22 books
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1. Moby d**k
First published as Moby-d**k; or, The Whale in 1851, Herman Melville’s epic tale about obsession and greed shows no signs of losing popularity in the digital age. The book begins as a straightforward narrative in realistic prose. After the first fifteen chapters, it becomes a complex combination of cetology, philosophy, and adventure narrative written in rhapsodic metaphorical style. A profound symbolic study of good and evil, Moby d**k is widely regarded as one of the great American novels. This new digital edition of Moby d**k includes a newly corrected text and an image gallery showcasing original illustrations from early editions of the novel, as well as several portraits of author Melville. "One of the strangest and most wonderful books in the world." - D. H. Lawrence.
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3. Moby d**k or The White Whale
"Moby-d**k or The Whale" is an 1851 novel by American writer Herman Melville. The book is sailor Ishmael's narrative of the obsessive quest of Ahab, captain of the whaling ship Pequod, for revenge on Moby d**k, 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, the work's genre classifications range from late Romantic to early Symbolist. Moby-d**k 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, 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". Its opening sentence, "Call me Ishmael", is among world literature's most famous.
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4. Taïpi
Herman Melville, du haut de ses vingt-cinq ans, nous raconte la rencontre avec un peuple étonnant du Pacifique Nuku-Hiva, une île de l'archipel des Marquises, Pacifique. Deux tribus y vivent, l'une douce et pacifique, l'autre cannibale. Après avoir fui le navire baleinier, deux fugitifs sont recueillis par l'une des tribus. Taïpi est la relation d'une aventure qu'a connue Herman Melville avec l'un de ses coéquipiers après une campagne éprouvante de chasse à la baleine. Ils sont très bien accueillis et vivent en harmonie avec leurs hôtes sur cette île paradisiaque. Un récit documentaire qui nous fait explorer la Polynésie, ses autochtones et sa splendeur d’antan ! EXTRAIT Six mois en mer ! Oui, six mois sans avoir vu la terre, à courir après la baleine, sous le soleil brûlant de l’Équateur, ballottés par les vagues du Pacifique avec le ciel au-dessus de nos têtes, l’Océan autour de nous et rien d’autre ! Depuis des semaines nos provisions de denrées fraîches sont épuisées, nous n’avons pas un légume ; les beaux régimes de bananes qui décoraient autrefois l’entrepont ont disparu ; disparues aussi les oranges délicieuses qui pendaient à nos vergues ! Il ne nous reste plus que des conserves et des biscuits. Oh ! revoir un brin d’herbe tendre, humer les senteurs du sol ! N’y a-t-il rien de frais autour de nous, rien de vert sur quoi reposer nos yeux ? Si, l’intérieur des flancs du navire est peint en vert mais d’une couleur si terne qu’elle ne peut évoquer l’idée des feuilles d’arbres ou des prairies ; même l’écorce du bois qui nous sert de combustible a été dévorée par le porc du capitaine…, d’ailleurs, depuis lors, le porc a été mangé. CE QU'EN PENSE LA CRITIQUE On va, d'îles en îles, on tombe amoureux de ces polynésiens, on admire l'eau écarlate, on nage dans ces eaux chaudes, on vit sur ces plages qui n'existent plus et quand la dernière page arrive, c'est le dernier rivage qui s'estompe. On sait qu'on rentre au port, que s'en est fini de l'exil, du périple en mer du sud. On regrette alors que le voyage n'ait pas été plus long... - Tolbiac, Babelio Finalement, Melville nous en dit bien plus sur l'Occident, et le regard eurocentriste (qui comprend aussi l'Amérique, qu'on se le dise) au XIXe siècle que sur la Polynésie. Un chef-d'oeuvre. - Usurpateur, Babelio À PROPOS DE L’AUTEUR Herman Melville, né le 1er août 1819 à Pearl Street, au sud-est de Manhattan (New York), mort le 28 septembre 1891 à New York, est un romancier, essayiste et poète américain. Pratiquement oublié de tous à sa mort, Melville est redécouvert dans les années 1920 à travers son œuvre maîtresse Moby d**k. Il est désormais considéré comme l'une des plus grandes figures de la littérature américaine.
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5. Moby d**k; Or, The Whale
An exhilarating whaling yarn, an apocalyptic theodicy, a tragic confessional, and a profound allegory, Moby d**k encompasses all that it means to be human—from the physical and metaphysical to the spiritual and emotional. Full of strange wisdom and wild digressive energy, it’s a singular literary performance universally regarded as one of the great American novels.
