Billy Budd: "Truth uncompromisingly told will always have its ragged edges"

By Herman Melville

Herman Melville was born in New York City on August 1st, 1819, the third of eight children.

At the age of 7 Melville contracted scarlet fever which was to permanently diminish his eyesight.

At this time Melville was described as being "very backwards in speech and somewhat slow in comprehension."

His father died when he was 12 leaving the family in very straitened times. Just 14 Melville took a job in a bank paying $150 a year that he obtained via his uncle, Peter Gansevoort, who was one of the directors of the New York State Bank.

After a failed stint as a surveyor he signed on to go to sea and travelled across the Atlantic to Liverpool and then on further voyages to the Pacific on adventures which would soon become the architecture of his novels. Whilst travelling he joined a mutiny, was jailed, fell in love with a South Pacific beauty and became known as a figure of opposition to the coercion of native Hawaiians to the Christian religion.

He drew from these experiences in his books Typee, Omoo, and White-Jacket. These were published as novels, the first initially in London in 1846.

By 1851 his masterpiece, Moby Dick, was ready to be published. It is perhaps, and certainly at the time, one of the most ambitious novels ever written. However, it never sold out its initial print run of 3,000 and Melville’s earnings on this masterpiece were a mere $556.37.

In succeeding years his reputation waned and he found life increasingly difficult. His family was growing, now four children, and a stable income was essential.

With his finances in a disappointing state Melville took the advice of friends that a change in career was called for. For many others public lecturing had proved very rewarding. From late 1857 to 1860, Melville embarked upon three lecture tours, where he spoke mainly on Roman statuary and sightseeing in Rome.

In 1876 he was at last able to publish privately his 16,000 line epic poem Clarel. It was to no avail. The book had an initial printing of 350 copies, but sales failed miserably.

On December 31st, 1885 Melville was at last able to retire. His wife had inherited several small legacies and provide them with a reasonable income.

Herman Melville, novelist, poet, short story writer and essayist, died at his home on September 28rh 1891 from cardiovascular disease.<

• Language: English
• Publisher: Copyright Group
• Release date: Mar 12, 2018
• ISBN: 9781780007212

Herman Melville

Herman Melville was an American novelist, essayist, short story writer and poet. His most notable work, Moby Dick, is regarded as a masterpiece of American literature.

Book preview

Billy Budd by Herman Melville

Herman Melville was born in New York City on August 1st, 1819, the third of eight children. 

At the age of 7 Melville contracted scarlet fever which was to permanently diminish his eyesight. 

At this time Melville was described as being very backwards in speech and somewhat slow in comprehension.

His father died when he was 12 leaving the family in very straitened times. Just 14 Melville took a job in a bank paying $150 a year that he obtained via his uncle, Peter Gansevoort, who was one of the directors of the New York State Bank.

After a failed stint as a surveyor he signed on to go to sea and travelled across the Atlantic to Liverpool and then on further voyages to the Pacific on adventures which would soon become the architecture of his novels.  Whilst travelling he joined a mutiny, was jailed, fell in love with a South Pacific beauty and became known as a figure of opposition to the coercion of native Hawaiians to the Christian religion. 

He drew from these experiences in his books Typee, Omoo, and White-Jacket. These were published as novels, the first initially in London in 1846.

By 1851 his masterpiece, Moby Dick, was ready to be published.  It is perhaps, and certainly at the time, one of the most ambitious novels ever written.   However, it never sold out its initial print run of 3,000 and Melville’s earnings on this masterpiece were a mere $556.37.

In succeeding years his reputation waned and he found life increasingly difficult.  His family was growing, now four children, and a stable income was essential. 

With his finances in a disappointing state Melville took the advice of friends that a change in career was called for.  For many others public lecturing had proved very rewarding.  From late 1857 to 1860, Melville embarked upon three lecture tours, where he spoke mainly on Roman statuary and sightseeing in Rome.

In 1876 he was at last able to publish privately his 16,000 line epic poem Clarel. It was to no avail.  The book had an initial printing of 350 copies, but sales failed miserably.

On December 31st, 1885 Melville was at last able to retire.  His wife had inherited several small legacies and provide them with a reasonable income.

Herman Melville, novelist, poet, short story writer and essayist, died at his home on September 28rh 1891 from cardiovascular disease.

