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Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone! ... Read more

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Civil War prose is sparkling, but the rest won't stand the test of time
Herman Melville never wanted to be remembered as the "a man who lived among the cannibals," but perhaps he would have been even more chagrined had he only known that one day he would be immortalized in the crossword puzzle genre for down or across hackneyed answers such as Typee, Omoo, Abab and Pequot.Fortunately for Melville a recent resurgence in the interest of his work has re-energized an old audience and has created a new, more enthusiastic following.His work is now a redemptive force in the literary world, especially for a brilliant man who was considered, for the most part, to be an utter failure in his day.

A newly issued, one-volume collection of his collected prose and poetry,HERMAN MELVILLE Selected Poems, will assist the reader in further understanding this brilliant, yet complicated and tortured soul.

Perhaps discouraged by seemingly lack of interest in his previous works he increasingly turned to writing prose poetry in later life almost to exclusion of other forms of writing.It is not hard to decipher from reading his prose that he poured his intellect and life blood into its creation.A wide swath of his poetry is included in this book from his observations of the Civil War to assorted musings.His gifts are most evident in poems such as Donelson (the capture of Ft. Donelson on February 16, 1862).This tightly knit, complicated piece captures glimpses of the battle from several points of view.Sections in this work can be quite vivid:

Great suffering through the night-/A stinging one.Our heedless boys/Were nipped like blossoms.Some/dozen Hapless wounded were frozen./During day being struck down out of sight,/And help-cries drowned in roaring noise,/They were left just where the skirmish shifted-/Left in dense underbrush snow-drifted./Some,
seeking to crawl in crippled plight,/So stiffened-perished.

Robert Faggen's learned introduction, the author's occasional supplementary material and notes nicely round out and complete this book.

I was most taken by Melville's Civil War prose, but I felt that very little if any of this work was particularly memorable as in the case of Browning or Yeats - snippets of their work often come to mind.I would agree that his prose is brilliant, but has not and will not stand the test of time as his novels Moby Dick, Billy Budd, Typee and his other works have.Civil war buffs or readers wanting to round out or complete their Melville collections will be pleased to have this book.

Deb Fowler - Roundtable Reviews ... Read more

Customer Reviews (49)

Someone just SHOOT ME....PLEASE!
I've been wanting to read this book for decades!But now, all I can say is someone just shoot me....PLEASE!I am 100% convinced that Melville was a mentally ill whack job!His writing style is nothing but a bunch of babbling that goes NOWHERE!I'm often wondering....WHAT WAS THE POINT OF THAT NARRATIVE!Most of the book can be glanced over, and you STILL are wondering if Melville will ever get to the point!OMG!

I think the ONLY thing that made this book a "classic" is that it was written during a time where not much was known about creatures of the ocean, and yes, whales are facinating...., and that a battle between man and unknown creature was something exciting.But yeah, Melville, had many spots missing off his dice!The guy probably wrote this while in a padded room in some unknown psychiatric ward!

I only gave it 3 stars...not because it was OK, but yeah....battle between man and whale is an adventure....but this one was so poorly narrated, that keeping interest was a chore, and I only read it because I was bound and determined to read it.But it was torture!Pure torture!

