Best Selling Books by Herman Melville

"It''s a source of bafflement to me that Bartleby the Scrivener is not the most famous and celebrated book by Herman Melville. It''s a flawless and ambiguous work of art." -Sophie Hannah; The Independent Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street (1853) is a short story by the American writer Herman Melville. In the story, a Wall Street lawyer hires a new clerk who, after an initial bout of hard work, refuses to make copies or do any other task required of him, with the words "I would prefer not to." Numerous critical essays have been published about the story, which scholar Robert Milder describes as "unquestionably the masterpiece of the short fiction" in the Melville canon. Also included in this book is Benito Cereno (1855), another short story by Herman Melville, a fictionalized account about the revolt on a Spanish slave ship captained by Don Benito Cereno. Two Classic Melville Stories that Belong on Every Bookshelf!

At the period just preceding the advent of Bartleby, I had two persons as copyists in my employment, and a promising lad as an office-boy. First, Turkey; second, Nippers; third, Ginger Nut. These may seem names, the like of which are not usually found in the Directory. In truth they were nicknames, mutually conferred upon each other by my three clerks, and were deemed expressive of their respective persons or characters.The narrator, an elderly lawyer who has a very comfortable business helping wealthy men deal with mortgages, title deeds, and bonds, relates the story of the strangest man he has ever known.The narrator already employs two scriveners, Nippers and Turkey. Nippers suffers from chronic indigestion, and Turkey is a drunk, but the office survives because in the mornings Turkey is sober even though Nippers is irritable, and in the afternoon Nippers has calmed down even though Turkey is drunk.

This story, in its most basic, stripped-down form, is a simple one: a successful lawyer, in need of assistance, hires a new scrivener (a kind of human Xerox machine) to join his small firm. Enter Bartleby, a quiet, initially efficient, anti-social little man. Bartleby proceeds to work well as a copyist, but refuses to help out with any other office tasks - or rather, he simply "prefers" not to. The lawyer and his other employees are shocked, but Bartleby just won''t do what they ask.Bartleby is always in the office, either working or staring out the window at a facing wall, and it turns out that he actually lives in the office. Eventually, this refusal grows more bizarre, when Bartleby announces that he will no longer work as a copyist - but prefers simply to stay in the office and not do any work. Finally, he is firmly asked to leave...but he just doesn''t.Rather than take any more drastic measures to get Bartleby out of his office, the lawyer actually picks up and moves his practice elsewhere. Another practice moves into the building, only to discover that Bartleby is still a fixture there. The new occupants complain to the Narrator, but he tells them the truth - Bartleby isn''t his responsibility. At the end of their rope, the new occupants have the police arrest Bartleby. The story concludes with Bartleby in prison. He prefers not to do anything there, either, and even prefers not to eat. The Narrator goes to visit Bartleby, but unsurprisingly, he can''t get through to the strange scrivener. Eventually, Bartleby wastes away and starves to death, leaving only the Narrator to mourn him.As a rather odd end note, the narrator informs us that Bartleby previously worked as a clerk in an obscure branch of the Post Office known as the Dead Letter Office, sorting through undeliverable mail. We have to wonder what kind of effect these "dead" letters must have had on his psyche. But still, Bartleby is a mystery left unsolved.

Explore the enigmatic world of Wall Street with "Bartleby The Scrivener: A Story Of Wall-Street" by Herman Melville. Delve into the intricacies of corporate life and human nature as you follow the mysterious tale of Bartleby, a scrivener whose quiet defiance challenges the norms of society. But amidst the hustle and bustle of Wall Street, what truths will Bartleby''s silence reveal? In this thought-provoking story, Herman Melville paints a vivid portrait of conformity, alienation, and the search for meaning in a capitalist world. Through Bartleby''s enigmatic character, readers are forced to confront uncomfortable questions about identity, autonomy, and the nature of work. Are you ready to peer into the heart of darkness that lies beneath the veneer of corporate America? Will you dare to grapple with the existential dilemmas that Bartleby''s story poses? Experience the timeless relevance of "Bartleby The Scrivener." Purchase your copy today and embark on a journey of self-discovery and introspection.

"Je préférerais ne pas", telle est la réponse irrévocable et universelle de Bartleby, commis aux écritures dans un cabinet de Wall Street. Cette résistance absolue le conduit doucement à l''isolement le plus total. Une nouvelle traduction qui met en valeur l''humour d''H. Melville (1819-1891)

Moby-Dick; or, The Whale (1851) is a novel by Herman Melville considered an outstanding work of Romanticism and the American Renaissance. Ishmael narrates the monomaniacal quest of Ahab, captain of the whaler Pequod, for revenge on Moby Dick, a white whale which on a previous voyage destroyed Ahab''s ship and severed his leg at the knee. Matte Cover 8.5x11'' (Large Print)

"How to recognize which books should read.The classic means forever then the classic books mean eternity."Good friends, good books and a cup of tea", this is my idea life. And You?"

