Customer Reviews

Billy Budd

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

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.

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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.

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.

Don't judge a book by its cover (or size). If ever this statement was true, it is now. At first glance, Billy Budd by Herman Melville looks like at quick easy read at only 80+ pages. Once you get through the first few paragraphs, you realize that you just might have bit off more than you can chew.

The character Billy Budd seems to be a stand up guy. Though quiet, he boosts the morale of his shipmates with just his presence. Melville himself calls him the, "Handsome Sailor." He appears to be almost perfect in every way, although he does have one fault. He stutters when he is overwhelmed by many feelings he cannot express. I like this about Billy. It shows that he is human and does have imperfections. Another character, Captain Vere, is a little bit creepy for my taste. His obsession for Billy, whether it be sexual or not, is a bit strange. A specific instance of the odd obsession is in the scene in chapter 10 in the mess hall. It is the well known "spilled soup" scene. The detailed description Melville gives to a small section dealing with spilled soup on the floor is a bit extreme. I agree with most people saying that there is much homoerotic content in Billy Budd.

Overall I give this book a low score. I do like the idea behind the story. A well liked sailor who doesn't cause trouble is set up by his commanding officers. Billy is portrayed as a hero to his shipmates. A young man, murdered because of his innocence. If it wasn't for the idea behind the story it would get a much lower rating.

Herman Melville has written some of the most interesting, twisted, and most difficult reading stories I have ever read. Billy Budd is nothing shy of Melville's usual writing. It is yet another classic to add to his list of many over the years.

Billy Budd is a sailor aboard a British warship called the Bellipotent. He is a young man in his early twenties. The other two main characters in the story aboard the ship are Claggart and Captain Vere. Claggart is the master at arms and Captain Vere is the captain of the vessel. Claggart dislikes Billy and it doesn't come out until the end. Claggart accuses Billy of planning a mutiny. Billy gets tongue tied then hits Claggart in the face and he eventually dies from the blow. Billy is then hung, as chosen by the court aboard the ship. His lasts words were, "God bless Captain Vere." A few days later Captain Vere is
struck by a musket ball in a skirmish with a French warship and eventually dies uttering the words, "Billy Budd, Billy Budd" before his death.

The more that I sat and thought about the story the more I realized that there was a deeper meaning to the story than I had first thought. Billy represents innocence in the begining. He is basically a perfect human. He is a leader, smart thinker, and liked by most everyone. Claggart is an evil force. He is trying to drive Billy into the ground. He has no reason to dislike Billy. This all changes in the end however when I feel both Billy and Claggart turn to guilt. When Claggart accuses Billy of a mutiny plan that he knows is false information that is evil. Then Billy turned to evil when he swung and killed Claggart. Captain Vere is the kind and normal human. He has good conscious, is fair, and overall well liked by the crew. He makes the decision at the end based on the law which was the only choice he had in this situation. This is his only choice because if Captain Vere does not hang Billy it could show weakness and eventually could lead to a mutiny by the crew.

Billy Budd has been one of the most intriguing novels I have read thus far. It is a book which keeps you thinking because of the language it has been written in and because it has a deeper meaning to the plot. The book keeps you going by adding action and suspense to the plot to keep your mind wondering what's next. I would recommend this book to anyone above the ninth grade in high school.

Let anyone tell you: it may look short and innocent but the story is waayyyyy beyond that! I'm in an advanced study program with an ambitious teacher, so I got to read this in 8th grade. It was a bit of stretch.

On the whole you can say it was good, but the work just took out all the fun. The story itself is quite simple: Billy Budd is a young and handsome sailor, perfect and good, and at the envy of others. John Claggart is the scheming first mate, who seizes the opportunity of the chaotic time period to seek his vengeance on Billy Budd. Captain de Vere is a highly intellectual man with faults and regrets, torn by duty and fear, but ultimately good. You can think of these three as Jesus, the Devil, and Man (respectively).

As I said, the story was simple and short, but Melville had some real time on his hands and the result is enigmatic - chock full of tangents on tangents. I focused a little too much on the depth and didn't do too well on the details of events. The Nore Mutiny had our whole class confused, so do some research on sailing and naval terms. And be prepared for a LOT of REreading!

The most amazingly confusing sentence in my experience opens the book. I read it nearly six times and still am unsure its meaning. At only 88 pages, the novel seems innocent enough, but prepare thyself for a good mental stretch!

Because it was written as if it were from another planet. It must have had a decent moral in it, but you'd need someone who reads these for a living to tell you. You can tell a book is hard to read when even the cliffs notes make no sense! I'm sure that it had a good story, but I couldn't find it. Unless you can understand this stuff, I wouldn't suggest it. If you want to read it, I can only say, good luck.

This is the hardest eighty pages I've ever read in my life. It's practically written in it's own language. A good concept hides behind this book. Unfortunately, the plane blows up in the hanger before it even gets to the runway. Melville has a unique rating writing; he tells something very interesting into something not worth your time. Stay away!

Melville's rich and complex symbology gives this novel not one, but several, possible meanings and interpretations. But one of Melville's concerns that struck me in this book was the theme of whether or not honest, innocent, human sensuality can survive in the "civilized" world with its severe restrictions and formalities. "Billy Budd" becomes an Archetype of our hidden, severely repressed desires for freedom and sensuality. What in Melville's own life was painfully repressed, and yet silently lingers in so much of his writing, is in itself a subject of sad fascination.