Has anyone here read Pierre? There seems to be very little secondary material written about it. I can't stop thinking about it.
>>25015409So what are you thinking about it?
>>25015409I read it about three months ago, I don't think I "got it" but I could tell it was good (if even more experimental than Moby-Dick)I thought the second half where he moved to the city and started publishing made a bit more sense than the exceedingly ambiguous (heh) first half and overall the mood was pretty good (it felt a lot more like a Hawthorne work in some ways)Pierre by himself is a very interesting character, mostly because he's basically just another Melville self-insert, though this time focusing on his family and heritage more than the seaOverall I'd rank Melville's short stories above this one but it's definitely got a lot going for it
>>25015409It's a very, VERY strange book. It feels almost postmodern to me in how it refuses to give the reader any sense of resolution. Ambiguities indeed.All’s o’er, and ye know him not!
>>25015476>It's a very, VERY strange book. It feels almost postmodern to me in how it refuses to give the reader any sense of resolution.Having read The Confidence-Man a few months ago, I could've said much the same thing about that.
Why did OP make this thread when he clearly has zero intentions of talking about the book?
>>25015514I think Confidence-Man is a bit more straightforward, it's just trying to con the reader, plain and simple. It's a book about trust, theology and authorship. Once you make the connection that there is a shapeshifter trying to con people in different guises, and that said shapeshifter is most likely the devil (with the author trying to hide it) it all more or less clicked for me. But Pierre still confuses me.
I've never encountered someone who has read either Mardi or Israel Potter
>>25015922I read Mardi! I got the first volume of complete Melville from Library of America, which was Typee, Omoo, and Mardi (Some day I'll probably read through all of Melville)Mardi is his first fiction novel and it shows, weirdly structured plot and his tendency towards a slower, even sluggish pace, though his imaginative capacity gets its first chance to shineThere are aspects of his later master works, of course. Keen political and social insight with complex characters, generally quality prose and heaps of allusions. Overall, it was too long and sprawling (like most) and certainly more topical and less timeless, but was still enjoyableThe "Yillah in Ardair" chapter is my favorite, the one that most reflects his later works. I can't explain exactly what about it is so good, but it just stands out significantly