The writing career of Herman Melville (1819 - 1891) peaked early, with his early novels, such as Typee becoming best sellers. By the mid-1850s his poularity declined sharply, and by the time he died he had been largely forgotten. Yet in time his novel Moby Dick came to be regarded as one of the finest works of American, and indeed world, literature, as was Billy Budd, which was not published until long after his death, in 1924.

Moby-Dick; or, The Whale is a novel by American writer Herman Melville, published in 1851 during the period of the American Renaissance. Sailor Ishmael tells the story of the obsessive quest of Ahab, captain of the whaler the Pequod, for revenge on Moby Dick, the white whale that on the previous whaling voyage bit off Ahab''s leg at the knee. The novel was a commercial failure and out of print at the time of the author''s death in 1891, but during the 20th century, its reputation as a Great American Novel was established...Summary : Ishmael travels in December from Manhattan Island to New Bedford with plans to sign up for a whaling voyage. The inn where he arrives is so crowded, he must share a bed with the tattooed Polynesian Queequeg, a harpooneer whose father was king of the (fictional) island of Rokovoko. The next morning, Ishmael and Queequeg attend Father Mapple''s sermon on Jonah, then head for Nantucket. Ishmael signs up with the Quaker ship-owners Bildad and Peleg for a voyage on their whaler Pequod. Peleg describes Captain Ahab: "He''s a grand, ungodly, god-like man" who nevertheless "has his humanities". They hire Queequeg the following morning. A man named Elijah prophesies a dire fate should Ishmael and Queequeg join Ahab. While provisions are loaded, shadowy figures board the ship. On a cold Christmas Day, the Pequod leaves the harbor.Ishmael discusses cetology (the zoological classification and natural history of the whale), and describes the crew members. The chief mate is 30-year-old Starbuck, a Nantucket Quaker with a realist mentality, whose harpooneer is Queequeg; second mate is Stubb, from Cape Cod, happy-go-lucky and cheerful, whose harpooneer is Tashtego, a proud, pure-blooded Indian from Gay Head, and the third mate is Flask, from Martha''s Vineyard, short, stout...Extrait : I stuffed a shirt or two into my old carpet-bag, tucked it under my arm, and started for Cape Horn and the Pacific. Quitting the good city of old Manhatto, I duly arrived in New Bedford. It was a Saturday night in December. Much was I disappointed upon learning that the little packet for Nantucket had already sailed, and that no way of reaching that place would offer, till the following Monday.As most young candidates for the pains and penalties of whaling stop at this same New Bedford, thence to embark on their voyage, it may as well be related that I, for one, had no idea of so doing. For my mind was made up to sail in no other than a Nantucket craft, because there was a fine, boisterous something about everything connected with that famous old island, which amazingly pleased me. Besides though New Bedford has of late been gradually monopolising the business of whaling, and though in this matter poor old Nantucket is now much behind her, yet Nantucket was her great original--the Tyre of this Carthage;--the place where the first dead American whale was stranded. Where else but from Nantucket did those aboriginal whalemen, the Red-Men, first sally out in canoes to give chase to the Leviathan? And where but from Nantucket, too, did that first adventurous little sloop put forth, partly laden with imported cobblestones--so goes the story--to throw at the whales, in order to discover when they were nigh enough to risk a harpoon from the bowsprit ?Biography : Herman Melville (August 1, 1819 - September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet of the American Renaissance period. His best known works include Typee (1846), a romantic account of his experiences in Polynesian life, and his whaling novel Moby-Dick (1851). His work was almost forgotten during his last thirty years. His writing draws on his experience at sea as a common sailor, exploration of literature and philosophy, and engagement in the contradictions of American society in a period of rapid change. He developed a complex, baroque style...

