Coupled with the absorbing, mad Captain Ahab, the book is " a good read" even by 20th century standards.

加上深具魅力的疯狂船长艾哈伯，这本书即使以20世纪的标准来看也是一本“好书”。

How much and how well you deal with those years will have a lot to do with the level of success your story achieves, with whether readers think of it as “a good read” or “a big fat bore.”

至于要交代多少，交代得多好，很大程度上就可以决定你故事的成功与否，读者也许会认为这故事“值得一读" ，也许会说它“又臭又长" 。