- Paperback: 352 pages
- Publisher: Signet Classics; Revised edition (Jun 23 1998)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0451526872
- ISBN-13: 978-0451526878
- Product Dimensions: 17.3 x 10.6 x 1.6 cm
- Shipping Weight: 168 g
- Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,223,686 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Details |
Product Description
Book Description
Featured in this volume are "Billy Budd", Melville's posthumously published novella, the story of the rivalry between a handsome sailor and his demonic captain; the tale of the apathetic "Bartleby, the Scrivener; " the riveting "Benito Cereno", the story of a slave ship mutiny written at the time of the Amistad case and "The Town-Ho's Story", a chapter from Melville's masterpiece, "Moby Dick". Introduction by Joyce Carol Oates.
About the Author
Herman Melville was born in August 1, 1819, in New York City, the son of a merchant. Only twelve when his father died bankrupt, young Herman tried work as a bank clerk, as a cabin-boy on a trip to Liverpool, and as an elementary schoolteacher, before shipping in January 1841 on the whaler Acushnet, bound for the Pacific. Deserting ship the following year in the Marquesas, he made his way to Tahiti and Honolulu, returning as ordinary seaman on the frigate United States to Boston, where he was discharged in October 1844. Books based on these adventures won him immediate success. By 1850 he was married, had acquired a farm near Pittsfield, Massachussetts (where he was the impetuous friend and neighbor of Nathaniel Hawthorne), and was hard at work on his masterpiece Moby-Dick.
Literary success soon faded; his complexity increasingly alienated readers. After a visit to the Holy Land in January 1857, he turned from writing prose fiction to poetry. In 1863, during the Civil War, he moved back to New York City, where from 1866-1885 he was a deputy inspector in the Custom House, and where, in 1891, he died. A draft of a final prose work, Billy Budd, Sailor, was left unfinished and uncollated, packed tidily away by his widow, where it remained until its rediscovery and publication in 1924.
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
IN THE TIME before steamships, or then more frequently than now, a stroller along the docks of any considerable seaport would occasionally have his attention arrested by a group of bronzed mariners, man-of-war's men or merchant-sailors in holiday attire ashore on liberty. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
IN THE TIME before steamships, or then more frequently than now, a stroller along the docks of any considerable seaport would occasionally have his attention arrested by a group of bronzed mariners, man-of-war's men or merchant-sailors in holiday attire ashore on liberty. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most helpful customer reviews
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
Billy Budd Review,
By j sarver (Pittsburgh) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Billy Budd and Other Tales (Paperback)
Billy Budd is unlike any book I have ever read. The way it is written is very unique and elaborate. There are some aspects about the story I liked, however it had some weaker points.Even though it is only 90 pages long, it is packed with complex sentences and ideas. It seemed to stray from the storyline occasionally and begin to ramble on about senseless things. The language and wording he used seemed unnecessary and irrelevant. Also, at times, it got somewhat boring to read. I read that the story parallels the story of Christ, and I would have to disagree. Christ sacrificed himself for mankind, when Billy never put others first at all. What I did like about the book were it's characters. Melville used a minimal amount of characters in this book, unlike most books. Also, each character was deep, and they all seemed to be almost labeled. Billy, being the extremely innocent 21 year old, was nearly flawless. What I liked about him was that his one fault proved to be fatal, indirectly. Billy stuttered and had trouble speaking when under pressure, which drove him to lose his temper and accidentally kill Claggart, and for that he was hanged. Claggart, to me, seemed somewhat psychotic. He hid his anger and malice, and because of this, he suspected others did also. He hated Billy for no reason, just that he thought Billy was conspiring against him. Vere was a kind man, except for the fact that he let his work as a captain interfere with his morals, like when he sentenced Billy to be hanged. Melville wrote this story with the main idea being good versus evil, and I liked that. He wrote it with Billy as good and Claggart representing evil, and this aspect was one of my favorite parts to this novel. All in all, I thought the book had a good idea, but it was presented in the wrong way. There were parts I loved and parts I could not stand, so I give it a three of five.
