Like most who are part of the academe, I consider myself a well-read person, though we all admit that the more of an expert you become in one area, the more you realize how ignorant you are in others. My focus is the 19th Century American religious environment and even when I stray from there to another research focus, I always come back because I find the century so interesting. Sometimes, to get a more complete view of the period, I will read fiction from the era since it gives a window into the period’s views about religion which theologians do not and cannot. In addition, I am just interested in literature and I listen to a lot of books during my commute time. Rarely do I intentionally put one down unfinished, though several have challenged me in that regard. One book which I started but just could not finish was Moby Dick; it was just so long, and seemed so disconnected from the tale of Ahab that I just couldn’t finish it. Consequently, I became very critical of the book; how could a book filled with so much detail about whales and whaling be considered such a great American classic? But in the best way that students can, my own hypocrisy was pointed out: how could I be so critical of book I openly admitted I had not read completely? I hate it when people point out my own inconsistencies. So, this summer I committed to reading the whole of Moby Dick, even though I had previously failed and I already knew how the book ends. [Read more…] about We Are Ahab – Both Hunter and Hunted. A Book Review of Moby Dick