Index of Contents

Dedicated To

Chapter I

Chapter II

Chapter III

Chapter IV

Chapter V

Chapter VI

Chapter VII

Chapter VIII

Chapter IX

Chapter X

Chapter XI

Chapter XII

Chapter XIII

Chapter XIV

Chapter XV

Chapter XVI

Chapter XVII

Chapter XVIII

Chapter XIX

Chapter XX

Chapter XXI

Chapter XXII

Chapter XXIII

Chapter XXIV

Chapter XXV

Chapter XXVI

Chapter XXVII

Chapter XXVIII

Chapter XXIX

Chapter XXX

Herman Melville – A Short Biography

Herman Melville – A Concise Bibliography

DEDICATED TO

JACK CHASE, ENGLISHMAN

Wherever that great heart may now be

Here on Earth or harbored in Paradise

Captain of the Maintop in the year 1843

in the U.S. Frigate, United States

CHAPTER I

In the time before steamships, or then more frequently than now, a stroller along the docks of any considerable sea-port would occasionally have his attention arrested by a group of bronzed mariners, man-of-war’s men or merchant-sailors in holiday attire ashore on liberty. In certain instances they would flank, or, like a body-guard quite surround some superior figure of their own class, moving along with them like Aldebaran among the lesser lights of his constellation. That signal object was the Handsome Sailor of the less prosaic time alike of the military and merchant navies. With no perceptible trace of the vainglorious about him, rather with the off-hand unaffectedness of natural regality, he seemed to accept the spontaneous homage of his shipmates. A somewhat remarkable instance recurs to me. In Liverpool, now half a century ago, I saw under the shadow of the great dingy street-wall of Prince’s Dock (an obstruction long since removed) a common sailor, so intensely black that he must needs have been a native African of the unadulterate blood of Ham. A symmetric figure much above the average height. The two ends of a gay silk handkerchief thrown loose about the neck danced upon the displayed ebony of his chest; in his ears were big hoops of gold, and a Scotch Highland bonnet with a tartan band set off his shapely head.

It was a hot noon in July; and his face, lustrous with perspiration, beamed with barbaric good humor. In jovial sallies right and left, his white teeth flashing into he rollicked along, the centre of a company of his shipmates.  These were made up of such an assortment of tribes and complexions as would have well fitted them to be marched up by Anacharsis Cloots before the bar of the first French Assembly as Representatives of the Human Race. At each spontaneous tribute rendered by the wayfarers to this black pagod of a fellow the tribute of a pause and stare, and less frequent an exclamation, the motley retinue showed that they took that sort of pride in the evoker of it which the Assyrian priests doubtless showed for their grand sculptured Bull when the faithful prostrated themselves.

To return.

If in some cases a bit of a nautical Murat in setting forth his person ashore, the Handsome Sailor of the period in question evinced nothing of the dandified Billy-be-Damn, an amusing character all but extinct now, but occasionally to be encountered, and in a form yet more amusing than the original, at the tiller of the boats on the tempestuous Erie Canal or, more likely, vaporing in the groggeries along the tow-path. Invariably a proficient in his perilous calling, he was also more or less of a mighty boxer or wrestler. It was strength and beauty. Tales of his prowess were recited. Ashore he was the champion; afloat the spokesman; on every suitable occasion always foremost. Close-reefing top-sails in a gale, there he was, astride the weather yard-arm-end, foot in the Flemish horse as stirrup, both hands tugging at the earring as at a bridle, in very much the attitude of young Alexander curbing the fiery Bucephalus. A superb figure, tossed up as by the horns of Taurus against the thunderous sky, cheerily hallooing to the strenuous file along the spar.

The moral nature was seldom out of keeping with the physical make. Indeed, except as toned by the former, the comeliness and power, always attractive in masculine conjunction, hardly could have drawn the sort of honest homage the Handsome Sailor in some examples received from his less gifted associates.

