exactly this. i just wrote about my experience here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41771683 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41771683 granted, in my

exactly this. i just wrote about my experience here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41771683 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41771683 granted, in my case it was reading in a second language which has its own challenges, but the main point still stands. if i hadn't been able to breeze through that second book i might have come home with the impression that i just can't read english well enough, or that i hate reading english or that english writing is just bad. if i had read that second book first i would probably have realized that hemmingway is just no fun to read, like your experience with moby dick, and i would have asked to pick another book. i don't think that the second book was easier because my english improved by then. if that were the case i should have been able to improve while reading hemmingway, instead of struggling with it to the end.