Classics Considered

Looking for your next great read?  This episode features six little-known classics and why I feel they should be famous.

 ...you glance at a shopping list and, for a split second, read one of the headings as "Whale Fishery".  What it actually says is "Whole Foods". Years ago, when I first tried to read this book (and stopped halfway), I thought it was the most boring classic I'd ever read, as well as one of the hardest books I'd ever read.  The plot is pretty simple--an insane captain sets out to get revenge on a whale.  The book, however, happens to be over 600 pages long.  It alternates between telling the story and talking about whales, with whole chapters that read like encyclopedia articles with author's commentary . Surprisingly enough, though, this time I like it. The writing style is very interesting.  It's first-person, but the narrator is able to tell the reader practically as much as third-person narration does.  Sometimes the narrator tells the story like any other author, with even comic relief.  Other times he goes on for chapters about whaling, and wh...