> Moby-Dick remains perhaps the best reading experience of my life.
I sometimes half-jokingly maintain that Moby-Dick was really written as part of an early BOOK-IT [1] reading incentive program to improve literacy among whalers by disguising a novel as a cetological guidebook.
There are entire chapters devoted to the harpooning process, sperm whale anatomy, maritime legal disputes over whale harvesting, etc.
Both Billy Bud and Bartleby are very focused on the human drama. If you are more interested in the sea rather, I'd suggest Typee and its follow up Omoo.
I sometimes half-jokingly maintain that Moby-Dick was really written as part of an early BOOK-IT [1] reading incentive program to improve literacy among whalers by disguising a novel as a cetological guidebook.
There are entire chapters devoted to the harpooning process, sperm whale anatomy, maritime legal disputes over whale harvesting, etc.
[1] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pizza_Hut#Book_It!