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6. Benito Cereno
Melville"s controversial 1855 novella Benito Cereno follows sea captain Amasa Delano and his crew on the Bachelor"s Delight as it is approached by another, rather battered-looking ship, the San Dominick. Upon boarding the San Dominick, Captain Delano is immediately greeted by white sailors and black slaves begging for supplies. An inquisitive Delano ponders the mysterious social atmosphere aboard the badly bruised ship and notes the figurehead which is mostly concealed by a tarpaulin revealing only the inscription "Follow your leader..." Delano soon encounters the ship"s noticeably timid but polite Spanish captain, Don Benito Cereno. Delano believes Cereno"s assertion that he and his crew have recently gone through a debilitating series of troubles, having been at sea now for an unsettingly long time. Cereno tells of these tribulations, including horrendous weather patterns and the fate of the slaves" master, Alexandro Aranda, who Cereno claims took fever aboard the ship and died. Gradually, however, Delano"s suspicions increase, based on his noting Cereno"s sudden waves of dizziness and anxiety, the crew"s awkward movements and whisperings, and the unusual interaction of the ship"s white and black residents...
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7. Typee
Typee, aka A Peep at Polynesian Life, is Herman Melville's first book, partly based on his actual experiences as a captive on the island Nuku Hiva in the South Pacific. It was Melville's most popular work during his lifetime, and made him known as the man who lived among the cannibals. The novels is considered one of the greatest classics in the literature of travel and adventure.
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9. Moby d**k
(1851) Moby d**k is now considered one of the greatest novels in the English language and has secured Melville's place among America's greatest writers. Written in 1851, it is the story of Ishmael* whaling voyage. It contains many examples of alliteration, allusion, similes, and metaphors; it also presents an ironic argument against Transcendentalism and the power of man. This book contains reflections of Melville* own whaling voyages and many collections of compiled whaling knowledge: the history of whaling, scientific whale groups, usage of whaling tools, etc. Altogether this book is a literary masterpiece. --Submitted by Anonymous You may think that you know the story of Moby d**k, but until you have read this book, you cannot understand its power. The power comes from the rich descriptions of whalers, those who worked the ships, the history of whaling, the knowledge of whales, and how in the 19th century they were so crudely hunted and butchered on the open seas. Danger in many forms lurks throughout this book, long before we even hear about Moby d**k or Captain Ahab, but these dangers merely set the stage for the cataclysm to come. Just who is this Ishmael? Surely not just some simple merchant mariner looking for a new experience on a whaling ship. It may not make sense that a simple seaman such as he can be someone who seems historian, biologist, journalist, psychologist, and even well-taught in classical literature. In the end he is our window to this incredible adventure, which we experience as vividly as if we were there ourselves.--Submitted by Gregory Pittman.
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11. Mardi: and A Voyage Thither, Vol. I (of 2)
(1849) Dedicated to My Brother, ALLAN MELVILLE. Preface: Not long ago, having published two narratives of voyages in the Pacific, which, in many quarters, were received with incredulity, the thought occurred to me, of indeed writing a romance of Polynesian adventure, and publishing it as such; to see whether, the fiction might not, possibly, be received for a verity: in some degree the reverse of my previous experience. This thought was the germ of others, which have resulted in Mardi. New York, January, 1849.
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13. Herman Melville – The Complete Collection
15 Complete Works of Herman MelvilleBartleby, The ScrivenerBattle-Pieces and Aspects of the WarI and My ChimneyIsrael PotterJohn Marr and Other PoemsMardi and A Voyage Thither, Vol. IMardi and A Voyage Thither, Vol. IIMoby DickOmooPierre; or The AmbiguitiesRedburnThe Confidence-ManThe Piazza TalesTypeeWhite Jacket
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14. John Marr and Other Poems
[1888] Introductory Note Melville's verse printed for the most part privately in small editions from middle life onward after his great prose work had been written, taken as a whole, is of an amateurish and uneven quality. In it, however, that loveable freshness of personality, which his philosophical dejection never quenched, is everywhere in evidence. It is clear that he did not set himself to master the poet's art, yet through the mask of conventional verse which often falls into doggerel, the voice of a true poet is heard. In selecting the pieces for this volume I have put in the vigorous sea verses of John Marr in their entirety and added those others from his Battle Pieces, Timoleon, etc., that best indicate the quality of their author's personality. The prose supplement to battle pieces has been included because it does so much to explain the feeling of his war verse and further because it is such a remarkably wise and clear commentary upon those confused and troublous days of post-war reconstruction. H. C.
