What’s your white whale? A lesson from a classic novel

I have been trying to do more reading lately. You wouldn’t know it because I haven’t been bragging about it online.

There is a whole enclave of the internet dedicated to telling people not only what books to read, but how to establish a reading routine and construct the perfect reading nook in your personal space. Social media feeds are rife with people sharing the tomes currently taking their attention. Many people keep tabs on the number of books they have read like fighter pilots etching their kills in tally marks on the side of their plane. Some even write little essays to go with a post, like they are back in high school.

All you need to enjoy a good book is a little time, a place to sit, and, this part seems obvious, a book. In our fast-paced world, I can see the value in celebrating something so seemingly simple as reading, and with so many distractions around us, making it through a chapter or two, let alone a whole book, is quite the accomplishment. So, if you like to post about a book you have conquered, post away.

That being said, I’ve been reading “Moby Dick.” Yes, I have been lugging around a heavy edition of the literature that killed many a soul’s love of reading and the subject of countless terrible high school book reports. Reading such a classic, if you want to call it that, is like running a marathon: It takes a long time and everybody looks at you funny when you talk about it.

Deemed one of the most important works in American literature, “Moby Dick” tells the tale of Captain Ahab and his ship, the Pequod, on a quest to kill a legendary white whale. Quite frankly, the book is boring, full of long-outdated beliefs about whales and the now-illegal practice of killing them. You think we have an energy crisis now. What if we still used whale oil?

I’m almost finished with the book and was about ready to write this endeavor off as a waste, albeit noble use of time. But one chapter has changed my mind.

In chapter 128, the Pequod encounters another ship. Ahab, in his usual fashion, inquires of the white whale, while the other captain beseeches his aide in searching for crew members missing at sea. Ahab refuses to help and instead continues his chase of the white whale, which the other captain confesses to having seen.

Pull that dusty copy off the shelf or look it up online, and give it a quick read. Go on, I’ll wait …

Makes you think, doesn’t it?

What is the white whale that has pulled me away from what’s important? What have I deemed my primary goal over the things that should obviously be getting my attention? I hate to admit how many times I’ve neglected my job, my friends, colleagues and acquaintances, or even my own family for frivolous pursuits.

It’s funny the things you can come to realize through reading.

That may even be social media post worthy.