>>Realize, the book was written in 1851 so stylistic and narrative styles are different from our own but fuckin' A! The Scarlet Letter , which opens with the longest run-on sentence in the history of American Literature, is almost 100 years older than Moby Dick, yet still manages to be more comprehensible and interesting.<<

Getting back to back to Moby Dick...

Which run-on sentence in The Scarlet Letter were you referring to? The one at the start of The Custom House or the one at the start of The Scarlet Letter proper? Neither seems to me to be especially long run-on sentences.

Also, the Scarlet Letter isn't 100 years before Moby Dick. It's 1 year before:

Scarlet Letter - 1850
Moby Dick - 1851