Typee: A Romance of the South Sea [Hardcover]

Herman Melville (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 2002 | ISBN-10: 140433548X | ISBN-13: 978-1404335486

This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curated for quality. Quality assurance was conducted on each of these books in an attempt to remove books with imperfections introduced by the digitization process. Though we have made best efforts - the books may have occasional errors that do not impede the reading experience. We believe this work is culturally important and have elected to bring the book back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. This text refers to the Bibliobazaar edition.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 280 pages
• Publisher: IndyPublish.com (December 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 140433548X
• ISBN-13: 978-1404335486
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,281,161 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars I was there and it was like he said, August 25, 2011

By 

Paula "paulita" (United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Typee A Romance of the South Sea (Paperback)

I found this book in the ship's library while sailing the South Pacific. Read this while visiting Nuku Hiva so I enjoyed it more because I was there and could visit the places. Based on on Melville's experiences while captured there after jumping ship escaping a bad tempered sailing captain. Though a fictionalized tale, there is no doubt Melville had first hand knowledge. He had empathy for the "noble savages" and disliked what the missionaries had done to the island. This book is available for free as a Kindle download.

3.0 out of 5 stars Deeply conflicted, June 3, 2011

By 

Mudiwa (Northern Virginia, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Typee A Romance of the South Sea (Paperback)

Typee attempts to be two things, an adventure story, and an anthropological commentary. In my opinion, it fails at both. The two purposes basically interfere with each other. As an adventure, the story does not satisfy a modern reader. It was a sensation when it first came out, due to the shock value of an exotic culture. So far, so good, even today.

But the story plods along, with very little happening in the middle section. The first few chapters develop nicely, while the climax is rushed. The middle half of the book is a raw description of native life with no story motion whatsoever. That would be okay if the cultural business was illuminating. It is not. Melville constantly presents strange native customs with no explanation whatsoever. A frequent conclusion runs like "I never figured out what that was all about."

So the inconclusive cultural commentary would be okay if the story moved along. As it is, neither purpose is realized, making the book a tantilizing, mundane puzzle.

Having said all that, I did enjoy the book because I'm a sucker for this sort of setting, especially from "early" sources. Melville did live out something like what he described. So I am conflicted. I suppose that romantics like me, and scholars will enjoy and learn from Typee, while casual readers looking for a classic will be "underwhelmed".