On November 14, 1851, Herman Melville’s novel Moby Dick was first published in the U.S.

I must admit that I never finished Moby DIck. Well, I finished it, read the end, but I skipped a lot in the middle. The chapter called “The Whiteness of the Whale” just didn’t do much for me–an entire chapter on whiteness. I’m sure I missed something very important and enlightening there, but I just couldn’t manage it.

Have any of you read Moby Dick? Can anyone tell me why you like it if you do?