Böcker av Herman Melville

¿Wellington, ya que tienes intención de embarcarte, ¿por qué no te llevas mi chaqueta de caza?; es justo lo que necesitas¿ Llévatela, te ahorrarás tener que comprar una. Ya lo verás, es muy caliente; tiene los faldones largos, duros botones de cuerno y muchos bolsillos. Así, con toda la bondad y sencillez de su corazón, me habló mi hermano mayor la víspera de mi partida hacia el puerto. Y, Wellington ¿añadió¿, ya que ambos andamos cortos de dinero, y te hace falta un equipo, y no tengo nada que darte, puedes llevarte también mi carabina y venderla en Nueva York por lo que te den. No, llévatela, a mí ya no me sirve; no me queda pólvora para cargarla. Por aquel entonces yo no era más que un muchacho. No mucho tiempo antes mi madre se había trasladado desde Nueva York a un agradable pueblo junto al río Hudson, donde vivíamos muy tranquilos en una casita. Varios amargos desengaños en ciertos planes que había proyectado y la necesidad de hacer algo para ganarme la vida, unidos a mi natural disposición aventurera, habían conspirado en mi interior para enviarme al mar como marinero.

American author Herman Melville published his first novel, Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, in 1851. The story of Ahab, the captain of the whaling ship Pequod, and his irrational pursuit for vengeance against Moby Dick, the huge white sperm whale that wounded him on a previous journey, is told in the book by the sailor Ishmael. Moby-Dick, a work that contributed to the literature of the American Renaissance, had received mixed reviews upon publication, was a commercial flop, and was out of print when the author passed away in 1891. It wasn't until the 20th century, on the centennial of its author's birth in 1919, that it gained recognition as a "Great American Novel." William Faulkner expressed regret for not having written the novel himself, while D. H. Lawrence praised it as "the best book of the sea ever written" and "one of the oddest and most wonderful books in the world." One of the most well-known starting lines in all of literature is "Call me Ishmael." Moby-Dick was started by Melville in February 1850, and it was finished a year later than he had intended, in 18 months. Melville drew on his observations as a common sailor between 1841 and 1844, especially those of whalers, as well as extensive reading in the literature on whaling.

Llamadme Ismael. Hace unos años ¿no importa cuánto hace exactamente ¿, teniendo poco o ningún dinero en el bolsillo, y nada en particular que me interesara en tierra, pensé que me iría a nave gar un poco por ahí, para ver la parte acuática del mundo. Es un modo que tengo de echar fuera la melancolía y arreglar la circulación. Cada vez que me sorprendo poniendo una boca triste; cada vez que en mi alma hay un noviembre húmedo y lloviznoso; cada vez que me encuentro parándome sin querer ante las tiendas de ataúdes; y, especialmente, cada vez que la hipocondría me domina de tal modo que hace falta un recio principio moral para impedirme salir a la calle con toda deliberación a derribar metódicamente el sombrero a los transeúntes, entonces, entiendo que es más que hora de hacerme a la mar tan pronto como pueda. Es mi sustitutivo de la pistola y la bala. Con floreo filosófico, Catón se arroja sobre su espada; yo, calladamente, me meto en el barco. No hay nada sorprendente en esto. Aunque no lo sepan, casi todos los hombres, en una o en otra ocasión, abrigan sentimientos muy parecidos a los míos respecto al océano. Ahí tenéis la ciudad insular de los Manhattos, ceñida en torno por los muelles como las islas indias por los arrecifes de coral: el comercio la rodea con su resaca. A derecha y a izquierda, las calles os llevan al agua. Su extremo inferior es la Batería, donde esa noble mole es bañada por olas y refrescada por brisas que pocas horas antes no habían llegado a avistar tierra. Mirad allí las turbas de contempladores del agua.

Ismael tinha um sonho: conhecer a rotina de um navio baleeiro. Mas o que ele não sabia é que o capitão dessa embarcação, Ahab, tinha apenas um objetivo: matar Moby Dick, uma gigante baleia branca.Será que Ismael vai sobreviver a essa perigosa aventura em alto-mar?

Read one of the greatest books of all time!A definitive editionLarge Print 16-point font for easy readingProfessionally typeset for premium quality print and easy readingFeatures an uplifting extended biography of the life and experiences of Herman MelvilleThe novel follows Ishmael as he sets out on his final voyage under Captain Ahab's command in pursuit of Moby Dick. Ahab becomes obsessed with hunting down the whale that took his leg. Tensions mount among the crew. They question the sanity of their captain.All my means are sane, my motive and my object mad.They embark on a dangerous mission into uncharted waters. Both man and whale become locked in a battle for survival. Will Ahab achieve his goal before it costs him his ship, crew, and his life?This exhilarating adventure story sails across the high seas delving deep into complex themes. Obsession, revenge, and human frailty thread through the book.Get your copy of this timeless classic today!

En 1799, au large des côtes du Chili, un bateau américain conduit par le capitaine Delano croise un bateau espagnol en piteux état, le San Dominick. Delano embarque à son bord pour proposer son aide. La plupart des officiers du bateau espagnol a disparu. Des esclaves noirs sont installés partout sur le bateau. Benito Cereno, le capitaine du navire négrier, raconte que le bateau a essuyé une tempête, puis que le scorbut a frappé l'équipage. Mais de nombreux détails interpellent Delano, il doute que ce soit la véritable histoire du San Dominick et de son équipage. Benito Cereno est un récit admirablement mené et profondément angoissant. Ses pages offrent une perfection dans la technique, une intensité d'atmosphère et une qualité de suspense qui font de Melville l'égal d'un Joseph Conrad.

The whaling ship The Dolly arrives at the Marquesas Islands in the South Pacific after sailing for six months without seeing land. The narrator, later known as Tommo, decides to leave the ship with Toby after growing weary of the hardships and abuse they suffered on board. Until they can board a better boat, the two guys want to remain hidden on the island of Nukuheva while subsisting on tropical fruits.Due to his injured leg, Kory-Kory feeds Tommo by hand, takes him around, and gives him a morning bath in the nearby stream. Toby immediately claims that the first time they are given meat, it is a roast human baby, and refuses to eat it. But as time passes, Tommo learns to relax and genuinely appreciate Typees life.He observes a portion of a partially eaten body after a battle with the Happars and concludes that the Typees consumed the dead Happars. Then, he keeps thinking about running away.Tommo runs away from a Nukuheva native in Typee who is attempting to buy his freedom for an Australian captain of a whaling ship.

"Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street" is a short story by the American writer Herman Melville, first serialized anonymously in two parts in the November and December 1853 issues of Putnam's Magazine and reprinted with minor textual alterations in his The Piazza Tales in 1856. In the story, a Wall Street lawyer hires a new clerk who, after an initial bout of hard work, refuses to make copies or do any other task required of him, refusing with the words "I would prefer not to." Numerous critical essays have been published about the story, which scholar Robert Milder describes as "unquestionably the masterpiece of the short fiction" in the Melville canon.