I have challenged myself to read all of Melville's major works this year, and I just finished his first novel, Typee. At the time I read this, I had only ever read Bartleby, Benito Cereno, and part of the Confidence Man, which filtered me. The prose in Typee is very pleasant, and I think that's what kept me reading, because as a novel, it kinda sucks. The story just straight up drops off after the first fifteen or so chapters and the book turns into a memoir/travelogue. Of course novels aren't just stories, but still, a good story is required for a good novel. However, Typee does deliver on the promise of its subtitle. This isn't just a peep, it's a complete look. Melville's description of Typee culture is thorough, and his musings on colonial relationships are radical. Anyone else here read it before?This is my schedule in case you'd like to join me:Typee: A Peep at Polynesian Life (1846). 368 pages. Will read between Jan 1st and Jan 19th. Omoo: A Narrative of Adventures in the South Seas (1847). 374 pages. Will read between Jan 20th and Feb 19th.Mardi: and a Voyage Thither (1849). 729 pages. Will read between Feb 20th and Apr 5th.Redburn: His First Voyage (1849). 443 pages. Will read between Apr 6th and May 6th.White-Jacket; or, the World in a Man-of-War (1850). 336 pages. Will read between May 7th and May 29th.Moby-Dick; or, the Whale (1851). 710 pages. Will read between May 30th and July 17th.Pierre; or, the Ambiguities (1852). 495 pages. Will read between July 18th and Aug 19th."Bartleby, the Scrivener" (1853). 48 pages. Will read between Aug 20th and Aug 22nd.I and My Chimney (1856). 28 pages. Will read between Aug 23rd and Aug 24th..The Confidence-Man: His Masquerade (1857). 335 pages. Will read between Aug 25th and Sep 14th.Battle-Pieces and Aspects of the War (1866). 356 pages. Will read between Sep 15th and Oct 9th.Clarel: A Poem and Pilgrimage in the Holy Land (1876). 500 pages. Will read between Oct 10th and Nov 30th.Timoleon (1891). 70 pages. Will read between Dec 1st and Dec 12th.Billy Budd, Sailor (1924). 166 pages. Will read between Dec 13th and Dec 24th.
>>24115711I wanted to read it but I have too much to read for now; I'll be reading Pierre at some point though
>>24115711I'm reading The Confidence-Man right now. How did it filter you? Wise of you not to have read Moby-Dick before Typee, you would have found the latter even more underwhelming. I'd also insert The Paradise of Bachelors and the Tartarus of Maids in there somewhere.
>>24115915I tried reading it two years ago I think? There were too many characters and conversations in the first few chapters for me to keep track of. This time around, I'll take notes.
>>24115711Why torture yourself like that, man
>>24117288fr fr no cap we should just read books from the top 100 chart bruh
>>24117302Maybe not make reading be a chore
>>24117288I've read a bit of Melville and none of it was downright bad. I had to abandon Pierre for being overwritten, but I expect others may find ot worth it. I hope OP likes every single one.
>>24117288I do wonder what it's like to read the same author every day for a whole year.
>>24117288Because I like reading.
>>24115711Anon, Typee is a memoir/travelogue (Omoo is like this too btw), at least ostensibly, though Melville seems to have embellished the account a lot in terms of how long he was there. Also I love Melville but I don’t think you’ll enjoy reading any author all in one year back to back, it would get monotonous. Though in order would’ve been an interesting way to experience him for the first time. I think you’ll end up torturing yourself like this>>24117302Isn’t Melville’s most famous book the all time champ of the top 100? Moby-Dick used to win nearly every year, I think it came second only to the bible last year. Melville is very much a central part of /lit/core
>>24115711I've only read Moby Dick and Billy Budd (and the stories often printed with the latter) and loved them all. What's best to read next?
>>24118385I'd probably say go through Typee and Omoo next of what I've read, they're some of his easiest to read and they're more widely available than a lot of others. I say Typee AND Omoo because the latter is a sequel to the former, apart from that really any order works, but I'd say leave Clarel pretty late because it's excellent but long and such a product of his later life, it's also, unsurprisingly, his most overtly christian book. after T and O I'd just say go through in whatever order you can find, Redburn is also a novel that is basically an embelished travelogue, and Israel Potter is like an embelished travelogue about somebody else. Pierre is very good and makes a lot of sense when you know how poorly received MD was. I've not read Conman or Whitejacket, I'm reading Mardi at the moment, which is also very good, I'd say Mardi is kind of like a proto-Moby-Dick as well
Keep in mind that Typee was sold as nonfiction back when it was released. A guy even came forward claiming to be Toby and supporting the factual accuracy of the book. And even though these days it's pretty easy to tell where he embellishes for the sake of narrative, there's a lot of frankly anthropological recordings in there that impressed me. He had a fascinatingly modern approach to the study of other cultures.
>>24118574Yeah it reminds me a lot more of something like Wallace's The Malay Archipelago than it does Melvilles later more famous work
