It is sensational to look at a classic book like Herman Melville’s Moby DIck and learn that sometimes stuff is hard, so suck it up buttercup. About two years ago I read Herman Melville’s Moby Dick for the first time. I had managed to get through high school, college and law school without ever picking it up. But, with my e-reader in hand I collected as many classic books as my cloud storage could hold and started working my way through them. I have said it before, and I will say it again, Moby Dick is one of the worst books I have ever read and I have literally read thousands upon thousands of books.
As I read the book, and became an expert in whaling and outfitting a whale ship for travel I was so bored, so sick of Moby, Ahab, boats, and even the ocean itself, but I kept reading. I did not want to learn about whaling, but I kept reading. I have no desire to board a whaling ship or share a cabin with sailors, but I kept reading. Page after page was boring, uninteresting and annoying, but I kept reading. Why? I kept reading because I wanted to see what the fuss was all about. I kept reading because I wanted to see why this book was a classic and required reading in so many schools. I kept reading because I wanted to see if the themes I heard were in the book were in fact there. I kept reading because sometimes you have to suck it up and do things you do not want to do.
My husband and children got tired of hearing, what percentage of the book I had reached and how there was no Moby Dick yet. At the same time, my children saw that I kept reading and finished the book even though it was boring and hard to get through. This example was a good one for my children to see. Over the course of their lives, they will have many boring and hard tasks they must complete. There will be many times they will want to quit, to give up, to sit in a corner and cry. Seeing me struggle and work my way through Moby Dick will be a lesson they will remember. I kept at it until I finished that hard task and survived the experience.
[Tweet “Sometimes you have to keep at unpleasant tasks until they are done, do it, you will be better for the experience.”]
It is sensational to look at a classic book like Herman Mellville’s Moby Dick and learn that sometimes stuff is hard, so suck it up buttercup. So the question for you this sensational day is what hard stuff are you refusing to quit doing?
If you want to read more articles on books and why you should suck it up and move, check out the following.
Books- Spring Into Reading a Classic – Sherlock Holmes
I enjoy reading classic books because I enjoy the rich and varied vocabulary I often find. It is indeed sensational to read an old classic story with new eyes. So the question for you this terrific day is, what classic story from your younger days would you like to check out again as an adult?
Suck it Up and Move: Stop Refusing to Take Action Now
It is magnificent to suck it up and move so that you can stop refusing to take action now. It is a well-known fact that in order to succeed at any venture there comes a point in time where one must spring into action in the face of fear. It is a good thing to set goals, make plans and dream the big dreams. These are activities that we all engage in and should engage in from time to time. However, we must go from planning and dreaming to actually doing. To reach our goals, we must take action now.
Moby Dick or Why Not Every Classic is Good for You
It is not always sensational to read an old classic. Many of the people reading this blog read Herman Melville’s Moby Dick at one point or another during the course of their time at school. There are others like me, who did not read the book in school and then as an adult began reading all the classics they felt they missed along the way. I have a collection of several hundred classic books on my Kindle 3G so I decided to check out Moby Dick.