Showing results by author "Herman Melville" in All Categories

The wilderness--forest, desert, glacier, jungle--has been the scene of the past century's most exciting stories, inspiring many of its greatest writers, including Jack London, Norman Maclean, Evelyn Waugh, Redmond O'Hanlon, Sir Wilfred Thesiger, H.M. Tomlinson and Algernon Blackwood. Selections from these authors' most gripping works are delivered by equally compelling narration producing an audiobook experience ideal for people who are fascinated by the beauty, insight and danger that awaits us all in the wild!

Sie sind längst mythische Figuren: der weiße Wal und Kapitän Ahab, sein von unauslöschlichem Hass getriebener Jäger. Aber Herman Melvilles Bericht von diesem ungeheuerlichen Abenteuer kann man immer wieder entdecken. Die neue Hörspielproduktion des Moby-Dick wurde schon mehrfach ausgezeichnet, unter anderem mit dem Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik als "künstlerisch herausragende" Neuveröffentlichung.

Typee is an idyll of four months among primitive South Sea islanders. However, the books also shocked its original audience with a truthful account of Polynesian tribal life, including their very liberal sexual practices. Typee won Melville great fame during his life and remains a favorite today.

Based on the life of an actual soldier who claimed to have fought at Bunker Hill, Israel Potter is unique among Herman Melville's books: a novel in the guise of a biography. In telling the story of Israel Potter's fall from Revolutionary War hero to peddler on the streets of London, where he obtained a livelihood by crying "Old Chairs to Mend," Melville alternated between invented scenes and historical episodes, granting cameos to such famous men of the era as Benjamin Franklin.

"Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street" is a short story by the American writer Herman Melville, first serialized anonymously in two parts in the November and December 1853 issues of Putnam's Magazine, and reprinted with minor textual alterations in his The Piazza Tales in 1856. A Wall Street lawyer hires a new clerk who, after an initial bout of hard work, refuses to make copy and any other task required of him, with the words "I would prefer not to".

Fully restored and remastered, Heritage Media presents the greatest of vintage artists in classic dramas from English and Irish Literature. Here is the legendary Ralph Richardson starring in ‘A Sentimental Journey’, adapted from the original tale by Laurence Sterne and the legendary Margaret Lockwood starring in 'Becky Sharpe' adapted from ‘Vanity Fair’, the original tale by William Makepeace Thackeray. Theatre Royal is a unique series of classic radio dramas produced in the 1950's by the late Harry Alan Towers.

Billy Budd, Sailor is the final novel by American writer Herman Melville, first published posthumously in London in 1924 as edited by Raymond M. Weaver, a professor at Columbia University. Other versions were later published. Melville had begun writing the original work in November 1888, but left it unfinished at his death in 1891. Acclaimed by British critics as a masterpiece when published in London, it quickly took its place as a classic literary work in the United States.

Omoo: A Narrative of Adventures in the South Seas is the second book by American writer Herman Melville, first published in London in 1847, and a sequel to his first South Sea narrative Typee, also based on the author's experiences in the South Pacific. After leaving the island of Nuku Hiva, the main character ships aboard a whaling vessel that makes its way to Tahiti, after which there is a mutiny and a third of the crew are imprisoned on Tahiti.

Herman Melville wrote the 1855 novella Benito Cereno, a story about a revolt on a slaver ship, the San Dominick, off the coast of Chile in 1799. It is an adventure story which highlights the cruelty of slavery and the hopeless desperation that slaves experience. The tale begins when Captain Delano of the whaling ship Bachelor's Delight spots another ship approaching, floating listlessly with torn sails.

Herman Melville August 1, 1819 - September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet of the American Renaissance period. Among his best-known works are Moby-Dick (1851); Typee (1846), a romanticized account of his experiences in Polynesia; and Billy Budd, Sailor, a posthumously published novella. Although his reputation was not high at the time of his death, the 1919 centennial of his birth was the starting point of a Melville revival, and Moby-Dick grew to be considered one of the great American novels.

