Billy Budd, Herman Melville
Billy Budd, Herman Melville
4 Rating(s)
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Billy Budd

Author: Herman Melville

Narrator: Peter Joyce

Unabridged: 3 hr 43 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 01/03/2006

Categories: Fiction, Classic

Synopsis

On one level Melville’s tale is an historical adventure story telling of life aboard ship shortly after the mutiny at Spithead in 1797. Billy is taken from a homeward bound merchantman to serve on the ‘Seventy Four’ HMS Indomitable. He falls foul of Claggart, the ‘Master at Arms’, and the final confrontation results in death. Billy becomes an unwilling martyr - what passes for justice must be implemented because of the rebellious climate of the time. However, below the surface lie some of Melville’s thematic obsessions: the aristocratic savage placed against an inhumanity born of service in time of war, innocence overtaken by fate and the worthy encompassed by the inevitable. The natures of evil and conscience are explored and ‘Billy Budd’ is the author’s “last word upon the strange mystery of himself and human destiny”. Melville is regarded by many as the finest author America has produced.

About Herman Melville

Herman Melville (1819–1891) was an American novelist, short-story writer, essayist, and poet who is often classified as part of dark romanticism. He is best known for his novel Moby Dick and novella Billy Budd, the latter which was published posthumously. His first three books gained much attention, the first becoming a bestseller, but after a fast-blooming literary success in the late 1840s, his popularity declined precipitously in the mid-1850s and never recovered during his lifetime. When he died, he was almost completely forgotten. It was not until the "Melville Revival" in the early twentieth century that his work won recognition, most notably Moby Dick, which was hailed as one of the chief literary masterpieces of both American and world literature.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Brett on June 02, 2020

I first had to read Billy Budd in my high school literature class, and I didn't especially care for it back then. Not much has changed. It's still a dry, impersonal, and difficult-to-read drag. It feels weird to write that, since Melville is also of course the author of Moby Dick, one of our immense......more

Goodreads review by TYLER on May 24, 2021

"Billy Budd and Other Tales" showcased Melville's allegorical, gothic style of writing in its prime. The stories consisted of finely structured settings and carefully crafted character archetypes, both of which contributed greatly to the allegorical content created throughout this collection; howeve......more

Goodreads review by Susan on July 27, 2021

didn't love this collection of short stories with the exception of Bartleby the Scrivener, a 5 star for me.......more

Goodreads review by Max on January 29, 2023

Loved Billy Budd and Bartleby, Benito Cereno has rich texture but sort of peters out?......more

Goodreads review by Frankie on October 06, 2010

Having never read Melville beyond Moby Dick and Billy Budd, and with a mild distaste for "seafaring tales," I was pleasantly surprised to read several quite good, non-seafaring stories in this collection. Bad news first. Billy Budd to me has, and always will, represent that stark allegory of fable o......more

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