A $2 library find made me quit an entire classic

I picked up a beat-up copy of Moby Dick from a Little Free Library in Portland last Tuesday, thinking I'd finally tackle it. But I got to chapter 44 and something felt off, so I checked the publication date inside. Turns out it was an abridged version from 1952, missing like 200 pages of the cetology stuff. I mean, I quit not because the book is bad, but because I realized I'd been reading a chopped-up version the whole time, and that just ruined the experience for me. Has anyone else accidentally read an abridged edition and then felt like you couldn't go back to the full one?

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lisa8209d ago

You ever have one of those moments where you find out you've been cheated and suddenly the whole thing tastes wrong? A buddy of mine read The Count of Monte Cristo in high school, thought it was amazing, then ten years later grabbed a used copy and realized his paperback was hacked to pieces. He tried the real version after that and said it felt like watching a movie you loved as a kid, only now it's the director's cut with all the boring parts back in, and you just can't get that first rush back. He still won't touch it, says the full one's too slow now.

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