HERMAN MELVILLE - Autobiographical Novels

Herman Melville is one of the greatest American novelists, short story writer and a poet. His writing draws on his experience at sea as a common sailor, exploration of literature and philosophy, and engagement in the contradictions of American society in a period of rapid change. Redburn: His First Voyage details the adventures of a refined young man among coarse and brutal sailors and the seedier areas of Liverpool. Unable to find employment at home, young Wellingborough Redburn signs on the Highlander, a merchantman out of New York City bound for Liverpool, England. The tale is autobiographical and recounts author’s early experiences on a merchant cargo ship. Typee: A Peep at Polynesian Life describes the narrator’s four month stay on the island Nuku Hiva in the South Pacific Marquesas Islands. It is a story of capture, escape and romance with lovely nymph Fayaway. The narrative is based on the author's actual experiences in the South Pacific. Omoo: A Narrative of Adventures in the South Seas is a sequel to the Sea narrative Typee. After leaving the island of Nuku Hiva, the narrator ships aboard a whaling vessel that makes its way to Tahiti, after which there is a mutiny and the majority of the crew are imprisoned on Tahiti. Omoo is also based on the author's experiences in the South Pacific. White-Jacket; or, The World in a Man-of-War is a memoir of a year spent on a U.S. man-of-war, the 54-gun frigate USS “Neversink” in a voyage from Chile to Norfolk. The story is based on the author's fourteen months service in the United States Navy.