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Right now I am about three quarters of the way through. Having checked out the one and two star reviews, I think it's funny (hilarious even) that the things that many of those reviews pointed out as annoying about the book are the things I loved. I also think it's funny (stupendously so) that many of those who expressed their dislike of the book did so in as long-winded and tedious (to the point of boring) way as anything in this book that they found long-winded, tedious and boring. That's amusingly ironic.

Melville's language is incredibly verbose, even for nineteenth century standards, and there are many digressions. If you don't like long sentences and digressions, don't read it. I'll admit that it wasn't always easy going, and sometimes I did have trouble focusing, but it was also incredibly challenging (in a good way, and also the structure of the book was unlike anything I have encountered.

My favorite aspect of the book was the language. Melville seems to revel in the language, and Ishmael is such a strongly defined character. The whole tone is so briskly American, so alive and vibrant, that I was drawn in simply by the sheer inventiveness of the language.