Now to finish my capsule reviews of the novels of Melville with my top two.
#2. Billy Budd, sailor (1924). Unpublished in Melville's lifetime, this novella is everything which Melville excelled at as a writer. It is a story about a naval ship, so the reality of life aboard the ship is there. It tells the story of a misfit, Billy Budd, who is described as beautiful, handsome, and is naturally charismatic. He is seemingly out of place as a sailor. It also tells a deeply philosophical story about the nature of truth and justice. And because the story is so short, there is little room for the usual Melvillean digressions into information gathering. The characters, Budd the sailor, Vere the captain, and Claggart the master-at-arms, each remain true to what is known about them, and the outcome of the novella is almost predetermined. There is no other decision that could be made, although there is much discussion about what should be done.
*The story was adapted into a movie by Peter Ustinov in 1962, who starred as Vere with Terence Stamp as Budd. The movie is quite well done and worth watching.
#1. Moby-Dick (1851). There is no doubt about the best of Melville's novels. Moby-Dick is in a class by itself. The story of Ahab and his quest for the white whale is well known. And while the sea story, with its action in the whaling boats is intense, that is not where the story is at its best. It delves deep into the hearts of the men who hunt for whales, with notions of revenge, greed, and piety finding their place in the story. The captain, the mates, the harpooners, all hold a place in this saga, all with different motives. This novel is filled with detail, from Ishmael's (the narrator) arrival in the whaling town, to the preparation of the Pequod for sail. There are discourses on whales and the art of whaling. There are descriptions of the characters. And although the digressions can at times seem tedious (it takes a lot of work to read about the comparison between a right whale and sperm whale head), they provide a backdrop to the main theme of the novel, the nature of truth. Each man sees truth in a diffrenet way. As circumstances change, truth changes. Ahab doesn't change, so his truth about the white-whale is fixed. And because his truth is fixed and he cannot be swayed, he is ultimately doomed along with those who follow him. Moby-Dick is Melville's greatest work, and for me the greatest 19th-century English language novel written. (Sorry Charles Dickens)
*There have been several movies made based on Moby-Dick, but I have not found any of them enjoyable as adaptations of Melville. Melville's writing is so much in the heads of its characters, that any movie based on this novel will be a disappointment to me. As movies, they might be fine. As Melville, they fail.
Tomorrow, a few closing thoughts on some of the themes in the whole of Melville's work.
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