piccoline's review against another edition
4.0
Quite a curious little book. It's tonally all over the place, purposely, one would think. You can see fragments that remind you of Pierre, of The Confidence-Man, of Redburn and White-Jacket. Highlights include the strange and irreverent portrayals of Ben Franklin, John Paul Jones, and Ethan Allen.
Perhaps strangest of how successful Melville is in delivering a rather poignant end to all the strange mad whirls of styles that have filled the previous 180 pages.
Still, if you're interested in post-MD Melville, you must go with The Confidence-Man or Pierre first.
Perhaps strangest of how successful Melville is in delivering a rather poignant end to all the strange mad whirls of styles that have filled the previous 180 pages.
Still, if you're interested in post-MD Melville, you must go with The Confidence-Man or Pierre first.
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