This was approximately what I thought the first time I read it, except I didn't find the vendetta story interesting. On subsequent reads (and especially listen

This was approximately what I thought the first time I read it, except I didn't find the vendetta story interesting. On subsequent reads (and especially listening to it read aloud and as an audiobook), my opinion turned on its head. The structure reflects whaling, with weeks of discussion about ropes and navigation punctuated by relatively brief periods of excitement. Ahab and the whale are left vague because that makes them grander in the imagination than they could possibly be when thoroughly described. The whale is just out there looking for squid, it's the people on the boat that have made it out to be something different.