Laurence Olivier plays the narrator, a successful Manhattan lawyer, in this adaptation of Herman Melville's Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street, first published in Putnam's Magazine in 1853. One day, he recruits a new clerk for his growing practice, the strangest man he has ever met. "Theatre Royal" is a series of radio dramas first broadcast by the BBC in 1953 and in the USA soon after. Starring many of Britain's finest actors, it was the only radio series in which Lord Olivier took a major role.

If you don't know Melville's letters to Hawthorne, you don't know Melville. These letters are full of passion, humor, doubt, and spiritual yearning, and offer an intimate view of Melville's personality. Lyrical and effusive, they are literary works in themselves. This correspondence has been out of print for decades, and even when it was in print it appeared in scholarly volumes of Melville's complete correspondence, aimed at the academy.

In 1797, young Billy Budd is impressed into naval service. It is a perilous time for a British Royal Navy still reeling from mutinies and marauding French ships. When Billy is forcibly transferred to HMS Bellipotent, he evokes the wrath of John Claggart, the ship's Master-at-arms. Claggart falsely accuses Billy of conspiracy to mutiny, a charge that will have a profound effect on the fates of both seamen.

Typee: A Peep at Polynesian Life is the first book by American writer Herman Melville, published first in London, then New York, in 1846. Considered a classic in travel and adventure literature, the narrative is partly based on the author's actual experiences on the island Nuku Hiva in the South Pacific Marquesas Islands in 1842, liberally supplemented with imaginative reconstruction and adaptation of material from other books. The title comes from the valley of Taipivai, once known as Taipi.

Herman Melville's life and writings continue to resonate with readers, inviting them into a world of adventure, philosophy, and introspection. His works inspire deep reflection on the human condition and the mysteries of existence. Melville's legacy as a literary pioneer, exploring the depths of the human psyche and confronting existential questions, remains enduring. His contribution to American literature and his ability to capture the essence of human experience make him a figure of profound significance in literary history.

Ahab is the captain of a whaling ship named the Pequod. His great obsession with the giant whale, Moby Dick, makes him embark on a dangerous voyage. Some years before, the captain lost his leg because of the whale and now Ahab’s main desire is to take his revenge on the whale by killing it. He is so obsessed, that Ahab is ready to sacrifice everything he has, including the Pequod and all the members of his crew, and even his own life.

Herman Melville, potentially one of America’s most important novelists, wrote White Jacket (published in 1850) based on his experiences serving the US Navy aboard the frigate USS Neversink from 1843 to 1844. White Jacket is considered to be Melville’s most politically charged novel due to its severe criticism of the US Navy and its policies at the time. In fact, the novel helped bring about the end of flogging aboard Naval ships (then a standard practice) due to its graphic and brutal descriptions of the floggings Melville himself witnessed.

Fully restored and remastered, Heritage Media presents the greatest of vintage artists in classic dramas of the early America’s. Here is the legendary Laurence Olivier starring in ‘The Country of the Blind’, adapted from the original tale by H. G. Wells and ‘Bartelby’ adapted by Herman Melville.Theatre Royal is a unique series of classic radio dramas produced in the 1950s by the late Harry Alan Towers.

"It is the horrible texture of a fabric that should be woven of ships' cables and hawsers. A Polar wind blows through it, and birds of prey hover over it." So Melville wrote of his masterpiece, one of the greatest works of imagination in literary history. In part, Moby-Dick is the story of an eerily compelling madman pursuing an unholy war against a creature as vast and dangerous and unknowable as the sea itself. But more than just a novel of adventure, more than an encyclopaedia of whaling lore and legend, the book can be seen as part of its author's lifelong meditation on America.

Call me Ishmael. These three famous words begin one of America's most epic novels, a tale of one obsessed captain, his doomed crew, and an elusive white whale named Moby-Dick. The massive original, however, can be very hard for young listeners to navigate. This beautifully abridged and adventure-filled version will thrill children and whet their appetite for the complete work - when they are ready to tackle it.