/lit/ - Literature

>just read the last few pages of chapter 4 in Portrait of the Artist (the part after he refuses to become a priest and discovers the joy of life again)
>mfw the whole bridge and beach sequence
>mfw now the meta imagery is setting in, too
I feel utterly humbled and amazed. Everyone was hyping Joyce for his prose and up until now I hadn't seen the hype but good God, that was some fucking master work. Every word was relatable and powerful. I don't even know what else I can say about it.

I'm reading Moby-Dick for the first time. Why the fuck did Ishmael need to spend 13 pages classifying different whales? I already know he thinks they're the cat's pajamas. Do I as the reader need any of this information? Is he just showing off?