Bartleby the Scrivener
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
"I prefer not to," he respectfully and slowly said, and mildly disappeared.
Academics hail it as the beginning of modernism, but to readers around the world—even those daunted by Moby-Dick—Bartleby the Scrivener is simply one of the most absorbing and moving novellas ever. Set in the mid-19th century on New York City’s Wall Street, it was also, perhaps, Herman Melville's most prescient story: What if a young man caught up in the rat race of commerce finally just said, "I would prefer not to"?
The tale is one of the final works of fiction published by Melville before, slipping into despair over the continuing critical dismissal of his work after Moby-Dick, he abandoned publishing fiction. The work is presented here exactly as it was originally published in Putnam's magazine—to, sadly, critical disdain.
The Art of The Novella Series
Too short to be a novel, too long to be a short story, the novella is generally unrecognized by academics and publishers. Nonetheless, it is a form beloved and practiced by literature's greatest writers. In the Art of the Novella series, Melville House celebrates this renegade art form and its practitioners with titles that are, in many instances, presented in book form for the first time.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
When the nameless narrator an elderly Manhattan attorney hired another scrivener named Bartleby, he hoped the new employee would have a positive effect on scriveners Nippers and Turkey. However, Bartleby's curious tendencies and obstinate attitude plagued and confounded the narrator. Lackey turns in a workmanlike performance in this audio edition of Melville's famous story. His emphasis and delivery will keep listeners engaged, and he lends distinctive voices to the characters. His rendering of Bartlebly's famous repeated line, "I would prefer not to," captures the matter-of-fact delivery emphasized in the text. However, Lackey's voice sounds a bit too young for story's narrator. Still, this is an enjoyable take on the classic tale.