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15. Moby d**k or the Whale
Moby-d**k; 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 d**k, 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-d**k 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, 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". Its opening sentence, "Call me Ishmael", is among world literature's most famous. Melville began writing Moby-d**k 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 d**k, 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-d**k, which is dedicated to Hawthorne, "in token of my admiration for his genius". The book was first published (in three volumes) as The Whale in London in October 1851, and under its definitive title in a single-volume edition in New York in November. The London publisher, Richard Bentley, censored or changed sensitive passages; Melville made revisions as well, including a last-minute change to the title for the New York edition. The whale, however, appears in the text of both editions as "Moby d**k", without the hyphen. Reviewers in Britain were largely favorable, though some objected that the tale seemed to be told by a narrator who perished with the ship, as the British edition lacked the Epilogue recounting Ishmael's survival. American reviewers were more hostile. About 3,200 copies of the book were sold during the author's life. From Wipikedia.
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16. Moby d**k
Publié à New York en 1851, "Moby Dick" est le chef-d’œuvre de l'écrivain nord-américain Herman Melville et l'un des livres majeurs de la littérature romantique.Publié quand l'auteur était âgé de trente-deux ans, l'importance de "Moby Dick" ne devait être reconnue que beaucoup plus tard, et les principales études critiques qui lui furent consacrées, ainsi que les nombreuses traductions qui en furent faites, dans les différentes langues sont relativement récentes."Moby Dick" est l'histoire d'une importante expédition de chasse à la baleine, se déroulant aux alentours de 1840. Moby d**k, c’est la monstrueuse baleine blanche, l’incarnation du Mal, cette figure de l’obsession et du double qui, des profondeurs glacées, accompagne le capitaine Achab habitué en surface aux combats titanesques des océans. "Moby Dick" est ce chef-d’œuvre total que tout le monde peut lire comme le plus formidable des romans d’aventures ; la quête aussi d’une humanité embarquée de force à bord d’une histoire qui reste pour elle un mystère.Avec "Moby Dick", Melville a donné naissance à un livre-culte et inscrit dans la mémoire des hommes un nouveau mythe : celui de la baleine blanche. Fort de son expérience de marin, qui a nourri ses romans précédents et lui a assuré le succès, l'écrivain américain, alors en pleine maturité, raconte la folle quête du capitaine Achab et sa dernière rencontre avec le grand cachalot. Véritable encyclopédie de la mer, nouvelle Bible aux accents prophétiques, parabole chargée de thèmes universels, "Moby Dick" n'en reste pas moins construit avec une savante maîtrise, maintenant un suspense lent, qui s'accélère peu à peu jusqu'à l'apocalypse finale. L'écriture de Melville, infiniment libre et audacieuse, tour à tour balancée, puis hachée au rythme des houles, des vents et des passions humaines, est d'une richesse exceptionnelle. Il faut remonter à Shakespeare pour trouver l'exemple d'une langue aussi inventive, d'une poésie aussi grandiose.
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17. White Jacket
or, The World on a Man-of-War (1850) "Conceive him now in a man-of-war; with his letters of mart, well armed, victualed, and appointed, and see how he acquits himself." --FULLER'S "Good Sea-Captain." NOTE. In the year 1843 I shipped as "ordinary seaman" on board of a United States frigate then lying in a harbor of the Pacific Ocean. After remaining in this frigate for more than a year, I was discharged from the service upon the vessel's arrival home. My man-of-war experiences and observations have been incorporated in the present volume.--New York, March, 1850.
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18. Typee
(1846) Typee is the first "romance" of the South Seas, a semi-autobiographical account of life in the Marquesas Islands in the 1840s. A blend of personal experience and the narratives of explorers and missionaries, it influenced many later writers on the Pacific, including Robert Louis Stevenson and Jack London. ~ Melville's first published novel, a literary foreshadow of the great heights he will achieve with "Moby d**k", is a semi-autobiographical account of his three week (though in the book, it's 4 month) stay as a captive of the rumored cannibalistic Typee tribe in the Polynesian Marquesas Islands. Melville's in depth anthropological perspective of the Typee and sensual tropical imagery marked the novel as a monumental achievement upon it's release, making Melville a household name overnight. Praised for its surprisingly sympathty with "the Savages" in a time of Pacific turmoil and for being a thrilling adventure, "Typee" has been sighted by proceeding authors as a prime source of influence in the genre of Polynesian adventures.--Submitted by Anonymous ~