An American Classic
An American Classic

Herman Melville's Moby-Dick is, without question, the greatest single work of American fiction ever written. With good reason the novel has been a staple of our culture, from the English classroom to popular culture. Melville's compelling story of obsession and revenge, his rich cast of characters, his varied and experimental style, and above all his masterful use of symbolism and pregnant imagery make Moby-Dick a book that no educated man or woman can afford to miss.
The storyline, though somewhat unevenly paced, builds steadily into a first-rate tale of human struggle. The book is narrated by Ishmael, a young man who joins the crew of a whaling vessel to combat his depression, or, as he puts it, the "drizzly November" in his soul. Though Ishmael narrates, Ahab, the captain of the Nantucket whaling ship The Pequod, is the book's main character. Prior to the beginning of the story, Ahab is attacked by an albino sperm whale, named Moby-Dick. Moby-Dick chomps off Ahab's leg and sends him into a feverish madness. Ahab swears revenge, and over the course of the rest of the novel, he brings his crew with him on his doomed quest.
Melville crews his ship with a huge and diverse cast of characters. The domineering and remote Ahab provides a natural foil for the care-free and easy-going Ishmael. The three mates of the ship - Starbuck, Stubb and Flask - encapsulate the range of man's responses to life's trials. Starbuck's sensitivity, Stubb's nonchalance, and Flask's prickly nature mark each character as distinct (though archetypal). In addition, the crew contains New Englanders of all types, natives from remote islands around the globe, and the sinister "hair-turbaned Fedallah [who] remained a muffled mystery to the last."
Melville's style, like his characters, is varied. There are sections of the book - particularly the "Whiteness of the Whale" chapter that are lyrical and poetic, alongside technical chapters addressing the types of whales or the proper manufacture of whaling rope. Certain scenes are written almost like a play, with stage directions and character names followed by their lines. When the Pequod leaves Nantucket, the mastery of Melville's prose shines through: "Ship and boat diverged; the cold, damp night breeze blew between; a screaming gull flew overhead; the two hulls wildly rolled; we gave three heavy-hearted cheers, and blindly plunged like fate into the lone Atlantic."
Moby-Dick is a landmark in American Literature, but because of its complex structure and poetic style, it's better suited for older or more patient readers. In addition, many readers might find an abridged version useful - one that removes the less plot-oriented chapters (like the infamous "Cetology" chapter). Still, for the discerning reader, there is no richer find than Moby-Dick by Herman Melville. I give it 10 harpoons out of 10.

WEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

TOOK A WHILE TO GET THROUGHT THIS, AGREE, I SHOULD HAVE JUST GOT AN ENCYCLOPDEIA ABOUT WHALES. STORY LINE WAS THERE BUT GOT LOST IN THE MANS KNOWLEDGE OF WHALES.SOMETIMES, MOVIES FINISH THE STORY BETTER THAN THE AUTHOR.LIKE TO HAVE GOTTEN MORE OUT OF IT THAN JUST TO SAY I READ IT.

Very nice edition, excellent introduction
I read (or tried to read) Moby Dick in high school, like many American students. I loathed it. Decades later, I have returned to the book and it is fantastic. It is alternately dark and light, almost always vivid. With more years under my belt, I have a far greater appreciation for the sense of life and living conveyed by Ishmael.

You might want to consider either or both of "The Loss of the Ship Essex, Sunk by a Whale" -- a first hand account by survivors -- and "In the Heart of the Sea", also about the Essex and by the author of the introduction to this edition of Moby Dick.

This is an excellent edition, as good as a paperback can get. Far poorer books on far worse paper with far worse binding are sold for as much or more. My only gripe is that the paper does not appear to be acid-free, but the paper stock is certainly very good.

The introduction by Nathaniel Philbrick is excellent -- personal, well-informed and insightful, very worth reading before reading the novel. It will increase your enjoyment and understanding of Melville's writing.

The American Testament, Iliad/Odyssey/Paradise Lost/Tragedy
Forget about the Great American Novel. Let us just agree that Moby-Dick is the Great American Book, and the rest of our literature can sort itself out. Like The Bible it contains narrative, poetry, philosophy, comedy, and finally tragedy. It is the American book of books.

I actually read it in an undergraduate lit class, and could not put it down. I came to it at exactly the right time in my life; I just got lucky.I read it again, years later, and was amazed at how much I had missed in my first reading. A man in his forties will be closer to Ahab than a young man of twenty, but I do not regret the early exposure to this book.It changed the world for me. At sixty-four I am ready to take it up again. ... Read more

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The world-class writers featured in this collection are adept at conjuring the depth of passion that surrounds all stories of love and loss. The short story form is perfect for capturing the uplift and dizzying heights that accompany a new object of affection, as well as the queasy unease and bottomless longing of lost loves. ... Read more

