Pursuing one of my vaguely defined retirement plans I set out to read Moby Dick again.

Again!  After downloading a free copy to my Kindle I soon discovered that I had NEVER read Moby Dick the first time.  It is so iconic that I assumed I would start out slow and pick up the pace after things started looking familiar. 

I must have been confusing the book with the movie starring Gregory Peck as Ahab.  No credits listed for the whale.  I may also have read the Classics Comic.  Remember those? 

So the truth is I am not nearly as well read as I thought.  As a result of my pursuit of the white whale I did learn something about Herman Melville.  Most of his writing that was well received during his career was behind him when he wrote Moby Dick. 

My experience has been that Moby Dick may have been the reason for Melville’s professional decline.   I found it also mostly unreadable.  I read it off and on for about six weeks.  I was only a third of the way through.  Melville must have had a contract paying him by the word.  He has an entire chapter on the color white!

I am presently on a Moby Dick break.  Good luck to anyone who sets out.  Keep Mr. Peck in mind.