Moby-Dick (Bantam Classics)
I read this years ago when I had neither the experience of life or literature to have a clue what I was reading. This time round, I read it very much as an allegory about power and knowledge with the essential question being *why* does Ishmael alone survive of the Pequod's crew. And I think it comes down to Ishmael's willingness to understand the whale, not just as a symbol, but in all the aspects of his reality. The same could be said for his understanding of Ahab.