cresswga says:
I finished the book on Friday and then watched the movie last night. I had always thought the movie was held in high regard and considered faithful and so I was very surprised at how much they changed the text.

Ahab became obsessed with Moby Dick to the point where he did not care about hunting other whales. Starbuck tried to talk the other officers into mutiny. Queequeg requested the coffin be built after foreseeing his death.

The biggest change that surprised me was Ahab's death. The ending was one of the few things I remembered from seeing the movie as a child with Ahab's body lashed to the side of Moby Dick. By contrast the ending of the book seemed almost rushed and anti-climactic.

I appreciate that the book was very hard to adapt and the film did capture a lot of the tone but it just made me wonder if all of the people who thought the film was a good adaptation had ever read the book...