Such a cynosure, at least in aspect, and something such too in nature, though with important variations made apparent as the story proceeds, was welkin-eyed Billy Budd, or Baby Budd, as more familiarly under circumstances hereafter to be given he at last came to be called, aged twenty-one, a foretopman of the British fleet toward the close of the last decade of the eighteenth century. It was not very long prior to the time of the narration that follows that he had entered the King’s Service, having been impressed on the Narrow Seas from a homeward-bound English merchantman into a seventy-four outward-bound, H.M.S. Indomitable; which ship, as was not unusual in those hurried days, having been obliged to put to sea short of her proper complement of men. Plump upon Billy at first sight in the gangway the boarding officer Lieutenant Ratcliff pounced, even before the merchantman’s crew was formally mustered on the quarter-deck for his deliberate inspection. And him only he elected. For whether it was because the other men when ranged before him showed to ill advantage after Billy, or whether he had some scruples in view of the merchantman being rather short-handed, however it might be, the officer contented himself with his first spontaneous choice. To the surprise of the ship’s company, though much to the Lieutenant’s satisfaction, Billy made no demur. But, indeed, any demur would have been as idle as the protest of a goldfinch popped into a cage.

Noting this uncomplaining acquiescence, all but cheerful one might say, the shipmates turned a surprised glance of silent reproach at the sailor. The Shipmaster was one of those worthy mortals found in every vocation, even the humbler ones- the sort of person whom everybody agrees in calling a respectable man. And- nor so strange to report as it may appear to be-though a ploughman of the troubled waters, life-long contending with the intractable elements, there was nothing this honest soul at heart loved better than simple peace and quiet. For the rest, he was fifty or thereabouts, a little inclined to corpulence, a prepossessing face, unwhiskered, and of an agreeable color- a rather full face, humanely intelligent in expression. On a fair day with a fair wind and all going well, a certain musical chime in his voice seemed to be the veritable unobstructed outcome of the innermost man. He had much prudence, much conscientiousness, and there were occasions when these virtues were the cause of overmuch disquietude in him. On a passage, so long as his craft was in any proximity to land, no sleep for Captain Graveling. He took to heart those serious responsibilities not so heavily borne by some shipmasters.

Now while Billy Budd was down in the forecastle getting his kit together, the Indomitable’s Lieutenant, burly and bluff, nowise disconcerted by Captain Graveling’s omitting to proffer the customary hospitalities on an occasion so unwelcome to him, an omission simply caused by preoccupation of thought, unceremoniously invited

Reviews for Billy Budd

[kristelh_15 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Rating 3.67ReviewThis work was published after the author's death and was unfinished. It therefore has a lot of publications. I listened to the audio which was considered complete. It did choose to not change the name of the ship and went with the original name. The work is also controversial in some think it a religious paean and some a jaded satire. As in Melville's other works; we have conflict, conflict of the individual with society. Billy Budd, the young naive sailor, an innocent. We have Claggert the Master at Arms who is intelligent and devisive and Captain the Honorable Edward Fairfax Vere. Billy Budd is taken from a merchant marine ship and inscripted or made a part of a press gang. He went from a ship called Rights of Man to a 74 Gun frigate. He went willingly without fuss. This is conflict of the individual with government which strips him of his rights. On the ship Billy is a favorite except with Claggert. Why Claggert takes a dislike to Billy, we never really know. Billy has a stutter. In Melville's work, he lays the blame to the devil leaving his mark. So the conflict is more than with societal or an autocratic government. Billy Budd is said to be a Christ figure. Billy does not know his father and answers, "God knows"The works of Melville are also historical.Great Mutiny at NoreFrench Revolution and NapoleonAdmiral Sir Horatio Nelson, the national hero who commanded the British fleet at the 1805 Battle of Trafalgar. Another conflict that occurs is for Captain Vere who knows that Billy is an innocent but he is forced to follow law over conscience. And a conflict of good and evil. Billy being the good or innocent and Claggert the evil. Billy is innocent and cannot see the danger he is in. There really is no winner in the these conflicts and maybe evil actually wins over innocence. Thus the debate at the end between Purser and surgeon represent faith vs skepticism. And this same debate still exist with readers whether Melville is writing a Christian allegory or a satire. A quick read and the audio was well done. I will read it again as it is very quick.

[benuathanasia · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Boring. Like most of Melville's work it's so crammed with technical asides that there's little to no room for decent story telling.