Moby-Dick; or, The Whale is an 1851 novel by American writer Herman Melville. The book is the sailor Ishmael''s narrative of the obsessive quest of Ahab, captain of the whaling ship Pequod, for revenge on Moby Dick, the giant white sperm whale that on the ship''s previous voyage bit off Ahab''s leg at the knee. A contribution to the literature of the American Renaissance, Moby-Dick was published to mixed reviews, was a commercial failure, and was out of print at the time of the author''s death in 1891. Its reputation as a "Great American Novel" was established only in the 20th century, after the centennial of its author''s birth. William Faulkner said he wished he had written the book himself, [1] and D. H. Lawrence called it "one of the strangest and most wonderful books in the world" and "the greatest book of the sea ever written".[2] Its opening sentence, "Call me Ishmael", is among world literature''s most famous. Melville began writing Moby-Dick in February 1850, and finished 18 months later, a year longer than he had anticipated. Melville drew on his experience as a common sailor from 1841 to 1844, including several years on whalers, and on wide reading in whaling literature. The white whale is modeled on the notoriously hard-to-catch albino whale Mocha Dick, and the book''s ending is based on the sinking of the whaleship Essex in 1820. His literary influences include Shakespeare and the Bible. The detailed and realistic descriptions of whale hunting and of extracting whale oil, as well as life aboard ship among a culturally diverse crew, are mixed with exploration of class and social status, good and evil, and the existence of God. In addition to narrative prose, Melville uses styles and literary devices ranging from songs, poetry, and catalogs to Shakespearean stage directions, soliloquies, and asides. In August 1850, with the manuscript perhaps half finished, he met Nathaniel Hawthorne and was deeply moved by his Mosses from an Old Manse, which he compared to Shakespeare in its cosmic ambitions. This encounter may have inspired him to revise and expand Moby-Dick, which is dedicated to Hawthorne, "in token of my admiration for his genius".

Bartleby is a kind of clerk, a copyist, "who obstinately refuses to go on doing the sort of writing demanded of him." During the spring of 1851, Melville felt similarly about his work on Moby Dick. Thus, Bartleby can be seen to represent Melville''s frustration with his own situation as a writer, and the story itself is "about a writer who forsakes conventional modes because of an irresistible preoccupation with the most baffling philosophical questions." Bartleby can also be seen to represent Melville''s relation to his commercial, democratic society.Bartleby is a kind of clerk, a copyist, "who obstinately refuses to go on doing the sort of writing demanded of him." During the spring of 1851, Melville felt similarly about his work on Moby Dick. Thus, Bartleby can be seen to represent Melville''s frustration with his own situation as a writer, and the story itself is "about a writer who forsakes conventional modes because of an irresistible preoccupation with the most baffling philosophical questions." Bartleby can also be seen to represent Melville''s relation to his commercial, democratic society.

This premium quality large print edition contains the complete and unabridged original classic version of Moby Dick, printed on heavyweight, bright white paper in a large 7.44"x9.69" format, with a fully laminated full-color cover featuring an original design. Also included is an original introductory essay discussing the life and work of Herman Melville and the history and significance of Moby Dick, providing the modern reader with useful background information to enhance the enjoyment of this classic novel. Herman Melville is known today primarily for his iconic whaling novel, Moby Dick (1851), the story of the struggle between Captain Ahab and "the great white whale," which appears on many lists of "greatest books ever written" and is considered an essential part of the Western Canon. Ironically, when the novel was published it was a monumental flop and signaled the end of Melvilles''s career as a novelist. One theory is that the omission of the epilogue from the first printing left the book open to ridicule as a first-person narrative in which the narrator did not survive to tell the tale. He published several more novels, all without success, and in 1866 he became a New York customs inspector, all but forgotten for the next fifty years. It was not until the rise of the modernist movement that Moby Dick was recognized as a great literary classic. What once were regarded as serious flaws came to be viewed as literary innovations. Moby Dick went from being criticized as undisciplined and poorly crafted to being hailed as "ahead of its time" and "visionary." For the modern reader, the complex analytical theories behind Moby Dick may get in the way of enjoying the novel for its own sake. Taking Moby Dick at face value, it is an interesting tale, rich with diverse characters and evocative themes like friendship, class and social status, good and evil, isolation and community, the existence of God, obsession and human perception. A vivid depiction of life aboard ship in the nineteenth century it is perhaps the most detailed and accessible existing picture of what was, for a time, the richest industry in the United States. If at times the text seems stilted or antiquated, as might be expected from any work from this era, it is equally true that at times the text attains a soaring, almost lyric tone. The most casual reader cannot fail to appreciate the unforgettable characters, compelling storyline and vivid depictions of whales, whalers and whaling, and the obsession-driven quest after the great white whale upon which Ahab leads, and the crew follows, to their doom. And this, without anything more, makes Moby Dick essential reading. Herman Melville (1819-1891) was an author of the American Renaissance, or Romantic, period. Born in New York City, he was the third child of a successful merchant. He worked as a schoolteacher before going to sea for the first time in 1839. Serving on a whaler in 1842, he jumped ship and spent a month living among South Pacific islanders. His first novel, "Typee" (1846), a bestseller, was based in part on his experiences in the South Pacific as was the successful sequel, "Omoo" (1847). The same year Melville, now a successful novelist, married Elizabeth Knapp Shaw. They would have four children between 1849 and 1855. "Mardi" and "Redburn", both published in 1849, met with limited success. "Mardi" in particular was criticized as so thematically dense as to be incomprehensible. "White-Jacket" (1850), based on Melville''s brief service in the U.S. Navy, was his most influential work during his lifetime, with graphic descriptions of flogging that led directly to banning the practice on naval vessels. Moby Dick and several additional failed novels and poetry collections followed. Melville sank into obscurity and died in 1891, about 20 years before Moby Dick was recognized as a literary classic.

