I had forgotten how much I adore this novel (of course I would adore it; it's so deliciously anti-transcendental). Melville has an amazing way with words; sometimes he is brisk and reporter-like, sometimes he invokes the scriptures, other times he is charmingly poetic. Moby Dick is as complex as the world's oceans and just as alluring. It is an adventurous, dangerous, and irresistible journey of the mind. I'd praise it more, but I'm going to go back to reading it now. Be forewarned: my blog is likely to be positively littered with quotations over the next few days.