[lisamaria_c · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I felt ambivalent about Moby Dick; I loved the grandeur of some of the language and beauty of some of the prose, but hated the lengthy digressions. With Billy Budd, a novella published after Melville's death, I also feel ambivalent, but here my problems are more integral, not just a matter of cutting away what I see as blubber. I've seen this described as allegory: like allegory, it often can come across as all too heavy handed. Billy Budd is the Christ-figure of almost pure good; Claggart is painted very much as a Satanic figure who hates Billy for his virtues. Captain Vere is a more complex figure. Given his position in this drama it would be easy to see him as Jehovah, as God the father, yet Melville speaks of his "mental disturbance." The narrator is intrusive--and he does things like say "for a literary sin then divergence will be"--and then goes on digressing. The narrator has a tone of omniscience, relates things only an omniscient narrator would know--then demurs he has complete knowledge and presents things as his guesses. The narration often struck me as ponderous, high-strung, melodramatic, and in describing Billy (described every several paragraphs as the "Handsome Sailor") so very, very gay. And yet there are some piercing psychological insights--and some really beautiful touches. (In the context of what was happening, the simple sentence "Billy ascended" was powerful and chilling.) Not a story I'd call a favorite, but worth reading.

[ashryan_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Billy Budd tells the story of an impressed sailor wrongfully accused of mutiny. I don't want to spoil what happens from there, but Melville examines themes of whether morality is a matter of intentions rather than consequences and whether the law can take this into account and fully serve justice, and whether innocence is enough to guarantee happiness in this life or whether hatred and envy can triumph over goodness. It's not as obscure as Moby Dick, though Melville does end it on that note, and while it doesn't have as much humor or grandeur (of a sort) as Moby Dick it fares pretty well in that regard considering its much shorter length. It's also not as polished, since it was an unfinished manuscript rather than a final draft, but I thought it was a powerful and well-told story, and on the whole I personally enjoyed it more than Moby Dick.

[auntieknickers · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Slightly handicapped by its being over 40 years since I read this book, but there's a reason it's a classic and has even been made into an opera. Much to say about evil and innocence. Highly recommended.

[whitreidtan · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

When a friend of mine from high school couldn't sell this book back at the end of the year and threatened to throw it out instead, I happily offered to take it off of his hands and save it from the bin. I mean, I have always been a fan of free books and I prided myself on being able to read and enjoy literature that frustrated and bored others. It turns out I should have let him throw the book in the trash can no matter how free it was. If Ahab had been real (and yes, I know that this is not Moby-Dick, which I, in fact, read long ago, and Ahab plays no part here), I would have begged him to take off his wooden leg and beat Melville around the head until he was too insensible to write any more of his dreadfully boring and tormenting works. In case I'm being too subtle, this is a roundabout way of admitting that I loathed this novella and short story collection and it took me well over a year to work my way through it, forcing myself all the way, unwilling to let it defeat me. The longest section of the book is the novella, Billy Budd. The story of a sweet, comely, exceedingly strong, and perfect sailor who in a moment of passion, accidently kills his accuser and therefore must be condemned to hang as per naval law, the tale is full of digressions and philosophical weavings and quite honestly, I was ready to hang this paragon of virtue myself by the end of it all just to be finished. Interpreting Billy as Adam, sinning through no fault of his own but doomed to be punished heavily for that sin or as a Christ figure, making the ultimate sacrifice in order that goodness might triumph over evil, did nothing to make the story more appealing or enjoyable. Perhaps I just don't like allegories, having had this visceral reaction to others as well. But the other stories in the collection were almost as tedious as Billy Budd with the slight advantage that they were shorter. And while I fully appreciate Melville's place in the American literature canon, I'd be happy to be the one to light the fuse and blow him away over the yardarm. (And yes, before any smug and pretentious defenders of literature come out of the woodwork, I do know the difference between canon and cannon and made a deliberate choice here.)

[bradkautz · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Billy Budd is a short novel by Herman Melville. It was written towards the end of his life and was unfinished at the time of his death, being discovered amidst his papers and published by his biographer. It is a gem of writing. It is compact in the telling of the central elements of its story but rich in its use of language to give the reader a sense of being physically present as the story unfolds. There are three principal characters and just one brief moment when they are all together. Suspense builds as the pivotal moment approaches, and the way in which it unfolds is completely unexpected. I found this story to be compelling and thought-provoking.

[rajivc_18 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I like this book though, like "Lord Jim", that I recently read, I had to get used to the writing style all over again. The sentences are long, and need concentration in order to understand. Yet, in this book, they convey an almost lyrical, poetic quality to the story, and you feel the emotion and the atmosphere of the scenes that Melville creates.The tragedy of Billy Budd does stay on - an abandoned child, illiterate, good-looking, almost innocent in his persona, condemned to death for one mistake made in panic, over a charge that was patently false, and made with malicious intent. Is this an allegory on life as well? As an old coach once said, 'Life is not fair. Neither is it fair. It is what it is'. Having said that, innocent die and the world forgets those who are not in positions of power. This is clearly demonstrated in the epilogue.The book could have been written in a style that is angry and bitter. Yet, the lyrical quality of the writing makes the tale even more poignant.

