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/lit/ - Literature

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8652715 No.8652715 [Reply] [Original]

Can someone suggest reading order of Melville works?

>> No.8652841

>>8652715
just
stick
with
the
dick

>> No.8652844

>>8652715
Most people start with Moby-Dick and then move to Bartleby and Billy-Bud and the Encantadas. I'm working my way through all his works right now, and the only order-related thing I can recommend is reading Pierre and The Confidence-Man after Moby-Dick. If you want, it's also interesting to read up on his life and what he was going through while writing Pierre.

It doesn't really matter, though. You could read them in the order they were published or read whatever sounds interesting.

>> No.8652872

>>8652715
i read Billy Budd years ago and then read Moby-Dick kore recently.

just read whatever u want bro

>> No.8652877

>>8652844

I've never really given Melville a proper shake. Is he as good as people say?

I've noticed that critics who love Emerson tend to have a soft-spot for Herman too. Is there an obvious through-line?

>> No.8652986
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8652986

>>8652877
>I've never really given Melville a proper shake. Is he as good as people say?
Yeah. If you read one thing by him, read Moby-Dick. He doesn't top himself. But works like The Confidence-Man, Bartleby, and Pierre are fantastic if you love his prose and humor and want to see an early master experimenting with the form of the novel or diving deep into characters' psychologies.

His poetry isn't half bad either, especially if you like sprawling epic spiritual struggles (Clarel) or the American Civil War (Battle Pieces).

>>8652877
I haven't read enough of Emerson to compare the two.