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Despite its indifferent reception when it was first published in 1851, Moby Dick is now a central work in the American literary canon. This introduction offers readings of Melville's masterpiece, but it also sets out the key themes, contexts, and critical reception of his entire oeuvre. The first chapters cover Melville's life and the historical and cultural contexts. Melville's individual works each receive full attention in the third chapter, including Typee, Moby Dick, Billy Budd and the short stories. Elsewhere in the chapter different themes in Melville are explained with reference to several works: Melville's writing process, Melville as letter writer, Melville and the past, Melville and modernity, Melville's late writings. The final chapter analyses Melville scholarship from his day to ours. Kevin J. Hayes provides comprehensive information about Melville's life and works in an accessible and engaging book that will be essential for students beginning to read this important author. ... Read more

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This previously unpublished letter, one of 36 to beretrieved since the publication of The Letters of Herman Melville(1960), has earned a place in the New York Public Library'sGansevoort-Lansing Collection.

The Malcolm Letter was written by Melville in 1849, on the birth of his son .In a bit of dramatic irony, Melville reflects on the responsibility looming ahead of him as the reader notes the tragedy that Melville cannot possibly foresee- his son Malcolm's suicide eighteen years later. Cohen and Yannella's careful study relives for the reader this and other events which shaped the clannish Melville family history and how the author's struggle with these pressures is manifested in his writing. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (356)

Call me happy!
Our reading group wanted an edition of Moby Dick (we are in Australia) that would give us some background, good notations and print that was on decent paper and legible.This edition is all that and more.With so many editions to choose from and most of them not available to view before buying, this was a very lucky find and a credit to Amazon and to Norton's for producing it.

No editor needed: long sermon, long survey, long voyage, long story
Talk about what "a good editor" could do is silly where MOBY DICK is concerned. I'm on my fourth reading, but from my first I saw one thing: if you don't like the book page by page, you don't like the book. Reading it for the story is a doomed enterprise, even though the story is very good.

The book is like a sermon, and there's a real live sermon in one of its earliest chapters. The preacher of that sermon has a style like Melville's, and his preaching shows the kind of thing Melville is trying to do.

Melville's long descriptions of how, for example, a whale's body is beheaded while the whale hangs off the side of a whaling ship, are informative and make moral points all along the way. These may be, as many reviewers say, "the hardest parts to get through," but every single page of them is funnier and deeper than any NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC article you ever saw. If you are reading these pages just to "get through," you're missing how wonderful a stylist Melville is.

Isaac Asimov wrote science-fact articles for twenty years before he turned back to science-fiction. Asimov fans like both his science-fact and his science-fiction books, because Asimov is always the same charming writer. It's the same with Melville. He writes whaling-fact and whaling-fiction, only he does both at the same time. His most factual chapters draw moral lessons, and when in one chapter the narrator and Queequeg assemble to work on the whale's body, that chapter is a story and a documentary all together.

The book is about a voyage that is intended to take years, and does. Letters are delivered from one whaling ship to another so old and mildewy that it looks, says Melville, as if death itself had carried them. Is a book that makes a point like that supposed to be fast-moving?

If you can't read good non-fiction, you can't read MOBY DICK. For that matter, if you can't read the Bible, which also has a lot of non-fiction in it (and some say equally out of date non-fiction) you can't read MOBY DICK.

Take a deep breath. Slow down. Read a page at a time. When you're bored, quit and come back later. You probably know the story already anyway. Find out if you can get to know the book a page at a time.

One of the Most Imitable of Classics
Among my friends and most of the people with whom I've spoken, this book has one of the worst reputations of any of the many classic novels. This book is well-known by virtually everyone; however, almost no one reads it, and many who have wish that they hadn't. This is the case for a number of reasons: the book is often marketed as an adventure novel, and it is often forced upon young readers who are much too young to understand the novel, much less remotely appreciate it. Despite the fact that it is seen as an adventure novel, it serves almost as an inverted adventure. The novel primarily consists of philosophical musings, with the whale serving as more of an abstraction than the subject of an adventure quest. The discrepancy between the expectations and the actual book leaves many readers to be unprepared for the experience of reading the book. The book is often taught to high school students and children in some cases. However, in most cases, it should only be read at college age or above.

