Moby-Dick takes over 19 hours to scroll through this tiny GIF

Kamil Sosnierz put Moby-Dick into an animated GIF measuring 88 by 31 pixels. He describes the full file as 4.2 MB and over 19 hours long, which is quite a commitment to a website button. His project dates to 2024, so this particular whale has been swimming around for a while.

The font makes the whole ridiculous undertaking possible. Sosnierz chose Tom Thumb and fitted five rows of 22 characters into that little rectangle. With that little room, choosing a font determines how much of the book you can see at once. I appreciate a design decision you can explain by counting the letters that fit.

Sosnierz used ImageMagick to make the animation, with six seconds between frames. His page includes first-chapter examples to save bandwidth and a separate full-book file. I like that courtesy. You can understand the idea without committing your afternoon, evening and part of tomorrow to reading it at button size.

I’d borrow the constraint for a small creative project. If you’re making something for your own site, a fixed rectangle gives you a concrete problem to solve. A short passage would let you judge the lettering and reading pace before attempting an entire novel. Sosnierz even invites disagreement with his six-second timing, so there’s room to decide what feels comfortable to you.

I’d want playback controls before settling in for a chapter. The tiny book is fun; being able to keep my place would make it easier to read.