Mention Of Books Benito Cereno
| Title | : | Benito Cereno |
| Author | : | Herman Melville |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Anniversary Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 160 pages |
| Published | : | December 19th 2006 by Bedford/St. Martin's (first published 1855) |
| Categories | : | Classics. Fiction. Short Stories. Academic. School. Historical. Historical Fiction. Literature. 19th Century |
Herman Melville
Paperback | Pages: 160 pages Rating: 3.6 | 6447 Users | 431 Reviews
Commentary As Books Benito Cereno
melville! in a melville house edition!crazy, right?
this is a nice taut little thrill-ride of a book. okay, it's got a lot of description of boat-architecture, so it isn't a complete thriller - melville does tend to go overboard (GET IT??) with the descriptions sometimes, but regardless, it is more emotionally engaging than, say, that book about the whale. and i haven't read a book more full of seamen since reading Torn.
to a modern reader, the situation is pretty apparent from the get-go, but the build to the reveal is so graceful and tightly written, that it doesn't matter if you see where it is going from the beginning; the story is still excellent. one might even call it "a real book."
love the character of captain delano. it is surprising to me to see such subtlety from melville. i suppose i shouldn't be - there is a lot of shading in bartleby, but this one is even more so. for a tiny little novella, there is a lot happening here behind the words. after i toss down this review, i am going to go do a little research about how this was received when it was written, because i can only assume there was some backlash about what this book has to say about the slave trade and how unsavory even the well-intentioned, naive "good" characters are portrayed.
also - squeee - there is a nice tie-in to cloud atlas, which is cool because that book is still fresh in my mind, and it was good to have it still in my brain-piece as i was reading the melville.
really glad i decided to snatch this up the other day. it was everything i had hoped it would be.
behold: an uncharacteristic digression!
why didn't i like moby dick? people i like like moby dick. is it because i had to read it in a mandatory american-lit survey course my freshman year at NYU? when i was distracted with "i live in new york" fever?? should i give it another shot? because i have liked both this book and bartleby, but i haaaated that whale. does it deserve a more thoughtful and older-karen revisit?
opinions are encouraged.
come to my blog!Itemize Books To Benito Cereno
| Original Title: | Benito Cereno |
| ISBN: | 031245242X (ISBN13: 9780312452421) |
| Edition Language: | English |
Rating Of Books Benito Cereno
Ratings: 3.6 From 6447 Users | 431 ReviewsAppraise Of Books Benito Cereno
Melville is a genius. This short Gothic novella begins ploddingly and quite dull but builds in tension and horror almost imperceptibly (unless you already know the story) to a sudden and all-encompassing tragic climax. Based on a true story, it was written and left by Melville as an exposition of facts seen from all sides and leaves all the uncomfortable questions in a bloody lump on your lap, "here, you answer them."There was unfortunately one thing I couldn't get past, one bias that I broughtI read my first Melville novella at the end of last year, Bartleby the Scrivener, and loved Melvilles use of antique language and his highly wrought sentence structures. However initially I found Benito Cereno tough going for the same reasons. It was only in retrospect I realised crafty old Melville is employing circumlocution as a means of heightening the sense of confusion in which the book abounds. The book has to be read twice, once from the perspective of the unreliable narrator, the good,
What a story! All along it is haunting and provocative, but when the "twist" comes, the reader is left floored. In this short story, Melville is asking questions about race, slavery, and life in the new world. How long can it last? Who is really "free" in all of this? Can we trust any of our assumptions? As with most Melville, you will need a dictionary handy, but I didn't find this one overly cumbersome. It definitely should be more well-known.
Delano knows Cereno's name, not his story
This *could* be criticism of a man whose racism makes him blind, but it is SO long and unnecessarily detailed (its an 80-page short story) and obvious and repetitive (He thought about this and this and this, but then decided not to think it was strange like it obviously is, hint hint!!) and the Africans are still the source of suspense which places them in the role of villains. Slave revolts are interesting and important historical subject matter, but the third person POV of an oblivious racist
Fascinating and deeply unsettling nineteenth century tale about race, slavery, crime and deception at sea. Although Melvilles motives on these issuesif even he knew what they wereare not clear, that in itself is what makes the story so enduring and timeless. However, what earns five stars from me is Melville's skillful handling of his real objective which was to show the reader how his/her own prejudices and biases (especially concerning race and slavery) affect perceptions. Benito Cereno is one
Everything was mute and calm; everything gray. The sea, though undulated into long roods of swells, seemed fixed, and was sleeked at the surface like waved lead that has cooled and set in the smelter's mould. The sky seemed a gray surtout. Flights of troubled gray fowl, kith and kin with flights of troubled gray vapors among which they were mixed, skimmed low and fitfully over the waters, as swallows over meadows before storms. Shadows present, foreshadowing deeper shadows to come.And come they
0 comments:
Post a Comment