Böcker av Herman Melville

Sjömannen Ishmael får jobb på valfångstfartyget Pequod, lett av den excentriske och enbente kaptenen Ahab.För länge sedan när Ahab var ute till havs mötte han för första gången den vita jättevalen Moby Dick. I en kamp mot valen förlorade Ahab ett ben och har sedan den dagen drömt om hämnd. Driven av galenskap ger han sig nu ut på jakt efter havsodjuret och får med Ishmael och resten av Pequads besättning på äventyret. Ahabs besatthet sätter inte bara hans eget liv på spel utan även alla andras ombord på fartyget. Kaptenen har förklarat krig mot ett av havets mäktigaste odjur och är beredd att offra allt för att få sin hämnd.När "Moby Dick eller den vita valen" publicerades första gången 1851 blev den dåligt mottagen och snabbt bortglömd. Inte förrän många år efter Herman Melvilles död återupptäcktes romanen och betraktas idag som en av de största klassikerna i amerikansk litteraturhistoria.Herman Melville (1819–1891) var en amerikansk författare vars böcker baserades på hans egna erfarenheter som sjöman. Idag är Melville världskänd för bland annat sin roman om Moby Dick.

Ismael, el único superviviente del ballenero Pequod, nos explica la obsesión del capitán Acab para capturar la gran ballena blanca, Moby Dick. El capitán, un hombre de casi sesenta años, lleva más de cuarenta en el mar. Infatigable cazador de ballenas, un día se enfrenta al terrible cetáceo blanco y, durante la lucha, pierde la pierna.La ballena blanca se convierte en su obsesión, desea darle el golpe final a toda costa. Con este objetivo, inicia una larga travesía final. Sin embargo, no dice la verdad a los tripulantes hasta que el Pequod ha zarpado, momento en que Starbuck, el segundo comandante de la embarcación, intuye que se trata del viaje final, que la aventura les lleva a la muerte. Sin embargo, Acab no cede y se empeña en perseguir el leviatà.En esta adaptación para jóvenes hemos prescindido de la mayor parte de la exhaustiva información relativa a la caza de la ballena de la obra original, además, hemos aligerado las descripciones psicológicas de los personajes y las reflexiones de carácter filosòfic.El resultado es una aventura marinera épica, en que se presenta un duelo entre el hombre y las fuerzas de la naturaleza, encarnadas por un mar inexorable, donde vive un ser marino poderoso e implacable.

Ismael, l'únic supervivent del balener Pequod, ens explica l'obsessió del capità Acab per capturar la gran balena blanca, Moby Dick. El capità, un home de gairebé seixanta anys, en porta més de quaranta al mar. Infatigable caçador de balenes, un dia s'enfronta al terrible cetaci blanc i, durant la lluita, perd la cama. La balena blanca es converteix en la seva obsessió, desitja donar-li el cop final costi el que costi. Amb aquest objectiu, inicia una llarga travessia final. No obstant això, no diu la veritat als tripulants fins que el Pequod ha salpat; moment en què Starbuck, el segon comandant de l'embarcació, intueix que es tracta del viatge final, que l'aventura els duu a la mort. Tot i així, Acab no cedeix i s'obstina a perseguir el leviatà.En aquesta adaptació per a joves hem prescindit de la major part de l'exhaustiva informació relativa a la cacera de la balena de l'obra original, a més, hem alleugerit les descripcions psicològiques dels personatges i les reflexions de caràcter filosòfic.El resultat és una aventura marinera èpica, en què es presenta un duel entre l'home i les forces de la naturalesa, encarnades per un mar inexorable, on viu un ésser marí poderós i implacable.

Herman Melville (born Melvill;[a] August 1, 1819 - September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet of the American Renaissance period. Among his best-known works are Moby-Dick (1851); Typee (1846), a romanticized account of his experiences in Polynesia; and Billy Budd, Sailor, a posthumously published novella. Although his reputation was not high at the time of his death, the 1919 centennial of his birth was the starting point of a Melville revival, and Moby-Dick grew to be considered one of the great American novels. Melville was born in New York City, the third child of a prosperous merchant whose death in 1832 left the family in dire financial straits.

Typee is the first book by American writer Herman Melville, published in the early part of 1846, when Melville was 26 years old. Considered a classic in travel and adventure literature, the narrative is based on the author's actual experiences on the island Nuku Hiva in the South Pacific Marquesas Islands in 1842, supplemented with imaginative reconstruction and research from other books. The title comes from the valley of Taipivai, once known as Taipi. Typee was Melville's most popular work during his lifetime; it made him notorious as the "man who lived among the cannibals".

Redburn: His First Voyage is the fourth book by the American writer Herman Melville, first published in London in 1849. The book is semi-autobiographical and recounts the adventures of a refined youth among coarse and brutal sailors and the seedier areas of Liverpool. Melville wrote Redburn in less than ten weeks. While one scholar describes it as "arguably his funniest work", scholar F. O. Matthiessen calls it "the most moving of its author's books before Moby-Dick".

