Status
Available
Publication
New York : Knopf, 2005.
Description
Chronicles the life and career of American author Herman Melville, uncovering autobiographical elements in his diverse works, discussing the historical and cultural implications of his writing, and assessing his accomplishments as a writer.
User reviews
LibraryThing member jcbrunner
A lively biography about Herman Melville and his work. As the life of Melville was, apart from his seafaring youth, quite uneventful, unsuccessful and barely reported, Delbanco stuffs his biography with plenty of interesting cultural facts about and descriptions of New York and concentrates on
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Melville's works, esp. Moby Dick and Billy Budd. I did not like the ending, though. Instead of simply fading out, a chapter on the literary rediscovery and revival of Melville would have completed the circle begun with the display of the cultural icons Ahab and Moby Dick in the introduction. Show Less
LibraryThing member pbandy
An absolutely perfect companion for any Melville reader. Delbonco takes time when necessary to delve deeply into Melville's personal life while not dragging out too many tedious details. His analysis of the political climate during the writing of 'Moby-Dick' gives a quick history lesson which
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offers an inexperienced 19th century reader perfect context for the novel. Perhaps overblown was Delbanco's emphasis on the (perhaps) homosexual feelings between Melville and Hawthorne, however his analysis of primary documents, namely letters between the two, gave a friends perspective on Melville's work, as opposed to a critics. Stylistically the biography reads very well. Delbanco organizes the material chronologically, paralleling current events and events from Melville's life next to the novel he was writing at the time. The only flaw of the biography is Delbanco's tendency to berate certain points, such as Melville's sexuality or the struggling relationship between Melville and his wife. Show Less
LibraryThing member OmieWise
An excellent cultural and literary history of Melville's time. The sections on New York City alone are fabulous.
LibraryThing member arielgm
This excellent biography is prefaced by a revision of the ‘Extracts’ section at the beginning of Moby Dick. Where the original consists of literary and historical references to whales and whaling, Delbanco’s is a chronologically sequenced series of references to Melville and his writing from
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literary, cultural and political contexts, demonstrating his continued relevance. His stated intention is to “convey something of the tone and texture of Melville’s time while giving some sense of why, in our time, the glare of his genius remains undimmed” (xxiii). Partial though this sounds, the close readings of Melville’s writing are, for the most part, fair and balanced. They are placed alongside the account of his life with great skill, so that neither life nor work seems to dominate. Delbanco manages to cover a lot of ground in this surprisingly succinct book—in refreshing contrast to Hershel Parker’s weighty volumes. I admit that I found this the most enjoyable and useful of the books in my stack: but I would hesitate to recommend it for the shortlist because, brilliantly written though it is, it is simply one academic’s reading of Melville’s work set against his life, ultimately adding nothing startlingly new to the received image of Melville as a protean and unknowable figure. Show Less
LibraryThing member arielgm
This excellent biography is prefaced by a revision of the ‘Extracts’ section at the beginning of Moby Dick. Where the original consists of literary and historical references to whales and whaling, Delbanco’s is a chronologically sequenced series of references to Melville and his writing from
Show More
literary, cultural and political contexts, demonstrating his continued relevance. His stated intention is to “convey something of the tone and texture of Melville’s time while giving some sense of why, in our time, the glare of his genius remains undimmed” (xxiii). Partial though this sounds, the close readings of Melville’s writing are, for the most part, fair and balanced. They are placed alongside the account of his life with great skill, so that neither life nor work seems to dominate. Delbanco manages to cover a lot of ground in this surprisingly succinct book—in refreshing contrast to Hershel Parker’s weighty volumes. I admit that I found this the most enjoyable and useful of the books in my stack: but I would hesitate to recommend it for the shortlist because, brilliantly written though it is, it is simply one academic’s reading of Melville’s work set against his life, ultimately adding nothing startlingly new to the received image of Melville as a protean and unknowable figure. Show Less
LibraryThing member FormerEnglishTeacher
True to the title of this book, Delbanco spends about equal time discussing Melville and his works, including many lesser known works like “Pierre.” Adequate treatment of “Moby Dick” is included, and two or his masterpieces, “Bartleby the Scrivener” and “Billy Budd” are discussed in
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detail. As a retired English teacher who taught Melville, I was looking for a less academic book, much like the recent Thoreau biography (“Henry David Thoreau: A Life”); however, Delbanco’s target market is Melville fans looking for less discussion of the writer’s life and more about what he wrote. And that’s just what he delivered. Show Less
Subjects
Awards
LA Times Book Prize (Finalist — Biography — 2005)
Lionel Trilling Book Award (2006)
Booklist Editor's Choice: Adult Books (Biography — 2005)
San Francisco Chronicle Best Book of the Year (Nonfiction — 2005)