This all likely makes the book sound intimidating and unfun; however, there is much to be enjoyed about the book. The humor of the book is often very underrated: Ishmel (if that is his actual name) is a particularly witty narrator who often finds himself in many absurd situations. For one thing, he is a terrible whaler, as he is more given to philosophical musingthan the physical components of whaling. The novel often comes across as a parody of the propensities of the American romantic literature that was popular at the time. The most incredible feature of the novel is the extent to which it is ahead of its time. Moby Dick is certainly a precursor to modernist novels. The novel is particularly protean in form, just as Ulysses would be later. The style often shifts from that of a typical first-person narrative to that of a Shakespearian play to that of an encyclopedia. Moby Dick was heavily derided at the time of its publication for this reason. This bookis best compared with those of later writers like James Joyce and Joseph Conrad rather than the works of Melville's contemporaries. Moby Dick proves to be a very rewarding reading experience for those who stick with the novel at an age at which it can be appreciated.

Great Reader--Great Book
If you are interested in hearing Moby Dick rather than reading this very long book, this book on CDs is for you. The price is more than reasonable and Anthony Heald has a wonderful voice quality that keeps one's interest even through those dry passages.Recently my family took a cross-country road trip and listened to most of the 24 hrs of discs.We very much enjoyed listening to this Melville classic.

Truly a classic
It really is an amazing novel.True, it takes time, dedication, and a vast vocabulary to read it.However, it is funny, touching, engaging, and insightful.A groundbreaking work of fiction. ... Read more

Product Description
RED BUR -N. CHAPTER I. now WELLINGBO"ROUGII REDBUllN'S '.CASTE ~OR TllE SEA WAS BORN AND BRED IN HD1. "iV'ELLINGROROUGH, as you are going' to sea, suppose you take this ,shooting.jacket of ~ino along; it's just the thing -take it, it will save the eXFense of another.' You see, it's quito warm; fine long skirts, stout horn buttons, and plen ty of pookets." Out ()f tbe goodnc~s anI! SW1PllClty 01 111s hea:rt, thus spoke my elder brother to me, 'upon the eve of my departUre for the seaport. . "And, W ellingborough," he added, "since we are both short of money, and you want an outfit, and I. have none to give, you may as well take zpy fowling-piece along, and sell it in New York for what YOll call get.-Nay; take it; it's of no usc to me 'llbw; I can't find it in powder. any more." I was then but a boy: Some time previous my mother had removed from New York to a pleasant village ou the Ifudson River, where wc lived in a small house,. in a quiet way. S

Table of Contents

G 0 N rr E N T S; CHAPTER I; HOW vELLI~G:BOROUOII REDBURN'S TASTEI:'OIl THE SEA WAS; BORN AND BRED IN IlIl1: ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 13; CHAPTER II; REDBURN'S DEl'AltTUItE FROM 110MB ???????? ? ??? ? ? ?? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 22; CHAPTER III; HE ARRIVES IN TOWN ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?? 27; CHAPTER IV; BOW lIE DISI'OSED OF HIS i'OWLlNG-PIECE ?????? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 32; CHAPTER V; lIE rUllCIIASBS HIS SEA-WARDROBE) AND O~ A DISYIAL BAI~Y DAY; PICKS UP }fIS IWARD ASD LODGING ALO~G THE WHARVES ? ? 37; CHAPTER VI; JlE IS INITIATBD IN TIlE BUSI~ESS OF CLEA~ING OUT THE PIGPEN,; AND SLUSHI~G DOWN T:HE TOP-MAS'[' ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 42; CH APTER VII; liE GETS; CONTENTS; CHAPTEtt VIII; HE IS PU~ INTO 'l'llE LARliOARD WATCH i GETS SEA-SIClt; AND; aBLATES SO:l1E OTHER OF HIS EXPERIENCES ???? ? ? ??? ?? ? ??? 55; CHAPTER IX; THE SAILORS BECOMING A LITTLE SOClAL, REDDuar: ... Read more

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Introduction to Melville
Redburn refers to the main character of the novel Wellingborough Redburn, a young lad from New York who embarks on his first voyage to England as a member of the sailing crew. It is the story of lost innocence, breaking away from the comforts of home and country to experience life on one's own. Melville captures poetically, Redburn's journey, observations, feelings, and dark reality of life in pre-civil war America and England. If you have never read Melville before, this is a page turning introduction to a very much admired author. His style of writing is poetic, and clever and his narrative captures the feelings and thoughts of the time. I highly recommend it.