Pierre; or, The Ambiguities is the seventh book by American writer Herman Melville, first published in New York in 1852. The novel, which uses many conventions of Gothic fiction, develops the psychological, sexual, and family tensions between Pierre Glendinning; his widowed mother; Glendinning Stanley, his cousin; Lucy Tartan, his fiancée; and Isabel Banford, who is revealed to be his half-sister. According to scholar Henry A. Murray, in writing Pierre Melville "purposed to write his spiritual autobiography in the form of a novel" rather than to experiment and incidentally work some personal experience into the novel. Published after the lukewarm reaction to Moby-Dick, Pierre was a critical and financial disaster. Reviewers universally condemned its morals and its style.

"One of the strangest and most wonderful books in the world, closing up its mystery and its tortured symbolism. It is an epic of the sea such as no man has equaled; and it is a book of exoteric symbolism of profound significance," so says the poet D.H. Lawrence in his essay on Moby Dick included in this edition. This unexpurgated edition also includes a real life account of Mocha Dick by Jeremiah N. Reynolds, from which Melville was partly inspired.

Do you want to read Moby Dick? If so then keep reading...Moby-Dick, one of the Great American Novels and a treasure of world literature, follows the adventures of wandering sailor Ishmael, and Captain Ahab who seeks out Moby Dick, a ferocious, enigmatic white sperm whale. In a previous encounter, the whale destroyed Ahab's boat and bit off his leg, which now drives Ahab to take revenge.What are you waiting for Moby Dick is one click away, select the "Buy Now" button in the top right corner NOW!

The Piazza Tales is a collection of six short stories by American writer Herman Melville, published by Dix and Edwards in the United States in May 1856 and in Britain in June. Except for the newly written title story, "The Piazza," all of the stories had appeared in Putnam's Monthly between 1853 and 1855. The collection includes what have long been regarded as three of Melville's most important achievements in the genre of short fiction, "Bartleby, the Scrivener", "Benito Cereno", and "The Encantadas", his sketches of the Galápagos Islands. (Billy Budd, arguably his greatest piece of short fiction, would remain unpublished in his lifetime.)

The Confidence-Man: His Masquerade, first published in New York on April Fool's Day 1857, is the ninth book and final novel by American writer Herman Melville. The book was published on the exact day of the novel's setting. Centered on the title character, The Confidence-Man portrays a group of steamboat passengers. Their interlocking stories are told as they travel the Mississippi River toward New Orleans. The narrative structure is reminiscent of The Canterbury Tales (1392). Scholar Robert Milder notes: "Long mistaken for a flawed novel, the book is now admired as a masterpiece of irony and control, although it continues to resist interpretive consensus."

Moby-Dick; or, The Whale is an 1851 novel by American writer Herman Melville. The book is the sailor Ishmael's narrative of the obsessive quest of Ahab, captain of the whaling ship Pequod, for revenge against Moby Dick, the giant white sperm whale that on the ship's previous voyage bit off Ahab's leg at the knee. A contribution to the literature of the American Renaissance, Moby-Dick was published to mixed reviews, was a commercial failure, and was out of print at the time of the author's death in 1891. Its reputation as a "Great American Novel" was established only in the 20th century, after the 1919 centennial of its author's birth. William Faulkner said he wished he had written the book 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".

Moby-Dick; or, The Whale is an 1851 novel by American writer Herman Melville. The book is the sailor Ishmael's narrative of the obsessive quest of Ahab, captain of the whaling ship Pequod, for revenge against Moby Dick, the giant white sperm whale that on the ship's previous voyage bit off Ahab's leg at the knee. A contribution to the literature of the American Renaissance, Moby-Dick was published to mixed reviews, was a commercial failure, and was out of print at the time of the author's death in 1891. Its reputation as a "Great American Novel" was established only in the 20th century, after the 1919 centennial of its author's birth. William Faulkner said he wished he had written the book 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".

