Herman Melville, Elizabeth Hardwick
Herman Melville, Elizabeth Hardwick
1 Rating(s)
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Herman Melville

Author: Elizabeth Hardwick

Narrator: Karen White

Unabridged: 4 hr 34 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 06/02/2000


Synopsis

A single novel, an eternal classic, established him as a founding father of American literature. Now, a century after his death, a new popular surge of interest in Herman Melville calls for Elizabeth Hardwick's rich analysis of "the whole of Melville's works, uneven as it is, and the challenging shape of his life . . . a story of the creative history of an extraordinary American genius."

Hardwick's superb critical interpretation and award-winning novelistic flair reveal a former whaleship deckhand whose voyages were the stuff of travel romances that seduced the public. Later, a self-described "thought-diver" into "the truth of the human heart," Melville harbored a bitterness that knew no bounds when that same public failed to embrace his masterwork, Moby-Dick. Invaluable for enthusiasts of American literature, Herman Melville is itself a masterpiece of critical commentary in the tradition of D. H. Lawrence's Studies in Classic American Literature.

About The Author

Elizabeth Hardwick (1916 – 2007) was a literary critic, novelist, and short story writer.


Reviews

Goodreads review by robin

Melville's Sleepless Nights After reading Elizabeth Hardwick's lyrical introspective 1979 novel, "Sleepless Nights", I turned to this book to learn how Hardwick viewed one of my favorite authors. Born in Kentucky, Elizabeth Hardwick (1916-2007) was a co-founder of the New York Review of Books and a c......more

Goodreads review by W.D.

3.5* Quite useful and very well-written, if but lightly treating the texts, but hey it's an introduction. Strangely (but usefully), she has a lot to say about (and is *quite* keen on) Redburn, HM's unjustly ignored 4th novel (1849).........more

Goodreads review by Abigail

It has often been observed that what we as readers take away from a book is largely dependent of what we bring to it, in the way of preconception, attitude, and belief. Bearing this in mind, I will confess that I approached Elizabeth Hardwick's biography of Herman Melville as a poor substitute for t......more

Goodreads review by John

A review with, or in, digressions: Elizabeth Hardwick, who died a decade ago at 91, is having a literary revival. Her collected essays are due later this year; articles abound, and will abound. Sentences are offered for our delectation. Sarah Nicole Prickett gives us this observation of Bloomsbury: “......more