Books: February 2008 Archives

You may recall that my New Year's goal was to read "Moby-Dick."

Well, at the one-month point, a progress report: I'm at page 248, out of 577, or Chapter 54 of 135. At this rate I'll finish by the end of March, which isn't bad; I initially thought it could take me to the end of April.

Did you know Barack Obama cites "Moby-Dick," and also "Beloved," as his favorite books? When I read that, I suddenly became an Obama fan.

"Moby-Dick" is an amazing book -- there's a reason classics are classics -- although it's not what you would call a quick read, owing to long sentences filled with semi-colons that sometimes require a second or third reading to decipher. Some of the language is jaw-droppingly lyrical, though. My schedule is such that it's rare I can find even a half-hour a day to read it, further limiting my progress.

Still, I've managed to read a little bit every single day since Jan. 1, usually six or eight pages. It's not much individually, but nibbling at it daily does make a difference.

Call me Incrementalist.