The Confidence-Man: His Masquerade, first published in New York on April Fool's Day 1857, is the ninth book and final novel by American writer Herman Melville. The book was published on the exact day of the novel's setting.Centered on the title character, The Confidence-Man portrays a group of steamboat passengers. Their interlocking stories are told as they travel the Mississippi River toward New Orleans. The narrative structure is reminiscent of The Canterbury Tales (1392). Scholar Robert Milder notes: "Long mistaken for a flawed novel, the book is now admired as a masterpiece of irony and control, although it continues to resist interpretive consensus."The novel's title refers to its central character, an ambiguous figure. He sneaks aboard a Mississippi steamboat on April Fool's Day. This stranger attempts to test the confidence of the passengers. Their varied reactions constitute the bulk of the text. Each person, including the reader, is forced to confront the placement of his trust.The novel is written as cultural satire, allegory, and metaphysical treatise, dealing with themes of sincerity, identity, morality, religiosity, economic materialism, irony, and cynicism. Many readers place The Confidence-Man alongside Melville's Moby-Dick and "Bartleby, the Scrivener" as a precursor to 20th-century literary pre-occupations with nihilism, existentialism, and absurdism.The work includes satires of 19th-century literary figures: Mark Winsome is based on Ralph Waldo Emerson, while his "practical disciple" Egbert is Henry David Thoreau; Charlie Noble is based on Nathaniel Hawthorne; and a beggar in the story was inspired by Edgar Allan Poe.The Confidence-Man was probably inspired by the case of William Thompson, a con artist active in New York City in the late 1840s.The novel was turned into an opera by George Rochberg; it was premiered by the Santa Fe Opera in 1982, but was not held to be a success. The 2008 movie The Brothers Bloom, starring Adrien Brody, Mark Ruffalo and Rachel Weisz, borrows some of the plot and makes numerous references to the book: One of the characters is named Melville, the steamer ship is named Fidèle, and the initial mark refers to these coincidences. (wikipedia.org)

The Piazza Tales is a collection of six short stories by American writer Herman Melville, published by Dix & Edwards in the United States in May 1856 and in Britain in June. Except for the newly written title story, "The Piazza," all of the stories had appeared in Putnam's Monthly between 1853 and 1855. The collection includes what have long been regarded as three of Melville's most important achievements in the genre of short fiction, "Bartleby, the Scrivener", "Benito Cereno", and "The Encantadas", his sketches of the Galápagos Islands. (Billy Budd, arguably his greatest piece of short fiction, would remain unpublished in his lifetime.)Melville had originally intended to entitle the volume Benito Cereno and Other Sketches, but settled on the definitive title after he had written the introductory story. The book received largely favorable reviews, with reviewers especially praising "The Encantadas" but did not sell well enough to get Melville out of his financial straits, probably because short fiction for magazines had little appeal to bookbuyers. From after Melville's rediscovery to the end of the twentieth century, the short works that attracted the most critical attention were "Bartleby," "Benito Cereno" and "The Encantadas," with "The Piazza" a little behind those. For Warner Berthoff, Melville's short works of the mid-1850s show a grasp of his subject matter not previously in his possession, not even in Moby-Dick: "a clarity of exposition and a tonic firmness and finality of implication".John Bryant points to the experimental use of narrative voice in the stories: in addition to third-person narration, Melville makes his fictionalized narrators "less and less reliable." The lawyer-narrator in "Bartleby" is "not so reliable", Bryant finds, but the third-person narrator of "Benito Cereno" represents a "less conspicuous form of unreliability" and precisely because this third-person position seems objective, while in reality Delano's distorted point of view is adhered to. In line with other writers of short stories of the time like Poe, Melville's narrative structures stimulate readers to look beyond their initial readings to understand more. This view of "the stories to have a hidden text" has proven to be persuasieve. Writing in the twenty-first century, Bryant makes essentially the same point when he notes that "carefully modulated ironies" are put to such use that "the brightness of sentiment and geniality would be made to reveal its darker edges: deception, sexuality, alienation, and poverty."For Robert Milder, in the best of the short stories these different levels of meaning are fused "in a vision of tragedy more poignant than Moby-Dick's or Pierre's because it is more keenly responsive to the lived human condition." (wikipedia.org)

Typee: A Peep at Polynesian Life is the first book by American writer Herman Melville, published in the early part of 1846, when Melville was 26 years old. Considered a classic in travel and adventure literature, the narrative is based on the author's actual experiences on the island Nuku Hiva in the South Pacific Marquesas Islands in 1842, supplemented with imaginative reconstruction and research from other books. The title comes from the valley of Taipivai, once known as Taipi. Typee was Melville's most popular work during his lifetime; it made him notorious as the "man who lived among the cannibals". The book delivers quite a wild tale and from the beginning there were questions about whether any of it could possibly be true. Prior to the London edition of the book appearing within the Colonial and Home Library series (nonfiction accounts of foreigners in exotic places), the publisher John Murray required reassurance that Melville's experiences were first-hand.Melville's desertion from the Acushnet in 1842Not long after the initial publication of the book, many of the events described were corroborated by Melville's fellow castaway, Richard Tobias Greene ("Toby"). Additionally, an affidavit was found from the ship's captain that corroborated that both men did indeed desert the ship on the island in the summer of 1842.Typee attempts to be something of a work of proto-anthropology. Melville continually admits vast ignorance of the culture and language he is describing while also trying to bolster and supplement his own experiences with a great deal of other reading and research. He also has a tendency to employ a fair amount of hyperbole and attempts at humor. A few recent scholars have dedicated themselves to questioning the basic factuality of Melville's account. For instance, the length of stay on which Typee is based is presented as four months in the narrative and this was likely an extension and exaggeration of Melville's actual stay on the island. There is also not known to have ever been a lake on the island where Melville might have gone canoeing with Fayaway, as described in the book. (wikipedia.org)