sungyena's review against another edition
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
colin_cox's review against another edition
5.0
In an essay well-worth reading on Medium, user The Dangerous Maybe explores why Hermine Melville's "Bartleby the Scrivner" has emerged as such an important text to thinkers like Slavoj Žižek. They write, "For Žižek, this story provides us with a strategy for how to go about coping with our current geopolitical and economic deadlock." Bartleby's strategy is not action-oriented, at least not in the way we often associate action with change and progress. Bartleby is not a labor-rights organizer. He does not protest against abusive labor conditions or what today we would call "corporate greed." Instead, he says and repeats whenever his boss asks him to complete a menial task, "I would prefer not to." Bartleby's declaration lacks grammatical conviction. He neither confirms nor denies his boss's requests. Instead, he exists in a liminal, or as The Dangerous Maybe describes it, "indeterminate" space. By neither confirming nor denying his boss's requests, Bartleby can better see and understand the contours of mid-19th century capitalism. For Žižek, if we embrace the liminality of "I would prefer not to," we too can better see, understand, and resist the shape and demands of early-21st century capitalism.
Žižek has real concerns about fetishizing action for action's sake. Too often, we act in response to abuse, corruption, and misconduct, but we fail to consider how those actions can reinforce capitalism's dominant ideologies. Bartleby, at least for figures like Žižek, offers a solution to this potential problem.
Žižek has real concerns about fetishizing action for action's sake. Too often, we act in response to abuse, corruption, and misconduct, but we fail to consider how those actions can reinforce capitalism's dominant ideologies. Bartleby, at least for figures like Žižek, offers a solution to this potential problem.
kinou's review against another edition
5.0
I resolved to gather all my faculties together, and for ever rid me of this intolerable incubus.
I laughed out loud during this entire story and then the ending wrecked me, but in a good way!
My dear Bartleby,
rest in peace, with your kings and counselors and humble princes. The small and great are there; and the servant is free from his master.
I laughed out loud during this entire story and then the ending wrecked me, but in a good way!
My dear Bartleby,
rest in peace, with your kings and counselors and humble princes. The small and great are there; and the servant is free from his master.
cmanson16's review against another edition
4.0
This book frustrated me. It frustrated because the novella had no plot. Much like Senflied, the book was about nothing. But I think there is more upon further relflection. While reading I noticed Bartleby saying of "I would prefer not to" and his hermintage as a Romantic Ideal. It reminded me of American history at the time when writers like Nathaniel Hawthorne would leave the world and write free from distraction. Bartleby is epitome of this. He just wants to be left alone and all to himself. I think that is why people gravitate towards this book. The book maintains that Bartleby was lazy and was defiant. Readers relate to this as so many people work in offices or go to school, find their own "Bartleby." Maybe Bartleby is yourself and you just don't want to deal with life so you put off your work. I found myself actually liking this book after reading the Scarlett Letter and finding it not to my personal tatse. Melville is a great writer and creates a very realistic atompshere. This atmosphere is tense but is to far fetched from realtiy. His Sentences and syntax, though tough at many portions, are very simple to understand. This makes the novella enjoyable and this work has become my in the American literature unit so far. It is relatble, depressing but in conclusion I prefer not to say any more.
zoepevans's review against another edition
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
rilkeduino's review against another edition
5.0
I would prefer not to - dieser satz öffnet einen ganz neuen möglichkeitsraum.
die tragische figur des bartleby, dessen negation in letzter konsequenz auch dem leben gilt, wirkt, bis zu dieser finalen ernsthaftigkeit, komisch im kontext ontologisch festgezurrter bürokratien und mechanismen. Melvilles sprache kleidet das absurde in eleganz, bringt wundervolle sentenzen ebenso hervor wie herrliche dialoge: "Ach, das Glück huldigt dem Licht, daher glauben wir, die Welt sei heiter; das Elend dagegen hält sich abseits verborgen, daher glauben wir, es sei nicht vorhanden."
I would prefer not to - diese wendung ist ein prinzip, das sich wunderbar auf aktuelle und rekurrierende politische und soziale diskurse beziehen lässt. Sie hilft, sich nicht jeder blödsinnigen debatte oder aufgeregten forderung stellen zu müssen.
die tragische figur des bartleby, dessen negation in letzter konsequenz auch dem leben gilt, wirkt, bis zu dieser finalen ernsthaftigkeit, komisch im kontext ontologisch festgezurrter bürokratien und mechanismen. Melvilles sprache kleidet das absurde in eleganz, bringt wundervolle sentenzen ebenso hervor wie herrliche dialoge: "Ach, das Glück huldigt dem Licht, daher glauben wir, die Welt sei heiter; das Elend dagegen hält sich abseits verborgen, daher glauben wir, es sei nicht vorhanden."
I would prefer not to - diese wendung ist ein prinzip, das sich wunderbar auf aktuelle und rekurrierende politische und soziale diskurse beziehen lässt. Sie hilft, sich nicht jeder blödsinnigen debatte oder aufgeregten forderung stellen zu müssen.
fawna's review against another edition
4.0
I need to sit with this momentarily, but I am struck by how, 170 years later, Bartleby is relatable. Seems not much has changed in how the gears of capitalism impact the individual, and in how society responds to mental health needs, and how those gears just keep turning.
punksurfer's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
5.0