I purchased a used copy of Moby Dick and saved it for my summer read some time ago. This summer I tackled the behemoth. Originally published in 1851 (175 years ago), the language is definitely different but not that difficult to read.
The structure of the book, very short chapters, makes it an enjoyable read. I went into this book expecting a simple narrative structure and was surprised that half of the chapters were detailed accounts on how whaling was performed back in the day.