Moby Dick; or, The Whale (Great Books of the Western World, #48)

“a damp, drizzly November in my soul”

Ishmael joins a crew just to escape his own dark thoughts. Sometimes a job is just a way to outrun a quiet mind.

“a cozy, loving pair”

Queequeg and Ishmael become family faster than most people make friends. It shows how loneliness makes us skip the small talk.

“it was the whiteness of the whale that above all things appalled me”

Ahab loses his leg and turns a whale into a god of malice. He can't accept that nature just does what it does without meaning.

“my soul is more than matched”

Starbuck tries to be the voice of reason against a madman. He learns that logic is useless when everyone else wants to believe in a myth.