Herman Melville [Paperback]

Newton Arvin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 9, 2002 | Series: Grove Great Lives

This compelling biography of Herman Melville, one of America's most enigmatic literary figures, recounts a life full of adventure, hardship, and moral conflict. The grandson of two wealthy Revolutionary War heroes, Melville spent the first years of his affluent childhood in New York City, until his father went suddenly bankrupt in 1830, moved the family upstate, and died shortly thereafter. Melville escaped to sea in his early twenties, sailing first to England, then to Polynesia, where he found himself fleeing from cannibals, joining a mutiny, and frolicking with naked islanders. Much of his writing was based on his nautical adventures, but his novels were, for the most part, unsuccessful and misunderstood. His only close friend was Nathaniel Hawthorne, to whom he dedicated Moby-Dick. Later in life, Melville had to accept work as a low-level customs agent to support his wife and children. Newton Arvin's eminently readable biography beautifully captures the troubled, often reclusive man whose major works include Typee, Omoo, "Bartleby the Scrivener," Billy Budd, and his indisputable masterpiece, Moby-Dick. This winner of the 1950 National Book Award, Herman Melville is "the wisest and most balanced single piece of writing on Melville" -- The New York Times "....a superb exercise of critical scholarship and an ornament to American letters." -- Saturday Review of Literature

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Grove expands its "Great Lives" series with these top-shelf biographies. Arvin's portrait of Melville snagged a National Book Award (NBA) in 1950 and is still a leading title on the sailor turned author. Germaine de Stael vigorously opposed Napoleon and had affairs with the leading intellectuals of her day, all of which are marvelously detailed in Herold's 1958 volume, which also won an NBA. Though not a prize winner, Turnbull's portrait of the short, unhappy life of Scott Fitzgerald was the leading biography of its time (1962) before being bested by Matthew Bruccoli's Some Sort of Epic Grandeur in 1981. All of these volumes are worthy editions to public and academic library collections.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Grove Press; 1st Grove Press ed edition (February 9, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802138713
• ISBN-13: 978-0802138712
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,080,258 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars GOOD BOOK!, April 3, 2006

By 

Ethan Cooper (Big Apple) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

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This review is from: Herman Melville (Paperback)

Newton Arvin provides an involving overview of Herman Melville's personal life and literary career in this biography, which won the National Book Award in 1950. In contrast to many current biographies, Arvin clearly wrote this book and did not simply edit his lectures. This counts with me, since many biographies nowadays have the pace and style of lectures, not the elegance and precision of great written prose. The result, in this case, is that HERMAN MELVILLE is its own literary experience, not simply informed dictation transferred to the page.

Certainly, Herman Melville wrote what Arvin calls "one very great book." And Arvin does a wonderful job describing what he believes is great about MOBY DICK in his excellent chapter "The Whale". But he does an even better job addressing this question: Why didn't Melville write more great books after hitting his stride in MOBY DICK? The short answers to this question are burnout and Melville's failure, after MOBY DICK, to find a form to match his gifts. As Arvin explains, Melville chose, after his great book "...to write in a form that was as inexpressive to him as a foreign tongue." In a sense, this makes Melville's decline a lesson to all writers, as they grope for the form and structure that celebrates their content.

Although published in 1950, HERMAN MELVILLE holds up very well. By current mores, this biography probably underplays Melville's sexual issues and overplays its occasional Freudian insights. But the book is NOT dated.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Deserving National Book Award Winner, July 28, 2000

By 

J. McFarland "jbmcfar" (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Herman Melville: Cycle and Epicycle (American Men of Letters Series) (Hardcover)

This seminal critical biography of Melville is by far the best introduction to the life and work of Herman Melville. Arvin's book bristles with intelligence and insight and is, unlike many academic studies of Melville, highly readable. Search for it and when you get your own copy rejoice. Some smart publisher could do worse than bring this truly classic volume back into print.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What It Used To Take To Win A Pulitzer Prize, July 18, 2000

By 

J. McFarland "jbmcfar" (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Herman Melville: Cycle and Epicycle (American Men of Letters Series) (Hardcover)

Any fan of Melville's writing who has not read this seminal and still unequaled critical study and biography has sheer pleasure in store. Arvin's intelligence and immense knowledge are seamlessly matched by a writing style that is measured and seductive. Anybody reading this study without knowing jack about Melville would probably be so excited that s/he would have to rush out to buy the complete works. This book is worth whatever effort you have to invest to find a copy. The question is: why is this TRUE classic out-of-print?