The librarian who insisted I skip the first 50 pages of a classic

Back in 2019, Mrs. Alvarez at the local branch in Tulsa told me to skip the first 50 pages of Moby Dick because the pacing would kill my interest, and she was absolutely right, I got through it in under a week. My book club still argues about whether that's cheating or just smart reading, but honestly, I've used that trick on three other doorstoppers since. Has anyone else gotten advice from a librarian or teacher that totally changed how you approach a book, for better or worse?

2 comments

2 Comments

faithcampbell1mo ago

My librarian once told me to skip the family tree in War and Peace, and now I just do that for every Russian novel, which means I've read maybe 30% of Dostoevsky honestly. That Moby Dick trick sounds solid though, at this point I skip the first 50 pages of everything and then wonder why the plot makes no sense.

adam_patel1mo ago

The first fifty pages trick only works for books where nothing happens, so you gotta pick your battles. For Dostoevsky I just read the last fifty pages first, that way I know who ends up crazy and can skim the middle without feeling lost. Moby Dick is the exception, you actually need the whale facts or the big chase scene hits weird. The real move is reading chapter summaries online before you start, then you can skip the boring parts and still look smart at book club.