Billy Budd, Sailor

By: Herman Melville

Narrated by: William Roberts

Written some 40 years after Moby Dick, Melville's Billy Budd is a moving tale of good versus evil. Set aboard a British navy ship at the end of the eighteenth century, a young, innocent sailor's charm and good nature put the men around him at ease. Ship life agreed with Billy. He made friends quickly and was well liked, which infuriated John Claggart, the ship's cold-blooded superior officer.

Mutiny was a continual threat greatly feared by naval officers. Even minor offences were dealt with harshly to keep crews in their place, regardless of whether the accused was guilty or innocent.

The envious Master-at-Arms becomes obsessed with the destruction of the 'Handsome Sailor' and torments the young man until his false accusations lead to an eventual charge of treason against Billy.

Download the accompanying reference guide.Public Domain (P)2000 NAXOS AudioBooks Ltd.

A story of jealousy and innocence.

Melville is difficult to read, but after a while, it’s sometimes refreshing to listen to the sentence structure and verbiage. Thrilling descriptions almost paint a portrait of the story. I hadn’t read this book since the 70’s, I’m glad to “read” it again.

Awesome

I like the way Billy Budd was presented. I also like the way the story was fluent and not confusing. I did not like how long the chapters were.🙁

I would recommend this to my entire family, friends, my book club!

I chose this rating because of how cool, well written, amazing well read, and overall fantastic the book was!!!!

A good reading of a classic story

I had to read "Billy Budd" for a senior seminar class in college, and this audiobook version worked great for me. The narration of this version is a little dry, but then there are other versions where the quality is simply dreadful to say the least.

As many may already know, there are various copies of Billy Budd (BB: Foretopman, BB: Sailor, etc.) because Melville never published the novella in his lifetime. However, I listened to this audiobook while reading along with the Norton Critical Edition of Billy Budd, and the changes were hardly distinct (except for the name of the ship Indomitable vs. Belipotent and an added paragraph towards the end of the novella).

Anyway, I've listened to this audiobook 4 times since I bought it, and it's a great version in my opinion.

Billy Budd

I had to read the book for school and using the audiobook was indefinitely helpful. Though at times it was hard to get though because of the nature of the writing, I enjoyed the book.

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

Billy Budd, Sailor, written by: Herman Melville, Narrated by: William Roberts. This is a magnificent story of a good wholesome and loved by many Billy Budd, and how his nature fuses with the drastic life on a sea ship at the end of the 18th millennium. Billy is an impressed sailor who faces off with a ship’s first officer, antagonistic to Billy because of Billy’s goodness and appreciation by others. This book tells the story of the debased ravaging the pure; because of incarnate evil, lodged herein, in the first officer, John Claggart. The presence of the devil is a strong force in this novella.

Billy is eventually put under false charges, and reacts violently. Thus, Billy becomes unfairly charged, but being properly prosecuted for his violent reaction when unfairly charged. Needless to say, the crew is in Billy’s favor, but the book next weights the need of the admiralty law to prevail and keep order and the crew’s demand for true and proper justice.

A short novel, with multitudes of character interactions, deep seated conflicts in right and wrong, justice and equity and the disregard of those in control for the common man. All that counts is keeping those in power in authority.

Great little story.