About this title: Unpublished in Melville's lifetime, BILLY BUDD is considered one of his greatest works. It began as a ballad, but grew into a short novel with an ambiguous plot that raises more questions than it answers, about good and evil, justice and injustice. Billy Budd, a handsome, angelic, and beloved young sailor, is wrongly accused of inciting mutiny. He ...
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Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Mass-market paperback
Publisher: Pocket Books, New York
Date Published: 1990
ISBN-13:9780671731441ISBN:0671731440
Description: Poor. No dust jacket as issued. Highlighting/underlining. Spine has crease in it; minor wear on the covers. Interior pages yellowed; has notes and underlining. Still stiff and usable. Mass market (rack) paperback. Glued binding. Wsp Enriched Classic. Audience: General/trade. read more
Description: Good. Spine is smooth. Covers show some wear at the edges and corners. Good reading copy. Binding is Mass Market Paperback. Pages tanning. Used books may have price stickers. Most orders ship on the next business day. read more
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. Slight cover-, edge-, wear. NO stains, tears, writing, in bright & tight book. Mass market (rack) paperback. Glued binding. Audience: General/trade. read more
Binding: Mass-market paperback
Publisher: Scholastic Library
Date Published: 1968
Description: Good. No dust jacket. 3rd printing 5/68. 152 tanned pgs w/small piece missing on title pg; cover has small tear on top near spine that has been taped. Introduction and notes by Richard Robinson. read more
Binding: Mass-market paperback
Publisher: Washington Square Press
Date Published: 1981
ISBN-13:9780671648473ISBN:0671648470
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. Few notes and underlining on first nine pages, rest of book appears unread. Clean and Tight. Book seller stamp inside front cover. Thin line of black marker around edges of cover. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Signet Classics
Date Published: 1961-10-01
ISBN-13:9780451517142ISBN:0451517148
Description: Poor. Well used but still very readable, water stain on bottom edge. Does not interfere with text. Unconditional money back guarantee. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Signet-New American Library
Date Published: 1987
ISBN-13:9780451517142ISBN:0451517148
Description: Good. Some cover, edge wear, chip at back. Pages good, no writing. Revised and updated bibliography. 334 pages. Unpublished in Melville's lifetime, BILLY BUDD is considered one of his greatest works. It began as a ballad, but grew into a short novel with an ambiguous plot that raises more questions than it answers, about good and evil, justice and injustice. Billy Budd, a handsome, angelic, and beloved young sailor, is wrongly accused of inciting mutiny. He lashes out in a rage and ... read more
"Herman Melville's novella "Billy Budd" recounts the tragic story of a young man impressed into service aboard the British man-of-war 'Bellipotent' in the late 1790's. Billy is called the 'Handsome Sailor' no less because of his angelic features than for his absolute moral purity and innocence. Initially aboard a merchantman, where he is revered by his fellows and treated accordingly, once aboard a warship, Billy is not greeted by such universal admiration. John Claggart, the master-at-arms, the policeman of the ship, fosters an intense homoerotic hatred of Billy, drawing the young man into the commerce of realistic human interaction. Melville does a fantastic job in so short a work of characterization. From the main characters, Budd, Claggart, and the captain/philosopher Starry Vere, to minor characters of significance like the old Dansker, Melville gives carefully detailed and finely nuanced renderings of the players and their roles and responses to the events of the story.
Claggart's conflict with Budd takes on special urgency with the 1790's problem of mutinies aboard British sea-going vessels. Vere and his court must try to distinguish moral responsibility from legal necessity to judge the fatal interactions between Claggart and Budd. Melville is sensitive to late 18th century philosophical currents in regard to both American independence and the French Revolution - Discussions of rights and nature are scattered through the text. Complicating these strains are theological currents of good and evil, innocence and natural depravity. "Billy Budd" is a fine work, and wonderfully complex.
This excellent edition, compiled and edited by Hayford and Seals, is the appropriate one for the scholar or the completist. It includes extensive notes and critical interpretations (sadly only through the initial publication of this edition - 1962), photo reprints of Melville's manuscript, and textual commentary. Absolutely worth reading and rereading."
"I vaguely remember reading Moby Dick when I was a teenager and thinking how painful it was. This particular novel is very short and was unfinished at the time of Melville's death, perhaps not truly reflective of a polished Melville work. All of which is to say it was a fairly easy novel to read.
The story itself is reminiscent of Dickens in the sense that it is very wordy. I prefer succinct writing, but I will say that the wide scope of Melville's allusions and metaphors were actually quite pleasant to read. The plot itself unfolds so predictably that ironically, the wandering prose is the only thing that really captivates.
The story is basically one of a merchant British sailor impressed into the British Navy at the height of its conflict with Napoleonic France. While he seems to adapt to his new life well enough there are others in the crew that resent his immediately popular status and like all mean-willed men they seek to knock him from the heights. The results of that attempt are framed within the war and a recent series of mutinies, making any positive outcome impossible.
If you are looking for an easy read from a difficult American author, then this is the book for you. It will keep your interest but is hardly a must read. Three stars."
"I liked the justice and mercy interplay, but it didn't go far enough for my liking. I would have liked a little more exploration of the themes. In any case the language was just fantastic. One of these days I'll finally give Moby Dick a go."
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