Typee (Barnes & Noble Digital Library)

By Herman Melville

Melville's first novel was based on his experiences in French Polynesia. Tommo and Toby, tired of an abusive life on the whaling ship, decide to hide on an island. They soon discover the Typees, who bring them into their village with kindness, despite being cannibals. Contrasting the idyllic life of the natives with the corrupting influence of civilization, Typee gives early evidence of Melville's genius.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Barnes & Noble
• Release date: May 3, 2011
• ISBN: 9781411452565

Herman Melville

Herman Melville (1819-1891) was an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and poet who received wide acclaim for his earliest novels, such as Typee and Redburn, but fell into relative obscurity by the end of his life. Today, Melville is hailed as one of the definitive masters of world literature for novels including Moby Dick and Billy Budd, as well as for enduringly popular short stories such as Bartleby, the Scrivener and The Bell-Tower.

Reviews for Typee (Barnes & Noble Digital Library)

[edgeworth_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The first novel by the famed author of Moby-Dick, Typee walks a fine line between fact and fiction. The author relates it as a true account of the several months he spent living amongst natives of the South Pacific; whether this is true or not is a matter of contention, and something that lingered in my mind throughout the book.After six months at sea, the horrors of which are described in a very strong opening chapter, Melville's whaling vessel puts into the Marquesas Islands in Polynesia to resupply. Unwilling to spend another stretch in the hellish conditions of the whaler, Melville and his comrade Toby jump ship and trek across to the other side of the island, seeking shelter with the natives in a valley called Typee. They are welcomed by the natives and treated like kings, before realising that the people of Typee have no intention of letting them leave. Melville is sick, and Toby attempts to leave and fetch help; he does not return, and his fate is not resolved until the end of the book. Melville spends three months living with ease amongst the natives in their tropical paradise, but this idyllic existence is tempered by his unease over what happened to Toby, his suspicion that the people of Typee engage in cannibalism, and his terror of being permanently imprisoned. He is perplexed as to why they are so determined to keep him there, and the islanders will not explain themselves; indeed, the reason for his imprisonment is never resolved.As non-fiction, this book is excellent. It combines a tale of adventure with a first-hand account detailing the way of life of an average Polynesian tribe, something unheard of at the time. Unfortunately, according to most modern scholars, it isn't non-fiction. Details are hazy, but the best records indicate that Melville spent less than three weeks living with the natives, and embellished his story with tales gathered from other Pacific sailors and explorers. And, judged as a story, it fails on a number of levels - it's poorly paced, intersparsed with tedious details about the minutae of island life, and quite repetitive. None of this would matter if Typee were a work of non-fiction, but in a novel they seriously impair the narrative. This is an interesting book for somebody interested in the genre, or in the history of the South Pacific, but is otherwise not reccomended.

[usnmm2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Had read this many years ago, but really enjoyed it much more this time around. What Melville wrote is part travel log, part sea story (tall tale) and idyllic and sometimes romanticized look on a way of life that has disappeared.This copy is based on the oringinal text that was printed in England. A much edited version was printed for the U.S. market where the more 'explicit' parts and the not so flattering look at the Missionaries were omitted.

[aliceanna-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Really quite good. A nice look at the life of the "savages" of the Marquesas. Aside from a little cannibalism of enemies, I wouldn't characterize this group as savage and would love to have spent a little time in their midst. I would rate the book higher, but Melville gets a little too bogged down in the minutae of things from time to time. When the focus of the book is the actual story of his adventure, it is really very compelling.

[kristykay22 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I bought this book at a friend's garage sale almost nine years ago, and put off reading it because I expected it would be pretty blatantly racist. And, you know, it is. It's also Melville's first novel (published in 1846) and the one that sold the best in his lifetime -- allowing him to marry and to dig into the writing of Moby Dick. This is the story of Tom and his friend Toby, two men (whose adventures are loosely based on Melville and his friend) who abandon the whaler they've been working on and hide out on the island Nuku Hiva in Marquesas Islands in the South Pacific. They quickly get lost, lose all their food, and are at the mercy of the elements before coming into the valley of the Typee. A first the two sailors are afraid because they heard from other sailors and islanders that the Typee were vicious cannibals, but they are treated well and soon settle in to island life. The conflict comes when they try to leave -- the islanders will not let them go back the way them came or approach the sea, and when Toby finally does convince them to let him greet a ship that has pulled into the bay, he disappears and no one will tell Tom where he went. This book is at its best when it skews to the adventure genre -- the first third of the book with Tom and Toby planning their escape, hiking through the wilderness, and searching for food and shelter is great. It's not so good when it gets anthropological. Melville consistently either infantilizes the native people on the island or puts them up on a pedestal of purity because they are untouched by "civilization." Melville has nothing nice to say about missionaries either (which scandalized his publishers almost as much as the nudity!). These racial attitudes are true to Melville's time, but still pretty frustrating to read.Luckily, Melville is also frequently hilarious, which helps balance out the text. I wouldn't recommend this book to everyone, but I would recommend paragraphs like this one where we see Melville really play around with the English language: "When I remembered that these islanders derived no advantage from dress, but appeared in all the naked simplicity of nature, I could not avoid comparing them with the fine gentlemen and dandies who promenade such unexceptionable figures in our frequented thoroughfares. Stripped of the cunning artifices of the tailor, and standing forth in the garb of Eden -- what a sorry set of round-shouldered, spindle-shanked, crane-necked varlets would civilized men appear! Stuffed calves, padded breasts, and scientifically cut pantaloons would then avail them nothing, and the effect would be truly deplorable." - p. 164

