dycook's review against another edition
5.0
All of Melville's writing is strange, but this book is particularly difficult to characterize. On one hand, it reads like an American renditions of "The Odyssey." On another, some of the language in here could be plucked right out of "Ulysses." This is all the more complicated by the fact that this is a quasi-biography of a real person. But I think the closest approximation would have to be "The Sun Also Rises," another great expatriate novel.
Here, Melville lays down a scathing critique of America's bloodlust that began with the Revolutionary War. This mostly comes out through Melville's depictions of John Paul Jones and Ethan Allen. He shows us that the war they were fighting wasn't for American freedom, but for personal glory. This conflation of freedom and violence is a timelessly resonant critique on American society and politics, one that shows us Melville's hopes for America and explains how we failed.
Here, Melville lays down a scathing critique of America's bloodlust that began with the Revolutionary War. This mostly comes out through Melville's depictions of John Paul Jones and Ethan Allen. He shows us that the war they were fighting wasn't for American freedom, but for personal glory. This conflation of freedom and violence is a timelessly resonant critique on American society and politics, one that shows us Melville's hopes for America and explains how we failed.
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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