Melville's Short Novels
Herman Melville
This particular book may be difficult to review on account of its dual nature. Its first part consists of three original texts by Melville, while the second part deals with likely source material and critical essays and commentary. The book as a whole hangs together quite well, although the division between stories, sources, and criticism is a bit awkard and would make more sense were all the material pertaining to a certain story placed in the same section of the book. The numerous divisions make it somewhat difficult to engage with all of the material for a specific story before moving on, but this is merely a flaw of aesthetic execution and does not reflect upon the material provided, which is of excellent but draining and somewhat dry quality.
The stories themselves are brilliant and well-chosen. "Bartleby the Scrivener," "Benito Cereno," and "Billy Budd, Sailor" all deal with similar themes of alienation and have surprising resonance with class issues and issues of subordination and mastery. From Bartleby's subtle resistance to the accidental misstep of Billy Budd to the outright violence onboard Benito Cereno's ship, Melville traces patterns of resistance and the utility of violence and its potential consequences. Each story stands well alone but raises different issues when considered in light of the other two works. Melville uses radically different situations to explore fundamental questions with elements of mystery and hidden motives, never revealing too much and being sure to leave his stories open to multiple valid interpretations. Where Melville stumbles a bit is in his overly long passages of description and background information that would be better left out. "Billy Budd" is often confusion and lacking in action, and the story suffers for it, though it is somewhat redeemed by the questions it poses. Melville asks a lot of his readers and, for the most part, the work put into understanding the stories will pay off richly.
The benefit of introspection and careful consideration is highlighted by the inclusion of essays and source material. "Benito Cereno" especially benefits from these additions because its source material was a diary and related legal depositions. Reading these primary sources makes it quite obvious what Melville chose to omit or elaborate upon, or even outright invent. This puts the story in an entirely new plane and allows the reader to carefully consider it and recognize the importance of every single word. "Benito Cereno" is a masterpiece based on a historical event and only stands to gain from the inclusion of its source material. Likewise, "Bartleby" and "Billy Budd" also gain interesting context from their sources, but none of these are as direct or interesting as the former. Melville's acknowledgment is merely hinted at or postulated instead of being readily apparent, and the inclusion of some source material for his other works (Emerson's "The Transcendentalist" for "Bartleby," in particular) unfairly pushes a specific interpretation of the text while posing as an objective view of its origin.
It is thus with a certain amount of doubt that one should approach the critical essays. These are, again, particularly useful in the case of the brilliantly ambiguous "Benito Cereno" and "Bartleby" but become overbearing in light of "Billy Budd"'s already overbearing tone. Most of the essays included contribute significantly to an increased understanding of their subjects, but some are unreasonably obtuse and confrontational, tending towards the academic at the expense of the interesting and useful. The essays are definitely worth taking a look at, but they do not represent an exhaustive consideration of Melville's work and should be approached with certain hesitancy.
Overall, the volume is highly academic but still remains interesting to the discerning and involved reader. Melville's work itself can stand on its own but gains eerie depth when approached from the different angles suggested by the critical parts of the volume. Melville does stumble a bit and his first two stories are somewhat superior to the third in terms of sheer interest to the casual reader, but all three will yield interesting philosophical prompts when examined with any kind of caution at all. It is no accident that Herman Melville has assumed a central position within the history of American literature, and his short works help illuminate his talent and his knack for packing heaps of philosophy into fairly small spaces.
Grade: A-
Herman Melville
This particular book may be difficult to review on account of its dual nature. Its first part consists of three original texts by Melville, while the second part deals with likely source material and critical essays and commentary. The book as a whole hangs together quite well, although the division between stories, sources, and criticism is a bit awkard and would make more sense were all the material pertaining to a certain story placed in the same section of the book. The numerous divisions make it somewhat difficult to engage with all of the material for a specific story before moving on, but this is merely a flaw of aesthetic execution and does not reflect upon the material provided, which is of excellent but draining and somewhat dry quality.
The stories themselves are brilliant and well-chosen. "Bartleby the Scrivener," "Benito Cereno," and "Billy Budd, Sailor" all deal with similar themes of alienation and have surprising resonance with class issues and issues of subordination and mastery. From Bartleby's subtle resistance to the accidental misstep of Billy Budd to the outright violence onboard Benito Cereno's ship, Melville traces patterns of resistance and the utility of violence and its potential consequences. Each story stands well alone but raises different issues when considered in light of the other two works. Melville uses radically different situations to explore fundamental questions with elements of mystery and hidden motives, never revealing too much and being sure to leave his stories open to multiple valid interpretations. Where Melville stumbles a bit is in his overly long passages of description and background information that would be better left out. "Billy Budd" is often confusion and lacking in action, and the story suffers for it, though it is somewhat redeemed by the questions it poses. Melville asks a lot of his readers and, for the most part, the work put into understanding the stories will pay off richly.
The benefit of introspection and careful consideration is highlighted by the inclusion of essays and source material. "Benito Cereno" especially benefits from these additions because its source material was a diary and related legal depositions. Reading these primary sources makes it quite obvious what Melville chose to omit or elaborate upon, or even outright invent. This puts the story in an entirely new plane and allows the reader to carefully consider it and recognize the importance of every single word. "Benito Cereno" is a masterpiece based on a historical event and only stands to gain from the inclusion of its source material. Likewise, "Bartleby" and "Billy Budd" also gain interesting context from their sources, but none of these are as direct or interesting as the former. Melville's acknowledgment is merely hinted at or postulated instead of being readily apparent, and the inclusion of some source material for his other works (Emerson's "The Transcendentalist" for "Bartleby," in particular) unfairly pushes a specific interpretation of the text while posing as an objective view of its origin.
It is thus with a certain amount of doubt that one should approach the critical essays. These are, again, particularly useful in the case of the brilliantly ambiguous "Benito Cereno" and "Bartleby" but become overbearing in light of "Billy Budd"'s already overbearing tone. Most of the essays included contribute significantly to an increased understanding of their subjects, but some are unreasonably obtuse and confrontational, tending towards the academic at the expense of the interesting and useful. The essays are definitely worth taking a look at, but they do not represent an exhaustive consideration of Melville's work and should be approached with certain hesitancy.
Overall, the volume is highly academic but still remains interesting to the discerning and involved reader. Melville's work itself can stand on its own but gains eerie depth when approached from the different angles suggested by the critical parts of the volume. Melville does stumble a bit and his first two stories are somewhat superior to the third in terms of sheer interest to the casual reader, but all three will yield interesting philosophical prompts when examined with any kind of caution at all. It is no accident that Herman Melville has assumed a central position within the history of American literature, and his short works help illuminate his talent and his knack for packing heaps of philosophy into fairly small spaces.
Grade: A-
No comments:
Post a Comment