Review: An American Classic
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 01 29, 2013
WARNING: THIS KINDLE VERSION OF BOOK IS MISSING PAGES. PUBLISHER HAS BEEN MADE AWARE OF THIS BUT HAS NOT UPDATED BOOK. THE MISSING PAGES OCCUR IN MIDDLE OF IMPORTANT CHAPTERS AND CAUSE THEM TO MAKE NO SENSE. (Feb 2013)(still true Feb 2014: Kindle dept has dropped ball on contacting publisher so I will be calling Kindle again since book has not auto-updated or shown that corrected version is available, so pages still missing in several places throughout book)This version is better than the free version because it has not been edited down to plot-only. Magnificent story of one of the most fascinating complex characters ever invented - Ahab - & the crew unwittingly forced to accompany him on his crazed quest for revenge against the Great White Whale who maimed him. Complete with detailed footnotes to explain all the biblical, literary, historical & contemporary references Melville enriched his work with. Story told from multiple points of view, adding to its depth & richness. (Ignore the intro as it's like CliffNotes: adds nothing to the novel & insists on judging characters instead of letting intelligent readers decide for themselves). One of the best adventure stories ever written. JAWS was based on this but that novel suffers in comparison to this great classic.