with Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson.  Then when you're feeling more adventurous... it's not bad.  My stars... this one is tough.  I want to say 8 stars but for regular folk like me I might have to go down to 7