[tadad_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I know it's a classic. I don't care. Melville is just not to my taste. There's nothing wrong with the themes of the novel, nor the plot. I just don't like the writing.

[jcamilo_720582 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Although well know for Moby Dick, the truth is that Melville left us a few minor materworks such as Billy Budd. An allegory about Jesus? Or just a rant against physical punishment in the Navy? Just like his whale, it is possible to find different meanings in this book.

[laserwraith_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

The first half of the book was very very slow. *Everything* had to be explained with a long allegory, it seemed. And then, sometimes the allegory needed explaining. But after the half-way point, things got a bit better. Their was some more action.

[citizenjoyce · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

In 2018 this novella is quite dated. The heart-wrenching decision to follow the letter of the law no matter how immoral the punishment has no meaning in tump America where the idea is that regardless of how moral a law might be there is no need to follow it if it interferes with personal desires. Melville would be shocked.

[corinneblackmer · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A classic of homosexual writing that exhibits how Melville idealized the youthful Christian sailor Billy Budd as a Christ figure and abhorred the sodomite Claggert.

[timpaul_2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A good friend introduced me to an alternative reading of this novel, in which the narrator is obsessed with upholding the heroic myth of Billy Budd. Every incident is spun out by the narrator to show Billy in the most positive light possible, and Claggart as his evil opposite. If you look closely at the text for the 'facts' of the story though there's not a shred of evidence to support this romantic view of Billy.In fact, reading between the lines, it's possible to read Claggart as a basically decent man stuck in an impossible situation, and Billy as a charismatic psychopath with a tyrannical grip on his shipmates.A benefit of this interpretation is that it makes sense of the circumlocutions of the narrator's dialogue, as he turns somersaults trying to maintain the myth of The Handsome Sailor.It's also an appropriately cynical response from an author near the end of his life, looking back at the success of his earlier, more romantic, adventure stories.

[indygo88 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I wasn't familiar with the story of Billy Budd, and not being much of a classics reader, I think the abridged audiobooks are good enough to give the reader an idea of what the story's about. But the reader of this particular very abridged version read fast, which makes following the story a little difficult. I haven't read Moby Dick either, but I'm not sure I truly appreciate the prose of Melville. I found him rather wordy, especially near the beginning, & it wasn't until midway through the story that I felt like I was becoming engaged. And then near the end, my interest waned again. Maybe it was the abridgement -- I don't know. It didn't end as I'd expected, which took me by surprise, & wasn't particularly an uplifting note to end a book on.

[joririchardson · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I disliked this flatly written, inexpressive book. Every description and event seems very removed, and is recounted in a far off, stiffly written style. I also disliked Melville's depiction of the main character, Billy Budd "The Handsome Sailor" as painstakingly perfect. He is described as if the paragon of human nature and physical appearance. Billy's only flaw is that he develops a stutter when alarmed. I have never liked main characters like this, partly because they are boring to read about, and also partly because they always seem amazingly unrealistic.The storyline is about a perfectly honorable sailor - the hero Billy Budd - falsely accused of betraying his beloved captain, which ultimately ends in his execution.That was another thing I did not like about the plot - the evil character of Claggart is victorious in the end.I suppose that if you don't mind the haughtily excessive wording of needless descriptions, Melville's writing is admittedly detailed and well worded.It is very short - but don't expect on being able to breeze through it. Difficult reading due to a lack of dialogue and, as said, endless description and old fashioned wording.I would not recommend this book - read "Moby Dick" instead!

[soylentgreen23 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

'Moby Dick' is one of the most intense, amazing books I've ever read, but until recently it was the only thing of Melville's that I'd worked through. 'Billy Budd' appears on the 1001 list, and I found a copy, so I thought, why not?It was a struggle at times to see the plot for the words, so to speak; Melville's prose is not the refined English that one would expect from a more modern writer. It's full of excuses for why the story is being written, why characters are introduced, why places and scenes were chosen or visited. Nowadays this is all extraneous, and rightly so.The stories themselves were interesting though, and once I got used to Melville's style again I did quite enjoy myself.

