Moby Dick, where does it stand?

I'm reading Moby Dick, I'm halfway through. I've read quite a lot of classical literature and I'm in turn also making way through the list of another thread on this forum which voted for the best classical literature of each given time period.

Moby Dick, although often being hailed as one of the best ever written was not on this list. It was beaten specifically by War and Peace, and even if you adjusted the time periods slightly it would be against The Count of Monty Cristo which on this sub I'm not sure can be beaten.

Given the reputation of this book I'm wondering how this sub Reddit would rank the following 6 books, given the massive hard-on Ive seen for these specific books browsing the sub the past year.

East of Eden

The Count of Monte Cristo

Moby Dick

War and Peace

100 Years of Solitude

The Metamorphosis

The previous best of each time thread was missing two of these, and these are the two Ive yet to fully read. Those being East of Eden(beaten by The Fellowship of the Ring/the whole series) and Moby Dick previously mentioned.

If rank my 4 that I've finished as follows:

  1. The Count of Monte Cristo

  2. The Metamorphosis

  3. War and Peace

  4. 100 Years of Solitude

If forced right now (half way through the book) id put Moby Dick 4th and push 100 Years of Solitude lower. And given I've read 2 other Steinbeck books in guessing Easy of Eden would end up in the number 3 spot but who knows for that one.

Posted Jul 13, 2026, 10:49 AM UTC

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