Herman Melville
Список книг автора Herman MelvilleI and My Chimney
I and My Chimney by Herman Melville
libreka classics – These are classics of literary history, reissued and made available to a wide audience. Immerse yourself in well-known and popular titles!
Benito Cereno & Bartleby
"Bartleby, the Scrivener" – An elderly Manhattan lawyer with a comfortable business in legal documents has two scriveners employed, but an increase in business leads him to advertise for a third. He hires the forlorn-looking Bartleby in the hope that his calmness will soothe the irascible temperaments of the other two. An office boy nicknamed Ginger Nut completes the staff. At first, Bartleby produces a large volume of high-quality work, but one day, when asked to help proofread a document, Bartleby answers with what soon becomes his perpetual response to every request: «I would prefer not to.» "Benito Cereno" is a tale about the revolt on a Spanish slave ship captained by Don Benito Cereno. In 1799 off the coast of Chile, Captain Amasa Delano of the American sealer and merchant ship Bachelor's Delight visits the San Dominick, a Spanish slave ship apparently in distress. After learning from its captain Benito Cereno that a storm has taken many crewmembers and provisions, Delano offers to help out. He notices that Cereno acts awkwardly passive for a captain and the slaves display remarkably inappropriate behavior, and though this piques his suspicion he ultimately decides he is being paranoid. When he leaves the San Dominick and captain Cereno jumps after him, he finally discovers that the slaves have taken command of the ship, and forced the surviving crew to act as usual.
The Encantadas
"The Encantadas" by Herman Melville. Published by Good Press. Good Press publishes a wide range of titles that encompasses every genre. From well-known classics & literary fiction and non-fiction to forgotten−or yet undiscovered gems−of world literature, we issue the books that need to be read. Each Good Press edition has been meticulously edited and formatted to boost readability for all e-readers and devices. Our goal is to produce eBooks that are user-friendly and accessible to everyone in a high-quality digital format.
Moby Dick
A masterpiece of storytelling, this epic saga pits Ahab, a brooding and fantastical sea captain, against the great white whale that crippled him. In telling the tale of Ahab's passion for revenge and the fateful voyage that ensued, Melville produced far more than the narrative of a hair-raising journey; Moby-Dick is a tale for the ages that sounds the deepest depths of the human soul. Interspersed with graphic sketches of life aboard a whaling vessel, and a wealth of information on whales and 19th-century whaling, Melville's greatest work presents an imaginative and thrilling picture of life at sea, as well as a portrait of heroic determination. The author's keen powers of observation and firsthand knowledge of shipboard life (he served aboard a whaler himself) were key ingredients in crafting a maritime story that dramatically examines the conflict between man and nature. "A valuable addition to the literature of the day," said American journalist Horace Greeley on the publication of Moby-Dick in 1851 – a classic piece of understatement about a literary classic now considered by many as «the great American novel.» Read and pondered by generations, the novel remains an unsurpassed account of the ultimate human struggle against the indifference of nature and the awful power of fate.
Israel Potter: His Fifty Years of Exile
"Israel Potter: His Fifty Years of Exile" by Herman Melville. Published by Good Press. Good Press publishes a wide range of titles that encompasses every genre. From well-known classics & literary fiction and non-fiction to forgotten−or yet undiscovered gems−of world literature, we issue the books that need to be read. Each Good Press edition has been meticulously edited and formatted to boost readability for all e-readers and devices. Our goal is to produce eBooks that are user-friendly and accessible to everyone in a high-quality digital format.
Bartleby, el escribiente
Una historia de Wall Street. Ese es el importante subtítulo de esta pequeña pero gran obra de Herman Melville. Leerla es un desborde de emociones contrapuestas que te dejará pensando o todo y nada a la vez, durante varias semanas. Bartleby, uno de los personajes más enigmáticos de la literatura clásica universal, y y con uno de los mensajes más difíciles de descifrar. Varias interpretaciones y estudios literarios lo señalan, desde el precursor del absurdismo kafkiano, hasta como la simple historia de un demente. Sin pasar por alto que Albert Camus lo nombrara como el primer texto existencialista e incluso, el filósofo esloveno Slavoj Žižek propusiera como lema del movimiento Occupy de Wall Street, la frase con la cuál gira todo el relato: «preferiría no hacerlo». La historia de Melville es una lectura indispensable para estos tiempos de modernidad cambiante versus el status quo del ser humano.
Billy Budd (Sea Adventure Classic)
Billy Budd is a seaman impressed into service aboard HMS Bellipotent in the year 1797, when the Royal Navy was reeling from two major mutinies and was threatened by the Revolutionary French Republic's military ambitions. He is impressed to this large warship from another, smaller, merchant ship, The Rights of Man. Billy, a foundling from Bristol, has innocence, good looks and a natural charisma that make him popular with the crew. His only physical defect is a stutter which grows worse when under intense emotion. He arouses the antagonism of the ship's master-at-arms, John Claggart. Claggart, while not unattractive, seems somehow «defective or abnormal in the constitution», possessing a «natural depravity.» Envy is Claggart's explicitly stated emotion toward Budd, foremost because of his «significant personal beauty,» and also for his innocence and general popularity. This leads Claggart to falsely charge Billy with conspiracy to mutiny. When the captain, Edward Fairfax «Starry» Vere, is presented with Claggart's charges, he summons Claggart and Billy to his cabin for a private meeting. Claggart makes his case and Billy, astounded, is unable to respond, due to his stutter. In his extreme frustration he strikes out at Claggart, killing him instantly. Despite Billy's moral innocence, he must face a trial.
