Moby Dick (1990, Hardcover)

As a former English teacher and long-time lover of literature, you won't often hear me say this about a classic: this book is horrible. While there is a tale in there, it's hard to find through Melville's digressions into species of whale (which he considers to be fish, incidentially) and the benefits of various styles of harpoon. There may be beauty to this story, but I was unable to work through Melville's digressions and staid prose to find it; read Richard Henry Dana's Two Years Before the Mast for a more engrossing (and true!) tale of the high seas, and stick to the movie versions of Moby Dick, which, as the grandfather in A Princess Bride puts it, sticks to the "Good Parts Version."

If you're reading this for class--I sympathize. I recommend skimming and picking up a good copy of Cliff's Notes for this one; don't rely on movies to get you through tests on books because they tend to be liberal with the text--in this case, I can't see how they can possibly afford not to be, which can hurt your GPA when quizzes, exams, and papers come.