Herman Melville

When the narrator decides to build a piazza at his new country home, his neighbours are amused when he decides to construct it on the north-facing side of his property. But the narrator is content, and when his view provides a glimpse of silver gleaming in the distance, he is convinced that his piazza provides a view of fairyland, and he decides to discover what lies in the distant mountains. "The Piazza" was written as an introduction to Herman Melville's...

Israel Potter (1855) examines the life of an ordinary patriot, a common man manipulated by powerful forces and utterly forgotten among the lists of American Revolutionary War heroes. His story is filled with the twists and turns of battle, captivity and escape, mistaken and shifting identities, and politics. On his journeys Potter meets King George III, Benjamin Franklin, John Paul Jones, and Ethan Allan. Israel Potter is a quintessential and vital...

"Llamadme Ismael." Muy pocos personajes literarios hay hoy tan conocidos como la ballena blanca, o Ismael o el capitán Ajab, y probablemente no haya un inicio de novela tan famoso como el de Moby-Dick. Concebida por Herman Melville como respuesta norteamericana a la gran literatura europea de finales del siglo XVIII y principios del XIX, Moby-Dick recoge la tradición romántica y gótica dando forma a un épico poema que ha llegado a ocupar en Estados...

White-Jacket; or, The World in a Man-of-War is the fifth book by American writer Herman Melville, first published in London in 1850. The book is based on the author's fourteen months' service in the United States Navy, aboard the frigate USS Neversink (actually USS United States). The novel takes its title from the outer garment that the eponymous main character fashions for himself on board ship, with materials at hand, being in need of a coat sufficient...

The ten "sketches" comprising The Encantadas, or Enchanted Isles are based largely on author Herman Melville's experience in the Galápagos Islands, combined with the recorded history of the islands, local folklore, and sailors' stories. The earlier sketches present a daunting description of the islands and their fauna. Belying their tropical location, there is nothing of paradise in these volcanic remnants-home to large numbers of lizards, snakes,...

American novelist Herman Melville's cryptic third work about uncontrollable waves of human desire and their ability to set a person adrift in a sea of spiritual, philosophical, and artistic chaos. An unnamed narrator, U.S. sailor (and thinly-veiled Melville), and his Norwegian side-kick Jarl jump ship from their whaling vessel in the South Pacific in search of freedom but quickly find themselves emotionally press-ganged into the service of man's oldest...

White-Jacket (1850) is an adventure novel by American writer Herman Melville. Based on the author's personal experience as a seaman in the United States Navy-Melville spent fourteen months aboard the USS United States-the novel was both commercially successful and influential for reforming US Naval policy. Following its publication, and aided by advocacy from journalists and politicians, flogging was banned as a punishment in the navy. The novel is...

Here are ten stories that represent some of the best short work of American master Herman Melville, including "Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall-Street," "The Happy Failure," and "The Paradise of Bachelors and The Tartarus of Maids." Alongside THE HAPPY FAILURE, Harper Perennial will publish the short fiction of Fyodor Dostoevsky, Leo Tolstoy, Willa Cather, Stephen Crane, and Oscar Wilde to be packaged in a beautifully designed, boldly colorful...

Una historia de Wall Street. Ese es el importante subtítulo de esta pequeña pero gran obra de Herman Melville. Leerla es un desborde de emociones contrapuestas que te dejará pensando o todo y nada a la vez, durante varias semanas. Bartleby, uno de los personajes más enigmáticos de la literatura clásica universal, y y con uno de los mensajes más difíciles de descifrar. Varias interpretaciones y estudios literarios lo señalan, desde el precursor...