Awhile ago I downloaded several books including things like War & Peace, Sense & Sensibilities, Ulysses etc.
Some of them are quite thick, and I am wondering if I mostly did so to seem intelligent or smart on some subconscious level.
Have any of you gotten enjoyment or insight from any of these kinds of books? or is it just society and schooling that are telling me these are "good."?
Although I'd agree that it's overrated, I found 1984 changing in that I became interested how language is used to form opinions and how it reflects the culture that uses it. Since I was a teenager reading it and hadn't come across anything of the sort, such a "revelation" isn't that surprising.
But I'd be interested in how Moby Dick affected you. (Since I assume it didn't have such an obvious aha-moment)