Pick up some books from the library

>don't force yourself to read it if it gets too hard"

This is just awful, pathetic, egocentric advice.

Do force yourself btw, if fun is what you're looking for you should get weed.

Thinking about buying the Easton Press edition. Its about $20. What do you guys think? Is this a good edition? Or is there a better one?

forgot pic

I love how you assume something is wrong with my appearance or actions. No, I wear normal-looking clothes without any pop culture shit on them, and have been visiting the library for years.

Her comment was more about her taste, she simply thinks it's boring and difficult to finish; she also said "I wouldn't wanna be you" (/wouldn't want to reread it).

if i were you, i'd keep reading it. it was an incredible novel, and the try-works is one of the most haunting images in literature.

a suggestion though, completely ignore all the concepts of symbolism that other people present about the book. No one knows what the fuck it really means anyway.

She wants you to put down the book when your Moby Dick gets too hard and visit her in the library

>don't force yourself to read it if it gets too hard

This is good advice. Why would you force yourself to slog through something hard? Reading should be about fun. Veeky Forums seems to forget about that all the time.

yeah if you never want to better yourself or finish something you've committed yourself to and want to be a fucking loser. yeah, follow that fantastic advice and give up when the going gets tough, just like everything else in your life.

a challenge isn't fun at all. overcoming challenges isn't fun and rewarding or anything. that would be utterly silly.

>remaining at the same level and never progressing onwards

Shameful

It's not, but I'm sure you look like the sort of pleb who would find it difficult.

The analysis is pretty difficult: themes and soforth. Could easily be addressed in graduate level classes.

The prose and story are very accessible imo.

It's really quite plebeian to assume that hard and fun are mutually exclusive.

lol it's not like this is an important job you have to do. You're reading books in your spare time.

I lift weights because I enjoy it in my spare time, but I still increase the weight to get stronger.

When people on this board talk with disgust about plebs they are talking about you and your genre fiction or women with their Momcore

this guy gets it

literature isn't just a shitforbrains hobby. it's a gift of the minds of the dead teaching us new perspectives and thoughts we could never have imagined without them. Why shun improvement in favor of popcorn pleasure? It takes more time to cook a steak properly than to toss a frozen burrito in the microwave, but guess which one is more worth the effort.

I remember when I first broke through my difficulty ceiling in literature, it changed my life.

Being a hormonal fifteen year old, I couldn't bring myself to finish the book because I kept having impure thoughts whenever they would interact. I knew I'd either be so distracted by the non existent love story or so disappointed by it's absence that the book was as good as shot. I consoled myself that I'd read the spark notes. Now that I've gotten laid is it worth another go?

you never even got to the squeezing chapter? HOHOHOHOHO

an excerpt:

Squeeze! squeeze! squeeze! all the morning long; I squeezed that sperm till I myself almost melted into it; I squeezed that sperm till a strange sort of insanity came over me; and I found myself unwittingly squeezing my co-laborers’ hands in it, mistaking their hands for the gentle globules. Such an abounding, affectionate, friendly, loving feeling did this avocation beget; that at last I was continually squeezing their hands, and looking up into their eyes sentimentally; as much as to say,- Oh! my dear fellow beings, why should we longer cherish any social acerbities, or know the slightest ill-humor or envy! Come; let us squeeze hands all round; nay, let us all squeeze ourselves into each other; let us squeeze ourselves universally into the very milk and sperm of kindness.

gay

As long as your IQ is north of 105 you can get through it without exceptional difficulty; I trust that this is true of most of Veeky Forums. I read it just once at 16-17 and got the meat of it, but I bet I would benefit from a re-read.

There is a meme about reading the book which is true, however: you can skip the whole middle third and not miss any big plot deets, in before "reading for plot".

The librarian who advised you against reading should be fired, for multiple reasons.

Were you in a wheelchair and slobbering?

no. its just long

Yes it's actually hilariously more difficult than the general populace thinks it is. I've seen it suggested for elementary school/early middle school boys, as if chapters on rope, oil, and the colour white amongst many other things would be interesting to that demographic.

You might miss the analogies in these chapters.

>nerds think their hobby is an enlightened and exclusive club
Fact: the only books that will make you smarter are educational text books.

This actually. The librarians at my library r super flirty

The technical whaling parts can be tough without reference. i suggest getting the california edition that includes key illustrations. Arion Press.

It is less difficult than you are imagining

Doesn't matter. Just make sure it's unabridged, but few editions are cut down considering it's not very long to begin with.

It's really not difficult, nor is it boring. I always suspect the people who moan on about struggling or failing to finish it are the ones who only read thrillers or books with HAHA level comedy. If you are at all capable of enjoying subtle humor, if you can handle a steady but manageable flow of metaphors and allegory, if you can derive any pleasure from insightful commentaries on human nature carried in the vehicle of whaling, and if you don't demand that every book be a riveting plot-driven adventure story in the vein of a Dumas novel, you will do just fine and will likely enjoy Moby Dick. It took me all of two afternoons to finish and was frankly one of my favorite reading experiences. I hope you can enjoy it as much as I did.

baiting this hard

These make it disinteresting not hard

Those parts are interesting, though.

Did you miss the analogies?

The librarians at my library are neon haired fatties.

???

mody bick is fun

All of mine are somalis :( why does hennepin county do this?

hot

The correct response is "Oh, but I like it long and hard" while furiously waggling your eyebrows.

>tfw literary innuendo only makes sense when directed at men

shoulda squeezed her hand

Negative: it is extremely dry, and the aforementioned chapters of outdated whaling terminology

Positive: If you get it on google books and read it on your phone, you can use the dictionary to learn a whole lot of old-timey seafarin' words

Is it worth a read for a guy who wants to learn english through comprehensive reading of classic literature? How many outdated words are in there?