Adventures in literature: what's with all the big words?

[substitute]

do_not_lick reminded me of a favorite Internet book reviewer, and linked me to two of his critical pieces I had not seen.

1. Moby-Dick "The plot could be wholly told in about 15 pages, none ommitted. The rest is philosophy and whale-encyclopedia."
   
   
2. Mrs. Dalloway "Just WTF is this book about ? Making fun of the London "drawing rooms" society of 100 years ago ? M...kay, whatever."
   
   
3. The Odyssey "The style is heavy, but there's no other way out, I guess. They spake (hehe...) this way back then..."