Great Short Works of Herman Melville (Perennial Classics)
by Herman Melville
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Book Summary Information
Author: Herman MelvilleEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2004-03
ISBN: 0060586540
Number of pages: 512
Publisher: Harper Perennial Modern Classics
Book Reviews of Great Short Works of Herman Melville (Perennial Classics)
Book Review: "I'd prefer not to..."
Summary: 5 Stars
This book includes one of my favorite works by Melville (or anyone, for that matter), "Bartleby The Scrivener". It tells the story of the document copier (or scrivener) Bartleby as narrated by his increasingly perplexed, unnamed employer. Unlike Mobey Dick which is so symbolic and philosophical, I gave up on page 13 or so, this story is strangely accessible and contemporary. The alienation that Bartleby feels for his job, his fellow employees, and the narrator is, at once, sad and humorous. Today, when it seems a job can easily become interchangeable with who we are, the fact that Bartleby is, at first, reluctant to do what's asked of him and later would "prefer not to" do anything at all is a bitter, if accurate, portrayal of the kind of ever-threatening psychosis that nibbles around the edges of the world of work from time to time, whatever it is we do to make a living. What's the word? Yeah; there's an existential quality to this tale that fits just as securely in 2007, as it does in the mid-19th century, the story's actual setting. Like Bartleby, I sometimes find myself fading away before the tasks I am asked to perform on the job; "I would prefer not to..." comes to mind pretty often, but, of course, I push on because at the time it all seems to mean something. And it does....Doesn't it? Melville was on to something.
Summary of Great Short Works of Herman Melville (Perennial Classics)
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