About this title: A surprisingly domestic novel, PIERRE is about a nuclear family and its claustrophobic emotional dependencies. Dealing with immensely controversial issues such as incest and moral relativism, PIERRE was savaged by critics upon its publication in 1852. This new edition is a return to an early version, cutting the portions that Melville added after the novel was finished, in which Pierre, rather suddenly revealed to be a writer, must cope with the worlds of publishing and promotion.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: TRADE PAPERBACK
Publisher: Grove Press, Inc
Date Published: 1957
Description: GOOD. Covers rubbed; spine creased; binding tight; lies flat and square; minor edge and corner wear; page ends soiled; no marks noted. read more
Edition: Fourth Printing
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Signet #Cy727, New York
Date Published: 1964
Description: Good++ No Jacket. Massmarket Paperback. 408 pages, no stamps. Few scattered, light ink markings, the first 100 pages. Inside darkening. Foreword by Lawrance Thompson. read more
Edition: 4th printing since November 1964.
Binding: Mass-market paperback
Publisher: Signet Classics
Date Published: 1964
ISBN-13:9780451518965ISBN:0451518969
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. Slight edgewear. No creasing. Paper age-toning. Cover: B&W drawing, 9 graduated blocks, light to dark. Titles: red, black, green. Black titles on white spine. Fiction, parody: Written immediately after Moby Dick, Melville continues exploration of the meaning and nature of evil; a mocking of both Christian allegory and the cheerful, romantic novels of his peers. Melville b.1819, New York-d.1891. read more
Binding: SOFTCOVER
Publisher: Signet Classics
Date Published: 1964
ISBN-13:9780451513540ISBN:0451513541
Description: Very good. [No CD or ancillary materials included] [Authentic USA edition] [I will ship immediately] Book in standard used condition: slightly marked, moderately worn covers and edges, and good binding. read more
Binding: SOFTCOVER
Publisher: Signet Classics
Date Published: 1964
ISBN-13:9780451513540ISBN:0451513541
Description: Very good. [No CD or ancillary materials included] [Authentic USA edition] [I will ship immediately] Book in standard used condition: slightly marked, moderately worn covers and edges, and good binding. read more
Binding: SOFTCOVER
Publisher: Signet Classics
Date Published: 1964
ISBN-13:9780451513540ISBN:0451513541
Description: Very good. [No CD or ancillary materials included] [Authentic USA edition] [I will ship immediately] Book in standard used condition: slightly marked, moderately worn covers and edges, and good binding. read more
Binding: SOFTCOVER
Publisher: Signet Classics
Date Published: 1964
ISBN-13:9780451513540ISBN:0451513541
Description: Very good. [No CD or ancillary materials included] [Authentic USA edition] [I will ship immediately] Book in standard used condition: slightly marked, moderately worn covers and edges, and good binding. read more
Edition: Reprint
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Grove Press, New York
Date Published: 1929
Description: Fair. No Jacket. This book has some shelf wear as well as tanning and marks on the cover and pages. The library stamps and stickers are still on this book. This book is 505 pages. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf, New York
Date Published: 1941
Description: Very good. Dust jacket is soiled and shift. The book is clean and tight. Notes on the rear end paper. 416 pages. Edited by Robert S. Forsythe. read more
""Oh, Lord! that fat men should be so thin-skinned, and suffer in pure sympathy on others' account. A thin-skinned thin man, he don't suffer so, because there ain't so much stuff in him for his thin skin to cover."
SPOILERS FOLLOW!!!! Ok. MAN! Having finished about 12 hours ago my response to the ending is DOUBLEYOU TEE EFF!!!
Where did the Pierre Jonestown Massacre come from??? WHY? HUH??????? I am so baffled. I think I am let down? Cuz I freaking LOVED reading this book and the second half sure picked up steam.
Was there a LOT of sex or was there none? They had to be doing it right? Whenever a scene faded out and P and either L or I was in the room then they HAD to be effin, RIGHT??? I don't know! It's so ....ambiguous! I loved the rivalry with Glen but I thought the ending felt like such a quick wrapup given how LONG the book is. No words are ever spared on anything but then the ending is, "And by the way, Lucy has a brother (blame that on lack of word processors back then) and by the way, Pierre is gonna Kill Glen??? I wanted a more satisfying avenging! I wanted a return to Saddle Meadows! I mean, Glen's snubbing of Pierre was harsh (I loved that scene) but worthy of murder? Am I missing something else? I wanted more Plinlimmon!
And the allusion at the end to Isabel not actually being Pierre's sister? What's up?? What did the paintings prove or disprove? And if she isn't actually his sister, all the more reason for celebration! Pierre can have a harem! Why didn't Lucy's bro and Glen rat Lucy out to Isabel when they came to the door at the Apostles? I know Isabel always suspected there was something between Lucy and Pierre but I guess it had to be kept...ambiguous!
But my opinion of ending is totally diff from that of the book as a whole. Melville's writing totally speaks to my soul! There's this passage about how the soul or body might already know or feel something that the brain hasn't yet processed. "Death is like this." I love it! That's how I feel about his writing - putting into words these abstract thoughts and ideas that were astir in me yet never spoken! And he is SO FUNNY! I love all the crazy words that he must have made up - like povertyishness or whatever that one was.
Why are they all so unhappy at the end? I just did not see that coming?! Why didn't Pierre-a-tois just up and move to a diff. town? OR, I thought Lucy and Glen would marry, he'd croak/ have an "unfortunate incident" and she'd inherit Saddle Meadows back and welcome Pierre back! Wahhhh! This is one of those books I really woulda liked to have a college professor wiz leading a discussion over.
There were so many passages that just SPARKLED. Ones that'd make me just stop and smile. Just like Moby-Dick - a paragraph alone could sustain me for so long like a nice big egg breakfast made by Seth - that it did end up taking me a really long time to read. (Though the last 200 pages kinda started flying cuz I was HOOKED).
I didn't love the ending but I loved the book. A world that lets Melville die impoverished is most cruel."
"Did I really give this book a five star rating?!? It's hard to believe, but by the time I reached the end of this very strange book, I decided that I really liked it. Even though I made fun of the overwrought language and strange plot, I've come to the conclusion that it is a very good piece of literature. Don't let words like "odoriforous" or insane characters like Isabel discourage you--this actually is an excellent book."
"One of my favorite things about Melville is the complicated attitude his narrators have towards their subjects--often I come to the end of his novels and feel that the narrator has been just messing with me this whole time. This book was no exception--complex and dotty at times, but so incredibly smart that I can't help but admire it."
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