5.0 out of 5 stars
As Relevant Today As It Was in 1891 - Wonderful !,
By
This review is from: Billy Budd (Mass Market Paperback)
.Many lessons in the story of Billy Budd. And one is the personality of the master-in-arms, John Claggart. How does one explain in our current life persons who lash out at us for false reasons due to alterative motives? We can dispute the charges but when asked what reason we believe the reputable and well-respected person is accusing us for, what is our answer? This is where reading books, anything from philosophy, psychology, novels, biographies, etc., are so crucial in life. Crucial in all our endeavors, from cliché speech walking in our neighborhood to who we vote for politically. And so, here we are accused for motives beyond surface despite the respectability and dignity that the accuser so verily has. If we and our judges are familiar with the stories of the biblical Joseph and his brothers, and I find much more so, the story of John Claggart and Billy Budd, then our referral to such stories reaps far more insight than a lengthy explanation would do. Another point that hit so very hard with me is the Newspaper's account of the story and I can't help but compare it to 99.9% of the stories on CNN and the American journalist media; shod journalism, bias, one-sided, selective and utterly false, that is, false to the extent that it conveys the right story but changes so slyly the intents and motives and most certainly in many cases, outright falsifies the information. So it is, in George Bush's' America, both domestically and in foreign policy. But what makes matters so much worse is the believing public, a naive public that is built on journalism where the reading of books is long forgotten in favor of TV, internet and of course, journalism. After reading Melville's story and his subsequent news article, there you can read the differences. Were Captain Vere and the three lieutenants correct in their decision to execute Billy Budd? Should the letter of the law been obeyed? Or did this incur extenuating circumstances to pardon either the official crime or the punishment? This was a time of recent mutinies and revolts on other ships, although nothing of the sort here happened, it pervaded the spirit of strict disciplinarian measures. In addition, the outcome of the obedience and servitude of the sailors and officers would have to be weighed ahead of the life of Billy Budd, despite is false accuser and impulsive blow to counter act his failure to use speech to defend himself. Does this support a zero tolerance law code? Or should flexibility and discernment above strict adherence to each and every case be determined by the spirit and purpose of the law broke rather than then the letter of the so-called infringement? Subjectively, Billy Budd was a good man and innocent of the death by accident he incurred to Claggart and therefore should be either found guilty of a lesser charge or given lesser punishment. Billy Budd's last words, "God Bless Captain Vere." Objectively, Billy Budd broke a major law, killing a superior officer, which in turn, has a major influence on the entire fleet of sailors and officers and is therefore guilty and subject to hanging.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Billy Budd, Sailor,
By Joshua Spicer (Pittsburgh, PA USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Billy Budd (Mass Market Paperback)
Billy Budd, Sailor is an extraordinary novel. I can see why it is called one of the best short stories of all time. The story is about a sailor, of course, named Billy Budd. He is on a boat during the Napoleonic Wars. He is accused of plotting mutiny by the ship's master-at-arms, John Claggert. Billy Budd eventually gets so mad at the injustice he is receiving that he kills Claggert. Consequently, he is sentenced to death by Captain Vere.What I did not like about the story was that is was so hard to read. The story was written in 1924 so the language is different from today's vocabulary. The novel is full of words that normal people do not understand; however, there is a glossary in the back of the book to help the reader. If you look up all the words, the novel takes a very long time to read, but it is still very good. I would say the main downfall of this book is the burdensome vocabulary. I really enjoyed the character Billy Budd. Even though he is falsely accused of mutiny, he always kept his head high. His one shortcoming ended up costing him his life. This character flaw was his quick temper. This was most evident when he killed John Claggert. My favorite thing about the story would have to be the plot. If you look back at the plot, you would notice a resemblance to the story of Christ. When I noticed it was like the story of Christ, I was in awe. That is what made me like this story so much. Actually the novel is kind of scary. There is imagery created that relates the present day Billy Budd to the past story of Christ. The plot makes this story so powerful, so meaningful, and so suspenseful because you want to know if Melville will change the ending. The resemblance of this story to the one of Jesus brought up a question for me. Did Melville intentionally relate this to the Bible? Furthermore, I also enjoyed the aspect of the storytelling that Melville left questions unanswered at the end of this story. Some remaining questions are: Why did Claggerts accuse Billy Budd? Was Billy Budd guilty or innocent of mutiny? I like that these questions were not answered because then the reader is left wondering. This increases the reader's imagination.
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