Why is it so bloody awesome? I loved Ahab’s final moments, the realisation of Fedallah’s prophecy, the imagery of the rapidly sinking Pequod and then Ismael’s survival in the epilogue is soooo good. I was grinning cheek to cheek when I read the references to the coffin life buoy!
It just felt so beautifully tied together, and more satisfying than any other ending I’ve read in the last however many years.