Captain Ahab seeks revenge on Moby-Dick who bit off his one leg

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This was not as bad as I expected it to be. I liked parts of it. I was bored with other parts. I also read the commentary that was included after the story was over. My edition is 670 pages.

Moby-Dick is three books in one. The first book is the story of the Pequod, its crew, Captain Ahab, and the search for the Whale. I liked this part the best. I liked Ismael and Queequeg are quite a pair.  Most of the humor come through them.

The second book is the information on whaling. That was mostly interesting.

The last part is the philosophy that Melville put in the book. Some of it was interesting (chapter 42--The Whiteness of the Whale) but most of it went over my head so was boring.

The commentary at the back of the book was mostly boring. I did like modern day criticism of D. H. Lawrence (from 1964). It goes with chapter 42 and is extremely timely for now.

I was glad I read it, but I doubt I will reread it.

Benito Cereno: Wowzas! 150 years or so puts a radically different perspective on this tale (based on a true story) of slaves and their masters. Unfortunately the story is poorly structured, which is highly detrimental. 

Some interesting vocabulary from 1855: "Trowsers" - still in use in British English (spelled, trousers) but "pants" is the American English term, now. When did that shift occur? Also, "ghetto" - earliest usage I can remember coming across - but it turns out it's been around since some time in the 1600s.

The Encantatas: "The Enchanted Isles," these days usually referred to as The Galapagos Islands, in English. A collection of anecdotes and observations of the famous archipelago off the west coast of South America. A mixed bag of more and less interesting items to my taste.

Melville liked The Fairy Queen - he keeps quoting from it, at least.