One of my favorite things to do at the end of a day is to listen to an audioboook via Librivox while playing Mahjong on my tablet. Recently I decided to try listening to Moby Dick. I tried reading this book once but was soon overwhelmed and never finished it. However, listening was much easier than reading and I was surprised by how much I really enjoyed it.
Moby Dick is an unusual book and at times can be a little difficult to follow. The simplest explanation is that it is a book about a man's obsession with harpooning a white whale that was responsible for his loss of a leg. And yet there is so much more to this story. There are sermons and poetry, whale anatomy, whaling history, and the sense that this is an allegory of sorts. Human nature is examined and expounded upon. Somehow, even though there seem to be multiple literary styles in this one work it also manages to have a cohesive feel and tell a story with meaning.
Although there are multiple characters I felt almost a kinship with most of them. From the mishaps and mental breakdown of the little cabin boy, to the philosophizing of the ship carpenter, and even to the consuming need for revenge felt by Captain Ahab, the lives of the characters drew me in and made me care about them as individuals.
So, while this book will definitely exercise the mind, it is enjoyable and worth the time (lots of time) it takes to read or listen too it.
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