[pinkpandaparade_1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Reading Herman Melville's book for the second time, I found that it made an interesting perspective on the law and human judgment, and how they sometimes come into conflict.Throughout life and history, laws have been around to define the boundaries between right and wrong, and providing appropriate punishment for those who overstep these boundaries. Most would say that the definitions for these boundaries are reasonable and easy to abide to. Sometimes, though, these definitions come into question. In Billy Budd the law defining the firm criteria of what constituted mutiny--the martial law--was contested by one of the ship's officers, the virtuous and seemingly flawless Billy Budd. The punishment facing him was death by hanging.Billy Budd was well-loved by all his workmates (except Master-at-Arms Claggart) and was called the "Handsome Sailor". On the ship, the Bellipotent Billy finds himself in an interesting situation as an envious Claggar is intent on framing Billy for treason.What makes Billy's breaking of the law different is the unique circumstances surrounding it. One of the characters, Captain Vere, makes no apology for this and instead justifies the punishment by saying that law can sometimes contradict human nature, and one must always show allegiance to the king and their duties as crew members. Though he mentions human nature, established law takes precedence in conflicts. Still, because humans make these laws, there is the possibly of human error and judgment. The law in this novel shows how the leaders keep order in society. Crew members made half-hearted attempts to refute him, but none could deny the existence of that law, so plain in existence and so straightforward in content.As with all of Melville's work, this was not an easy reading. There are the author's distinctive character descriptions and his digressions, but that does not mean that the book is entirely inaccessible. Some editions of this book have other stories included, as well as readers' supplements and bibliographies. There are a couple of movie editions of this book, including one with Terence Stamp and Peter Ustinov, as well as an opera.

[charlie68_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A short but deep account of the life of Billy Budd. Well-written and charmingly expressed.

[engpunk77 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I remember really liking this one in college. I had to read closely for clues to who the mutineer really was...a few images come to mind, but I remember really liking it.

[schmechi · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Herman Melville schildert die tragische Geschichte von Billy Budd, einem zum Kriegsdienst gepressten Matrosen, der seinen Dienst dennoch vorbildlich versieht. Seine Hingabe, Beliebtheit und Schönheit erweckt die Missgunst eines Vorgesetzten, der ihn in eine Falle lockt und der Meuterei bezichtigt. Aufgrund eines angeborenen Sprachfehlers unfähig sich zu verteidigen, schlägt Billy Budd zu und tötet den Vorgesetzten. Das Kriegsgericht unter Kapitän Vere gerät nun in eine Zwickmühle zwischen moralischen Bedenken und militärischer Pflicht. Bezeichnend ist eine Aussage Veres, die ich stellvertretend für das Dilemma des Gerichts zitieren will: "Von einem Engel Gottes erschlagen. Aber der Engel muss hängen."Der Kurzroman strotzt - wie bei Melville üblich - von historischen Exkursen, Metaphern und Symbolik ist aber dennoch flüssig zu lesen. Letzlich bleibt der Leser aber dennoch etwas unbefriedigt, zumal die Handlung selbst nicht wirklich zu überzeugen vermag.

[glennbell_1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

This is a very disappointing book. Herman Melville is considered an excellent writer and there is a sense in which the prose is well written but the plot and the symbolism is poor. The implausibility of a sailor being accidentally killing his accuser in front of the Captain of the ship because of his fainting during his accusing makes the story worthless. Furthermore, the decision to have him executed even though they knew him not guilty of murder is improbable. The symbolism of the Christ-like death of Billy is silly. I understand that Herman must have been a rather religious person and he stole his themes from the Bible. Frankly, this book is not worth reading and I regret the time I wasted reading it.

[markm2315 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

They found this in HM's papers and I don't think it was published until the 20th century. I can't really recommend it, but you should see what Benjamin Britten and EM Forster did with it (get the new Blu-Ray DVD with Jacques Imbrailo and John Mark Ainsley) you will shit yourself.

[kanarthi-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A densely written work which explores the nature of good and evil in human souls. The writing is like a beautiful tapestry. You won't get through it quickly, but each sentence is worth savoring. Make sure you get a version with good annotations, as there are many historical and cultural references.

[enmarch · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed the book, although the languge is quite difficult.
Essentially, it describes the conflict between the law and justice.