Herman Melville
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English
Description
"Once the most popular of Melville's works, Typee was known as a travelogue that idealized and romanticized a mysterious South Sea island for readers in the ruthless, industrial, "civilized" world of the nineteenth century. But Melville's story of Tommo, the yankee sailor who enters the flawed Pacific paradise of Nuku Hiva, is also a fast-moving adventure tale, an autobiographical account of the author's own Polynesian stay, an examination of good...
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English
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Description
A classic of the sea, telling of the pursuit of Moby Dick, the white whale who defied capture. October 18th, 2001, marks the 150th anniversary of the publication of the greatest novel in American literature. The Modern Library trade paperback edition exclusively features the timeless illustrations of Rockwell Kent, an Introduction by Elizabeth Hardwick, commentary by Herman Melville and William T. Porter, contemporary reviews from John Bull and The...
4) Moby Dick
Author
Language
English
Appears on these lists
American Classics (SCPL)
OBD Adult New Classics
OBD Audiobook Classics - Adult
OBD National Ocean Month - Adult (June)
OBD Adult New Classics
OBD Audiobook Classics - Adult
OBD National Ocean Month - Adult (June)
Description
A masterpiece of storytelling, this epic saga pits Ahab, a brooding and fanatical 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,...
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English
Description
Long before penning Moby-Dick, which many regard as the quintessential American novel, author Herman Melville was captivated by life on the open sea. White Jacket adopts a different perspective, focusing on the brutal treatment that many sailors received at the hands of their superiors. In particular, it has been noted that this novel proved to be instrumental in banning the practice of flogging in several branches of the U.S. military.
...Author
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English
Description
In this new reprint of the six stories that comprised the 1856 edition of The Piazza Tales, the editors of the acclaimed Northwestern-Newberry Edition of the Writings of Herman Melville have used the original magazine versions for five of the six stories in order to present the most accurate texts of these works. Here, in such famous stories as "Bartleby, the Scrivener" and "The Encantadas, or Enchanted Isles," we find Melville's imagination and style...
7) Moby Dick
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Series
Language
Español
Description
"El capitán Ahab sólo tiene un pensamiento: encontrar a Moby Dick, el gigantesco cachalote que aún persigue sus sueños años después de su primer encuentro. Con este único propósito en mente, navegará con su barco y su tripulación a través de las turbulentas aguas del océano ¡para librar la batalla final! Uno de los clásicos del mundo se reinterpreta en las páginas de este libro, perfectamente adaptado para jóvenes lectores que buscan...
Author
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English
Appears on list
Description
Early American writer Herman Melville is best known for his great American novel "Moby Dick." However, Melville was also a prolific and honest short story writer. His stories play with irony, twisting the fates of his protagonists and making sure that the reader is left with a deep sense of wonder and enlightenment. Many of his works are set from an "outsider's" perspective of immigrants in early America, which is interesting considering that Melville...
9) Typee
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Series
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English
Appears on list
Description
This Classroom Edition of Melville's classic first novel contains questions for discussion to help students with reading comprehension, critical thinking, and a close reading of the text."Melville has the strange, uncanny magic of sea-creatures, and some of their repulsiveness. He isn't quite a land animal. There is something slithery about him. Something always half-seas-over. In his life they said he was mad - or crazy. He was neither mad nor crazy....
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Library of America volume 1
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English
Description
"These three early novels are stirring romances of the South Seas; many of these fictional details resemble some of the events in Melville's own life in the early 1840s"--Jacket.
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Series
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English
Description
"Based on the life of an actual soldier who claimed to have fought at Bunker Hill, Israel Potter is unique among Herman Melville's books: It is a novel in the guise of a biography. In telling the story of Israel Potter's fall from Revolutionary War hero to peddler on the streets of London, Melville alternated between invented scenes and historical episodes, granting cameos to such famous men of the era as Benjamin Franklin (Potter may have been his...
13) Billy Budd
Author
Language
English
Description
Billy, a foundling from Bristol, has an 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...
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Series
Library of America volume 24
Language
English
Description
The library of America is dedicated to publishing America's best and most significant writing in handsome, enduring volumes, featuring authoritative texts. Hailed as the "finest-looking, longest-lasting editions ever made" (The New Republic), Library of America volumes make a fine gift for any occasion. Now, with exactly one hundred volumes to choose from, there is a perfect gift for everyone.
16) Selected poems
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Series
Language
English
Description
While best known for novels like his monumental Moby-Dick, Herman Melville was also an extraordinarily gifted poet. This is the most comprehensive single-volume collection of his poetry available. It features a large selection from Battle-Pieces and Aspects of the War, along with Melville's own notes and prose supplement; cantos from all four books of Clarel: A Poem and Pilgrimage in the Holy Land; selections from Melville's later books, Timoleon,...
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English
Description
Beautifully designed, classic edition of Melville's original tale...discovered unfinished in the author's desk shortly after his death. Billy Budd, a cheerful, good looking sailor with a natural charisma and innocence that makes him popular with the crew, is aboard a British ship during the Napoleonic wars. His only physical defect is a stutter which grows worse when under intense stress. Budd arouses the antagonism of the ship's bitter master-at-arms,...
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English
Description
In Manhattan, an elderly lawyer's business is growing. Having two scriveners in his employ, the lawyer advertises for a third to meet demand. Enter Bartleby, a glum albeit quality scrivener. However, the lawyer quickly discovers that something is off with his new employee. When asked to perform any duties outside of copying, Bartleby responds with a canned I would prefer not to. Soon Bartleby is living at the office and performing less and less at...
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English
Description
Widely believed to be among Melville's most popular works, "Redburn, His First Voyage" follows the young Wellingborough Redburn on his first journey at sea. A boy just on the verge of manhood, Redburn's decision to become a sailor is apparently at odds with his gentle upbringing, which has made him in many ways unprepared for the hardships of his chosen profession. He is unmercifully initiated into the life of a sailor by his fellow crewmen, a trying...
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Language
English
Description
Omoo: A Narrative of the South Seas is the sequel to Melville's Typee, both fictional yet highly autobiographical. The narrator ships on a whaling vessel to Tahiti, where the crew mutinies and are imprisoned. The narrative is full of his observations of the Tahitian customs and way of life. Omoo is based on Melville's experiences in the Society Islands.