Death In Herman Melvilles Fiction

Author : Herman Melville
Publisher : Ignatius Press
ISBN 13 : 1586174169
Total Pages : 727 pages
Book Rating : 4.63/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Moby-Dick written by Herman Melville and published by Ignatius Press. This book was released on 2011-01-01 with total page 727 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Moby-Dick is arguably the definitive American epic. Yet its epic proportions disguise the fact that its plot is little more than the scantiest of scaffolding erected to support Melville's desire for philosophical exploration. As such, the novel has baffled many readers from the time of its initial publication in 1851 to the present day. Yet the questions that the novel asks continue to be as relevant today as they were in the days of America's antebellum infancy. Is the naà ̄ve optimism of romantic idealism an adequate explanation for, or defense against, the reality of evil? Is American individualism a freedom to be cherished and guarded or is it a tragic weakness at the heart of American culture, presaging disaster? This critical edition of one of the greatest American novels tackles the mysteries at the heart of Melville's quest for meaning in a dark and darkening world. The Ignatius Critical Editions series represents a tradition-oriented approach to reading the Classics of world literature. While many modern critical editions have succumbed to the fads of modernism and post-modernism, this series concentrates on critical examinations informed by our Judeo-Christian heritage as passed down through the ages-the same heritage that provided the crucible in which the great authors formed these classic works. Edited by acclaimed literary biographer Joseph Pearce, the Ignatius Critical Editions ensure that readings of the works are filtered through the richness of Western tradition, meeting the authors in their element, instead of the currently popular method of deconstructing a classic to fit a modern mindset-a lamentable flaw that often proliferates in other series of critical editions. The series is ideal for anyone wishing to understand the great Works of Western Civilization, enabling the modern reader to enjoy these classics in the company of some of the finest literature professors alive today. Book jacket.

Author : Herman Melville
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781542380379
Total Pages : 396 pages
Book Rating : 4.75/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Moby-dick 1851 written by Herman Melville and published by . This book was released on 2017-01-06 with total page 396 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Moby-Dick; or, The Whale is a novel by American writer Herman Melville, published in 1851 during the period of the American Renaissance. Sailor Ishmael tells the story of the obsessive quest of Ahab, captain of the whaler the Pequod, for revenge on Moby Dick, the white whale that on the previous whaling voyage bit off Ahab's leg at the knee. The novel was a commercial failure and out of print at the time of the author's death in 1891, but during the 20th century, its reputation as a Great American Novel was established. William Faulkner confessed he wished he had written it himself,and D. H. Lawrence called it "one of the strangest and most wonderful books in the world", and "the greatest book of the sea ever written". "Call me Ishmael" is among world literature's most famous opening sentences.The product of a year and a half of writing, the book draws on Melville's experience at sea, on his reading in whaling literature, and on literary inspirations such as Shakespeare and the Bible. The white whale is modeled on the notoriously hard to catch actual albino whale Mocha Dick, and the ending is based on the sinking of the whaler Essex by a whale. The detailed and realistic descriptions of whale hunting and of extracting whale oil, as well as life aboard ship among a culturally diverse crew, are mixed with exploration of class and social status, good and evil, and the existence of God. In addition to narrative prose, Melville uses styles and literary devices ranging from songs, poetry, and catalogs to Shakespearean stage directions, soliloquies, and asides.Dedicated to Nathaniel Hawthorne, "in token of my admiration for his genius", the work was first published as The Whale in London in October 1851, and under its definitive title in New York in November. Hundreds of differences, mostly slight and some important, are seen between the two editions. The London publisher censored or changed sensitive passages and Melville made revisions, as well, including the last-minute change in the title for the New York edition. The whale, however, appears in both editions as "Moby Dick", with no hyphen.Because the British edition lacked the Epilogue, which accounts for Ishmael's survival, it seemed that the story was told by someone who was supposed to have perished. Many reviewers in British magazines recognized a violation of the rules of fiction and criticized the author for a serious flaw. Other reviewers, however, found the book too fascinating to dismiss it for these reasons. Some of the scornful British reviews were either reprinted or quoted in American periodicals, wrongfooting the American readers though the Epilogue was present in Moby-Dick. About 3,200 copies were sold during the author's life....Herman Melville[a] (August 1, 1819 - September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet of the American Renaissance period. His best known works include Typee (1846), a romantic account of his experiences in Polynesian life, and his whaling novel Moby-Dick (1851). His work was almost forgotten during his last thirty years. His writing draws on his experience at sea as a common sailor, exploration of literature and philosophy, and engagement in the contradictions of American society in a period of rapid change. He developed a complex, baroque style: the vocabulary is rich and original, a strong sense of rhythm infuses the elaborate sentences, the imagery is often mystical or ironic, and the abundance of allusion extends to Scripture, myth, philosophy, literature, and the visual arts.Born in New York City as the third child of a merchant in French dry goods, Melville's formal education ended abruptly after his father died in 1832, leaving the family in financial straits. Melville briefly became a schoolteacher before he took to sea in 1839 as a common sailor on a merchant ship. In 1840 he signed aboard the whaler Acushnet for his first whaling voyage, but jumped ship in the Marquesas Islands.

