“I would prefer not to.” I’ve seen this phrase all over the bookish internet: on totes, mugs, t-shirts. Bartleby’s refrain always struck me as petulant. It reminds me of a kid whose parents have just asked them to do their chores. I would prefer not to do the dishes. The response to this usually som...
I had never read a thing by Herman Melville and couldn't have told you anything he wrote except for Moby Dick before I took a class about him. I've really come to enjoy his writing. If all you've experienced of Melville is Moby-Dick, you might be surprised by his other writings. This book is a st...
Introduction--Bartleby--The Piazza--The Encantadas--The Bell-Tower--Benito Cereno--The Paradise of Bachelors and the Tartarus of Maids--Billy Budd, Sailor
I feel guilty not giving this a five. I recently used Bartleby as a write-in candidate in a poll for U.S. president, based strictly on his reputation of saying "I prefer not to..." I prefer not to tell you one spurious claim about Bartleby's "problem", this time on Wikipedia, since the theory mixes ...
I first read Moby Dick as a child with an Illustrated Classics Edition, that series of small, pocketsize versions with pencil sketches on every other page. What made me read the book again in its unabridged form arose from watching this tv series on Animal Planet, "Whale Wars", which chronicles the ...
Loved this one. I was surprised by how funny Melville could be, which Moby Dick's slight touches of the ironic (church sermon, etc.) wouldn't really suggest. I would like to re-read this with more focus on the narrator: why does he allow Bartleby to stick around so long? Does his reluctance betray a...
I know sometimes it's hard for people of this time to get into books written so long ago, but I read a lot of classics. I had sooooo much trouble with this one. It seemed just like a bunch of madness wrapped in references to stories from the bible, greek myths etc. Obviously Herman Melville was a...
This is a collection of short stories and novellas. The two stand out pieces are the Benito Cereno and Bartleby the Scrivener. It is all pretty interesting and worth reading though. I find Melville just about the most difficult writer that there is and I don't really think that I understand him a...
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