Call me Ishmael. Some years ago-never mind how long precisely-having little or no money in my purse, and nothing particular to interest me on shore, I thought I would sail about a little and see the watery part of the world. It is a way I have of driving off the spleen and regulating the circulation. Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul; whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses, and bringing up the rear of every funeral I meet; and especially whenever my hypos get such an upper hand of me, that it requires a strong moral principle to prevent me from deliberately stepping into the street, and methodically knocking people''s hats off-then, I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can. This is my substitute for pistol and ball. With a philosophical flourish Cato throws himself upon his sword; I quietly take to the ship. There is nothing surprising in this. If they but knew it, almost all men in their degree, some time or other, cherish very nearly the same feelings towards the ocean with me.There now is your insular city of the Manhattoes, belted round by wharves as Indian isles by coral reefs-commerce surrounds it with her surf. Right and left, the streets take you waterward. Its extreme downtown is the battery, where that noble mole is washed by waves, and cooled by breezes, which a few hours previous were out of sight of land. Look at the crowds of water-gazers there.Circumambulate the city of a dreamy Sabbath afternoon. Go from Corlears Hook to Coenties Slip, and from thence, by Whitehall, northward. What do you see?-Posted like silent sentinels all around the town, stand thousands upon thousands of mortal men fixed in ocean reveries. Some leaning against the spiles; some seated upon the pier-heads; some looking over the bulwarks of ships from China; some high aloft in the rigging, as if striving to get a still better seaward peep. But these are all landsmen; of week days pent up in lath and plaster-tied to counters, nailed to benches, clinched to desks. How then is this? Are the green fields gone? What do they here?But look! here come more crowds, pacing straight for the water, and seemingly bound for a dive. Strange! Nothing will content them but the extremest limit of the land; loitering under the shady lee of yonder warehouses will not suffice. No. They must get just as nigh the water as they possibly can without falling in. And there they stand-miles of them-leagues. Inlanders all, they come from lanes and alleys, streets and avenues-north, east, south, and west. Yet here they all unite. Tell me, does the magnetic virtue of the needles of the compasses of all those ships attract them thither?Once more. Say you are in the country; in some high land of lakes. Take almost any path you please, and ten to one it carries you down in a dale, and leaves you there by a pool in the stream. There is magic in it. Let the most absent-minded of men be plunged in his deepest reveries-stand that man on his legs, set his feet a-going, and he will infallibly lead you to water, if water there be in all that region. Should you ever be athirst in the great American desert, try this experiment, if your caravan happen to be supplied with a metaphysical professor. Yes, as every one knows, meditation and water are wedded for ever.But here is an artist. He desires to paint you the dreamiest, shadiest, quietest, most enchanting bit of romantic landscape in all the valley of the Saco. What is the chief element he employs? There stand his trees, each with a hollow trunk, as if a hermit and a crucifix were within; and here sleeps his meadow, and there sleep his cattle; and up from yonder cottage goes a sleepy smoke. Deep into distant woodlands winds a mazy way, reaching to overlapping spurs of mountains bathed in their hill-side blue.

Moby Dick; Or, The Whale A tragic tale of obsession and revenge set against the unforgiving sea, Herman Melville''s MOBY-DICK has now been expertly edited and generously illustrated for the twenty-first-century reader. Here are the mad whaling captain Ahab, the all-observant narrator Ishmael, and the mysterious, invincible white whale himself, and here are scenes of peril and carnage, nobility and redemption - presented in Melville''s original language, threaded together with passages of summary by renowned author Jan Needle. Lavish artwork by Patrick Benson, one of the finest children''s illustrators working today, captures the timeless spirit of this extraordinary classic.