Moby-Dick; or, The Whale - Herman Melville

I won't claim that it is an easy read or that I have absorbed all the juice the book has, but even without understanding every word, there is a kind of music that you waltz into as you read. Ishmael's rethoric is powerful indeed. There are two themes in the book, the story of Ahab's obsession and a rigorous essay on what whaling was like in those days.