but, seriously, Herman, no one but whalers needs that much detail, and, really, not even them. The infodump is just a slog.

Yes, it would be a much better book if it were condensed into an action packed novella.

So, guess who's read The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman? You know, the next book of his that isn't out yet?

...!

dies of envy

Which artwork is on the cover?

Debet, have you ever read the unabridged Count of Monte Cristo? A thousand pages to get lost in.

(Though I will defend Junior Classics as a gateway drug, but only for the younger set. I read a few at ages 8-10 and, while I can't remember the details, I do remember getting lost in the stories.)

seriously, Herman, no one but whalers needs that much detail, and, really, not even them. The infodump is just a slog.

Ha, those were my favorite parts! They were all metaphorical and shit! And I totally heart "The Whiteness of the Whale."

I won't spoil you, but I will say that Dr. Seuss

I think you mean Theodore Geisel, good sir.

Yes, it would be a much better book if it were condensed into an action packed novella.

It would be a much better book if it were turned into nerdcore rap.

Cats don't wear hats, yet his use of such an unreal character is clearly an indictment of our consumerist culture and the fashion industry! Witness how the "fashionable" Cat wrecks and entire house!

You anti-haberdasher!

t edit I misspoke. You, sir, are an ANTI-MILLINER.

Powell's used to have (may still) a 1st edition of Moby Dick with the pages uncut that I'd visit every once in a while.

It would be a much better book if it were turned into nerdcore rap.

Then it would be a song and not a book.

Then it would be a song and not a book.

I agree with this statement.

I saw an abridged version of Anne of Green Gables that didn't just cut stuff out, but totally rewrote it. I just looked at the first page or two, but this:

Mrs. Rachel Lynde lived just where the Avonlea main road dipped down into a little hollow, fringed with alders and ladies' eardrops and traversed by a brook that had its source away back in the woods of the old Cuthbert place; it was reputed to be an intricate, headlong brook in its earlier course through those woods, with dark secrets of pool and cascade; but by the time it reached Lynde's Hollow it was a quiet, well-conducted little stream, for not even a brook could run past Mrs. Rachel Lynde's door without due regard for decency and decorum; it probably was conscious that Mrs. Rachel was sitting at her window, keeping a sharp eye on everything that passed, from brooks and children up, and that if she noticed anything odd or out of place she would never rest until she had ferreted out the whys and wherefores thereof.

became a series of short declarative sentences, with no brook or woods or flowers mentioned.

Wow, Jilli, is that because you've met Gaiman? No, Hec, then it sounds as if it would be "Old Man and The Sea", which, though short, is a bit of heavy going itself, imo. But it might not be like it at all.