Melville, Like Me
I'm one of those people who have read MOBY DICK a few times, so I may be biased towards Herman Melville, but I found REDBURN an excellent read.

Though it is an argueable point; many believe that REDBURN is based onMelville's first voyage.This may not be interesting to you if you are anadherent of NEW CRITICISM, but for any Melville fan or scholar this booksheds some light on Melville's persona.

I noticed some elements ofREDBURN that would later surface in MOBY DICK and PIERRE -- as moredeveloped themes.This book starts out as pretty straight forwardadventure narrative, but leave it to Herman, by the middle of the book hegoes off into his preaching, sermonizing, and editorializing . . . but Ilike that about Melville.

This might sound strange coming from aMelvillian 'scholar,' but Herman Mellville was not a good writer . . . heis an interesting author though, but he makes mistakes, and he often takeshis stories through such long and twisted circumloctions that it is nowonder that many modern readers are turned off by him.However, if youlove Melville despite his flaws then you will love REDBURN, because itshows the progress that Melville was making towards THE GREAT AMERICANNOVEL, MOBY-DICK.

Herman Melville did not much care for REDBURN whenhe wrote it.He wrote it quickly and for the money, and then he tried todistance himself from it. He felt MARDI, the novel he wrote just beforeREDBURN, was the better, but it was panned.On the other hand, REDBURNrecieved good reiviews in its day much to Melville's suprise . . . Ilearned all this in the afterword of the Northwest-Newberry Edition.Thedetailed history of REDBURN included in that edition is pretty interestingreading in itself if you are a Mevillian, like me.

I apologize for anytypos . . . but no spell-check. ... Read more

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He has a very high and noble nature, and [is] better worth immortality than most of us-so Hawthorne wrote of Herman Melville in his journal for 1856. This collection of essays undertakes to re-examine the "nobility" of Melville's powerful and engaging imagination. Not only are his primary motifs of "the journey" and the quest for Truth given attention, but also his subtleties as a great maker of fiction are analysed. Hence the collection as a whole stresses Melville's way with language and irony and his serious, inventive playfulness as a writer. ... Read more

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The huge range of critical and academic debate about this monster of a novel confirms Moby-Dick´s status as a vital and exhilarating exploration of the role of American ideology in defining modern consciousness. This Columbia Critical Guide starts with extracts from Melville´s own letters and essays and from early reviews of Moby-Dick that set the terms for later critical evaluations. Subsequent chapters deal with the "Melville Revival" of the 1920s and the novel´s central place in the establishment, growth, and reassessment of American Studies in the 1940s and 1950s. The final chapters examine postmodern New Americanist readings of the text, and how these provide new models for thinking about American culture. ... Read more

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This unique introduction explores Herman Melville as he described himself in Billy Budd-"a writer whom few know." Moving beyond the recurring depiction of Melville as the famous author of Moby-Dick, this book traces his development as a writer while providing the basic tools for successful critical reading of his novels.

• Offers a brief introduction to Melville, covering all his major works
  
• Showcases Melville's writing process through his correspondence with Nathaniel Hawthorne
  
• Provides a clear sense of Melville's major themes and preoccupations
  
• Focuses on Typee, Moby-Dick, and Billy Budd in individual chapters
  
• Includes a biography, summary of key works, interpretation, commentary, and an extensive bibliography.

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Argues that Herman Melville's later work anticipates the resurgence of an American exceptionalist ethos underpinning the U.S.-led global "war on terror." ... Read more