[crunky_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed Melville’s "Typee." I picked it up at a book sale and as I flipped through the pile of books I brought home it nabbed my attention and I ended up reading a good third of it that same day. The entertaining prose was the main highlight. It was easy to identify with the narrator, not only as an adventurer, but as someone who, while desperately curious about his captors and their intentions, is able to keep an open mind about their customs and lives. Digressions into some of these aspects didn’t last so long as to become wearisome, and if one or two threatened to, it was no problem to simply skim ahead to the next topic. Even when the subjects of the narrator’s observations were not overly gripping, the enjoyable style of prose usually kept me engaged.

[markbstephenson · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

More a memoir than a novel, but a great read! Sometimes hilarious but also has some trenchant critical observations comparing the failings of western civilization with the Typee tribe with whom he lived a short while.

[robintuttle · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A very interesting account of Melville's time spent among the Typee tribe of people in the Marquesas Islands in the South Seas. He recounts many of their customs; dietary, social, religious, etc. at first finding himself in their midst, he is terrified by their fierce reputation amongst sailors and fears they will kill and eat him. As time goes by, however, he realizes that they are some of the most kind and generous people he has ever known; albeit, still fierce in their occasional battles with neighboring tribes. This is very much a book in which Melville tries to reconcile the "civilized" world's view of these "savages" and his own experience of them, with the civilized world getting the worst of Melville's treatment. He realizes that although the Typee people do not have the conveniences of modern life, nor do they have a ver evolved intellectual life, they do indeed possess a happiness and community harmony that the advanced nations long ago lost. This is the first Melville I've read since getting a few dozen pages into Moby Dick and giving up. I found the book well written with many an interesting turn of language, a vocabulary that had me going to the dictionary many times, (but since I read on a Kindle, that is made very easy), and, to my surprise, a very lively sense of humor. I definitely recommend this book to those who have an interest in aboriginal societies and who enjoy a ver well written book.

[david_cain_37 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Half novel and half anthropology/sociology text, Typee is a marvelous bit of pre-modern fiction/prose from one of the best modern novelists.

[athenable · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Typee is my favorite Melville work.

[mattries37315 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

While known today for vengeful captain chasing a white whale, Herman Melville’s writing career began with a travelogue of his adventure on the Nuku Hiva and was his most popular work during his life. Typee: A Peep at Polynesian Life is a semi-autobiographical book that Melville wrote about his approximately 4 week stay that he “expanded” to 4 months in the narrative.Melville begins his narrative when he describes the captain of the “Dolly” deciding to head to the Marqueas Islands and then events surrounding the ship’s arrival at the island as well as the actions of the French who were “taking possession” of it. Then Melville and a shipmate named Toby decide to ‘runaway’ to the valley of the Happar tribe and execute their plan when they get shore leave. Climbing the rugged cliffs of the volcanic island, they hide in the thick foliage from any searchers but realize they didn’t have enough food and soon Melville’s leg swells up slowing them down. Believing they arrived in the valley of the Happar, they make contact only to find themselves with the Typee. However the tribe embraces the two men and attempt to keep them amongst their number, but first Toby is able to ‘escape’ though Melville can’t help but think he’s been abandoned. Melville then details his experiences along amongst the cannibalistic tribe before his own escape with assistance of two other natives of the island from other tribes.The mixture of narrative of Melville’s adventures and the anthropological elements he gives of the Typee make for an interesting paced book that is both engaging and dull. Though Melville’s lively descriptions of the events taking place are engaging, one always wonders if the event actually took place or was embellish or just frankly made up to liven up the overall tale. The addition of a sequel as an epilogue that described the fate of Toby, which at the time added credibility to Melville’s book, is a nice touch so the reader doesn’t wonder what happened to him.Overall Typee is a nice, relatively quick book to read by one of America’s best known authors. While not as famous as Melville’s own Moby Dick, it turned out to be a better reading experience as the semi-autobiographical nature and travelogue nature gave cover for Melville to break into the narrative to relative unique things within the Typee culture.

[stbalbach_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I found the grammer stilted and the vocabularly cumbersome yet it still flowed poetically one can predict what will be said in spirit just before it is said, a strange yet magical connection between author and reader across 170-years that trancends words. It is easy to see why this was so popular - sunshine, tropical beaches, naked natives, no work all play - the spirit of the California beach bum surfer can be found in Melville.

[meditationesmartini · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Who says Melville can't be fun? This was totally fun. It was really cool to speculate on how much of it is Münchhausenism (I'm going to assume it's all 100% true until shown evidence otherwise), and to see the Typees get the noble savage treatment (Wordsworth, e.g., was STILL ALIVE when this book came out. We think of Melville as, like, global, industrial, imperial, a far cry from the Romantics, but … not THAT far). And as a coconut aficionado I cannot but recommend this yarn.