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Title: Elegant Writing and Fascinating Characters
Review: MOBY DICK is a great American novel about whaling in the nineteenth century. It is a very long book which contains almost too much incidental information about whales but it is fully redeemed by its intriguing characters and realistic descriptions of whalers in action.The two main characters are Captain Ahab of the Pequod and Ishmael who is the narrator of the story. Ahab is obsessed by a desire to hunt down the giant whale Moby Dick which cost him his leg during an earlier voyage. Ishmael is an experienced young seaman who is new to whaling. The tale focuses on the Pequod's long hunt for the huge sperm whale.Melville is an elegant writer. I recommend MOBY DICK mostly for that reason. The book has so many strengths that the lengthy treatises on whales and whaling are really a small price to pay for such a worthwhile reading experience.
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