Way back in high school, I was assigned a project on the classic tome, Moby Dick. I admit, I struggled with it. I realize the novel is highly regarded by many, but to 16-year-old me, it was too long and too boring. I made a valiant effort to read the entire thing, but in the end, I enlisted the help of Cliff (he of Cliff’s Notes fame) to help me complete my paper. And then I did my best to put Ahab, Ishmael, and the white whale behind me.

So imagine my surprise when C. announced that he was borrowing Moby Dick from his 4th-grade teacher and reading it during class free time.

Today, I’m pleased to join the Kids’ Picks carnival hosted by 5 Minutes for Books, by sharing with you an interview C. granted Callapidder Days regarding his reading of this classic Melville novel.

So C., what inspired you to pick up a copy of Moby Dick?

I had heard about it from Mom, and I knew it was a somewhat famous and well-known book, so when I saw it in the back of my classroom, I thought it would be interesting to read that book in my spare time to see what it was about.

Did you have any idea what the book was about before you started it?

I knew that there was a captain of a ship who was pursuing a whale (this whale being Moby Dick), but that was all I knew about it.

Is the book you’re reading the ‘real’ Moby Dick, the one your mom couldn’t get through?

No. It is simplified to a much smaller book, about the size of my hand and it doesn’t have the extra detail that made it (according to Mom) hard to read .

So how many pages does this version have?

I’m not sure how many, but I’m on the 162nd page and from what it looks like on the top, I couldn’t have more than 50 pages left.

210 pages. That’s still impressive. Do you usually read books this long?

My books normally vary from 200 to about 500 pages. My very common books tend to hit in the 300s, so this book is not tremendously, but slightly, short for me.

So, what do you think of Moby Dick so far?

So far, I think it is a very exciting and hard-to-look-up-from kind of book.

Are you serious? What’s so exciting about it?

The basic idea of Ishmael’s trip on the whaling ship is just quite exciting in all that happens.

What do you think of Captain Ahab?

I think that his only concern is to have Moby Dick killed, which is most likely why he’s still in the whaling industry. I think he thinks of himself not as much as the captain of a whaling ship, but rather as an old seaman trying to get revenge on a whale that supposedly “took his life.”

How did the whale take his life?

In his tales of former encounters with Moby Dick, he has said that he will be ruined until he finally gets revenge on Moby Dick. The whale took his leg and caused many other injuries and fate to crew members.

Do you think Ahab will be successful?

Because there is so little to give me a hint on how the story will end, I cannot say for certain, but from what I know about how books usually go, I have a feeling that there is probably a 57% chance that Ahab will not kill Moby Dick and a 43% chance that perhaps he will.

What do you think of the fact that your mom had a rough time getting through Moby Dick when she was in high school and had to use the Cliff’s Notes to help her write her paper?

I think that, for that copy (the one she had to read), Cliff’s Notes could come in handy, but I’m enjoying this rather simplified copy. It’s much easier to read and if I happen to have a chance to pick up Cliff’s Notes, I don’t think I’ll have a need to.

Are you interested in reading more classics like Moby Dick in the future?

Well, yes. I like reading classic books that I’ve heard about and think would be interesting.

What book is next for you?

At school, I have been reading Moby Dick, but at home, I’m reading The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Voyage (not a whaling voyage, mind you), but my next book at home will probably be Around the World in 80 Days, a book that I got a while ago and have not yet read. It is another classic, a hardcover, from the same publishers that made the version of Moby Dick that I’m reading.

Thank you, C.. We appreciate your time and your willingness to share your thoughts with us.

Editor’s Note: C. has read one other “simplified” classic recently: War of the Worlds. These are all books from the “Great Illustrated Classics” series. While kind of pricey on Amazon.com, I’ve found these books for just a couple dollars at Michael’s craft stores. I think they do a good job making some classic books accessible to a younger set of readers.