Author : Herman Melville
Publisher : BoD – Books on Demand
ISBN 13 : 3387020775
Total Pages : 49 pages
Book Rating : 4.79/5 ( download)

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Download or read book I and My Chimney written by Herman Melville and published by BoD – Books on Demand. This book was released on 2023-09-03 with total page 49 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Author : Herman Melville
Publisher : Univ of California Press
ISBN 13 : 9780520045484
Total Pages : 612 pages
Book Rating : 4.83/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Moby Dick; Or, The Whale written by Herman Melville and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 1983-08-16 with total page 612 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The story of Captain Ahab's obssession with the great white whale that crippled him is presented in a specially designed edition

Author : Corey Evan Thompson
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781680531954
Total Pages : 160 pages
Book Rating : 4.56/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Death in Herman Melville's Fiction written by Corey Evan Thompson and published by . This book was released on 2020-04-15 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Literary critics have aptly noted that death is arguably the most frequent topic, theme, or occurrence in all of American literature. Naturally, the works of such authors as Charles Brockden Brown, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Edgar Allan Poe, Kate Chopin, Shirley Jackson, and Stephen King, among countless others, go to great lengths to support this observation; however, the renowned nineteenth-century American literary giant Herman Melville, most famous as the author of Moby Dick, has been frequently overlooked. In this book, seasoned literary scholar Corey Evan Thompson seeks to remedy this oversight. Death in Herman Melville's Fiction: Melville's "Memento Mori" is the first full-length study to examine the ubiquity and implications of death in Melville's prose fiction. As Thompson shows, death occurs in all of Melville's novels and much of his shorter fiction by various means. Not only is death a frequent occurrence in Melville's fiction, but his characters die regardless of age, health, social status, or moral character. Drawing from his father's death, Melville's fiction provides his readers with the difficult realization that it is the inevitable destination for everyone who is on this journey called life.

Author : Herman Melville
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781520502052
Total Pages : 524 pages
Book Rating : 4.52/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Moby Dick written by Herman Melville and published by . This book was released on 2017-01-31 with total page 524 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Moby-Dick; or, The Whale is a novel by American writer Herman Melville, published in 1851 during the period of the American Renaissance. Sailor Ishmael tells the story of the obsessive quest of Ahab, captain of the whaler the Pequod, for revenge on Moby Dick, the white whale that on the previous whaling voyage bit off Ahab's leg at the knee. The novel was a commercial failure and out of print at the time of the author's death in 1891, but during the 20th century, its reputation as a Great American Novel was established...Summary : Ishmael travels in December from Manhattan Island to New Bedford with plans to sign up for a whaling voyage. The inn where he arrives is so crowded, he must share a bed with the tattooed Polynesian Queequeg, a harpooneer whose father was king of the (fictional) island of Rokovoko. The next morning, Ishmael and Queequeg attend Father Mapple's sermon on Jonah, then head for Nantucket. Ishmael signs up with the Quaker ship-owners Bildad and Peleg for a voyage on their whaler Pequod. Peleg describes Captain Ahab: "He's a grand, ungodly, god-like man" who nevertheless "has his humanities". They hire Queequeg the following morning. A man named Elijah prophesies a dire fate should Ishmael and Queequeg join Ahab. While provisions are loaded, shadowy figures board the ship. On a cold Christmas Day, the Pequod leaves the harbor.Ishmael discusses cetology (the zoological classification and natural history of the whale), and describes the crew members. The chief mate is 30-year-old Starbuck, a Nantucket Quaker with a realist mentality, whose harpooneer is Queequeg; second mate is Stubb, from Cape Cod, happy-go-lucky and cheerful, whose harpooneer is Tashtego, a proud, pure-blooded Indian from Gay Head, and the third mate is Flask, from Martha's Vineyard, short, stout...Extrait : I stuffed a shirt or two into my old carpet-bag, tucked it under my arm, and started for Cape Horn and the Pacific. Quitting the good city of old Manhatto, I duly arrived in New Bedford. It was a Saturday night in December. Much was I disappointed upon learning that the little packet for Nantucket had already sailed, and that no way of reaching that place would offer, till the following Monday.As most young candidates for the pains and penalties of whaling stop at this same New Bedford, thence to embark on their voyage, it may as well be related that I, for one, had no idea of so doing. For my mind was made up to sail in no other than a Nantucket craft, because there was a fine, boisterous something about everything connected with that famous old island, which amazingly pleased me. Besides though New Bedford has of late been gradually monopolising the business of whaling, and though in this matter poor old Nantucket is now much behind her, yet Nantucket was her great original--the Tyre of this Carthage;--the place where the first dead American whale was stranded. Where else but from Nantucket did those aboriginal whalemen, the Red-Men, first sally out in canoes to give chase to the Leviathan? And where but from Nantucket, too, did that first adventurous little sloop put forth, partly laden with imported cobblestones--so goes the story--to throw at the whales, in order to discover when they were nigh enough to risk a harpoon from the bowsprit ?Biography : Herman Melville (August 1, 1819 - September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet of the American Renaissance period. His best known works include Typee (1846), a romantic account of his experiences in Polynesian life, and his whaling novel Moby-Dick (1851). His work was almost forgotten during his last thirty years. His writing draws on his experience at sea as a common sailor, exploration of literature and philosophy, and engagement in the contradictions of American society in a period of rapid change. He developed a complex, baroque style...

Author : Herman Melville
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 388 pages
Book Rating : 4.22/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Shorter Novels of Herman Melville written by Herman Melville and published by . This book was released on 1928 with total page 388 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For contents, see Author Catalog.

Author : Herman Melville
Publisher : Castellnou
ISBN 13 : 849804913X
Total Pages : pages
Book Rating : 4.38/5 ( download)

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Download or read book MOBY DICK written by Herman Melville and published by Castellnou. This book was released on 2012-03-14 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Moby Dick és la novel·la més important de Melville. Explica l'obsessió d'un home, el capità Ahab, per matar Moby Dick, una balena en la qual veu l'encarnació del Mal. Ahab actua mogut per l'odi a l'animal que, una vegada, li va arrencar una cama. Però, per sobre del ressentiment, predomina la seva convicció que Moby Dick és un ésser malèfic que el destí ha decidit posar davant d'ell perquè el mati o perquè mori en l'intent.

Author : Herman Melville
Publisher : Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN 13 : 9781542384032
Total Pages : 166 pages
Book Rating : 4.36/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Moby-Dick; Or, the Whale.by written by Herman Melville and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2017-01-06 with total page 166 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Moby-Dick; or, The Whale is a novel by American writer Herman Melville, published in 1851 during the period of the American Renaissance. Sailor Ishmael tells the story of the obsessive quest of Ahab, captain of the whaler the Pequod, for revenge on Moby Dick, the white whale that on the previous whaling voyage bit off Ahab's leg at the knee. The novel was a commercial failure and out of print at the time of the author's death in 1891, but during the 20th century, its reputation as a Great American Novel was established. William Faulkner confessed he wished he had written it himself, and D. H. Lawrence called it "one of the strangest and most wonderful books in the world," and "the greatest book of the sea ever written." "Call me Ishmael" is among world literature's most famous opening sentences.The product of a year and a half of writing, the book draws on Melville's experience at sea, on his reading in whaling literature, and on literary inspirations such as Shakespeare and the Bible. The white whale is modeled on the notoriously hard to catch actual albino whale Mocha Dick, and the ending is based on the sinking of the whaler Essex by a whale. The detailed and realistic descriptions of whale hunting and of extracting whale oil, as well as life aboard ship among a culturally diverse crew, are mixed with exploration of class and social status, good and evil, and the existence of God. In addition to narrative prose, Melville uses styles and literary devices ranging from songs, poetry, and catalogs to Shakespearean stage directions, soliloquies, and asides. Dedicated to Nathaniel Hawthorne, "in token of my admiration for his genius," the work was first published as The Whale in London in October 1851, and under its definitive title in New York in November. Hundreds of differences, mostly slight and some important, are seen between the two editions. The London publisher censored or changed sensitive passages and Melville made revisions, as well, including the last-minute change in the title for the New York edition. The whale, however, appears in both editions as "Moby Dick," with no hyphen. Because the British edition lacked the Epilogue, which accounts for Ishmael's survival, it seemed that the story was told by someone who was supposed to have perished. Many reviewers in British magazines recognized a violation of the rules of fiction and criticized the author for a serious flaw. Other reviewers, however, found the book too fascinating to dismiss it for these reasons. Some of the scornful British reviews were either reprinted or quoted in American periodicals, wrongfooting the American readers though the Epilogue was present in Moby-Dick. About 3,200 copies were sold during the author's life..... Nathaniel Hathorne; July 4, 1804 - May 19, 1864) was an American novelist, Dark Romantic, and short story writer.He was born in 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts, to Nathaniel Hathorne and the former Elizabeth Clarke Manning. His ancestors include John Hathorne, the only judge involved in the Salem witch trials who never repented of his actions. Nathaniel later added a "w" to make his name "Hawthorne" in order to hide this relation. ... Herman Melville (August 1, 1819 - September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet of the American Renaissance period. His best known works include Typee (1846), a romantic account of his experiences in Polynesian life, and his whaling novel Moby-Dick (1851). His work was almost forgotten during his last thirty years.....

Author : Geoffrey Sanborn
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 1108471447
Total Pages : 173 pages
Book Rating : 4.42/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Value of Herman Melville written by Geoffrey Sanborn and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2018-09-06 with total page 173 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explores the writings of Herman Melville across his career and examines the distinctive qualities of his style.