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اعظم 100 كتاب في التاريخ: ما سر هذه العظمة؟- دراسة بحثية
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ايوب صابر
مراقب عام سابقا
اوسمتي
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تاريخ الإنضمام :
Sep 2009
رقم العضوية :
7857
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12,768
Herman Melville
(August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891) was an American novelist,
short story
writer,
essayist
, and poet. He is best known for his novel
Moby-Dick
. His first three books gained much contemporary attention (the first,
Typee
, became a bestseller), but after a fast-blooming literary success in the late 1840s, his popularity declined precipitously in the mid-1850s and never recovered during his lifetime.
When he died in 1891, he was almost completely forgotten. It was not until the "Melville Revival" in the early 20th century that his work won recognition, especially
Moby-Dick
, which was hailed as one of the literary masterpieces of both American and world literature. In 1919, the unfinished manuscript for his novella
Billy Budd
was discovered by his first biographer. He published a version in 1924, which was quickly acclaimed by notable British critics as another masterpiece of Melville's. He was the first writer to have his works collected and published by the
Library of America
.
Biography</SPAN>
Early life, education, and family</SPAN>
Herman Melville was born in New York City on August 1, 1819,
[1]
the third of eight children of Allan and Maria Gansevoort Melvill. Herman's younger brother,
Thomas Melville
, eventually became a governor of
Sailors Snug Harbor
. Part of a well-established and colorful
Boston
family, Melville's father, Allan, spent a good deal of time abroad as a commission merchant and an importer of French dry goods. After her husband Allan died, between 1832 and 1834, Maria added an "e" to the family surname — seemingly at the behest of her son Gansevoort.
[2]
The author's paternal grandfather, Major
Thomas Melvill
, was honored as a participant in the
Boston Tea Party
. Thomas Melvill, who refused to change the style of his clothing or manners to fit the times, was depicted in
Oliver Wendell Holmes
's poem "The Last Leaf." Herman Melville visited his grandfather in Boston, and Allan Melvill also turned to him in his frequent times of financial need.
The maternal side of Melville's family had been among Dutch settlers of the
Hudson Valley
in present-day New York state. His maternal grandfather was General
Peter Gansevoort
, a hero of the
Siege of Fort Schuyler
; in his gold-laced uniform, the general sat for a portrait painted by Gilbert Stuart, which is described in Melville's 1852 novel,
Pierre
.
Melville drew upon his familial as well as his nautical background. Like the titular character in
Pierre,
Melville found satisfaction in his "double revolutionary descent."
[3]
In 1826 Melville contracted
scarlet fever
, permanently weakening his eyesight.
[4]
Allan Melvill sent his sons to the New York Male School (
Columbia Preparatory School
). Overextended financially and emotionally unstable, the senior Melvill tried to recover from his setbacks by moving his family to
Albany
in 1830 and going into the fur business. The new venture was unsuccessful; the embargo of the
War of 1812
had ruined businesses that traded with Great Britain and Canada. He was forced to declare
bankruptcy
. He died soon afterward, when Herman was 12, and left his family penniless.
[5]
Although Maria had well-off kin and expected some inheritance from her mother's estate, the process was slow. Her kin were apparently concerned with protecting their own interests rather than settling their mother's estate so that Maria's young family would be more secure.
Melville attended the
Albany Academy
from October 1830 to October 1831, and again from October 1836 to March 1837, where he studied
the classics
.
[6]
Early working life</SPAN>
Melville's roving disposition and a desire to support himself led him to seek work as a surveyor on the
Erie Canal
. This effort failed, and his older brother helped him get a job as a "boy"
[7]
(a green hand) on a New York ship bound for
Liverpool
. He made the voyage and returned on the same ship.
Redburn: His First Voyage
(1849) is partly based on his experiences of this journey.
For three years after Albany Academy (1837 to 1840), Melville mostly taught school. From 1838 to 1847, he resided at what is now known as the
Herman Melville House
in
Lansingburgh, New York
.
[8]
In late 1840, he decided to sign up for more work at sea.
Travels in the Pacific (1841-45)</SPAN>
On January 3, 1841, he sailed from
Fairhaven, Massachusetts
on the whaler
Acushnet
,
[9]
which was bound for the Pacific Ocean. He was later to comment that his life began that day. The vessel sailed around
Cape Horn
and traveled to the South Pacific. Melville left little direct accounts of the events of this 18-month voyage, although his whaling romance,
Moby-Dick; or, The Whale,
probably describes many aspects of life on board the
Acushnet
. Melville deserted the
Acushnet
in the
Marquesas Islands
in July 1842.
[10]
For three weeks he lived among the
Typee
natives, who were called
cannibals
by the two other tribal groups on the island—though they treated Melville very well.
Typee
, Melville's first novel, describes a brief love affair with a beautiful native girl, Fayaway, who generally "wore the garb of Eden" and came to epitomize the guileless
noble savage
in the popular imagination.
Melville did not seem to be concerned about consequences of leaving the
Acushnet
. He boarded an Australian whaleship, the
Lucy Ann
, bound for
Tahiti
; took part in a mutiny and was briefly jailed in the native
Calabooza Beretanee
. After release, he spent several months as
beachcomber
and island rover (
Omoo
in Tahitian), eventually crossing over to
Moorea
. He signed articles on yet another whaler for a six-month cruise (November 1842 − April 1843), which terminated in
Honolulu
.
While in Hawaii, he became a controversial figure for his vehement opposition to the activities of Christian
missionaries
seeking to convert the indigenous Hawaiian population. After working as a clerk for four months, he joined the crew of the
frigate
USS
United States
, which reached Boston in October 1844. He drew from these experiences in his books
Typee
,
Omoo
, and
White-Jacket
.
These were published as novels because the publisher thought few readers without similar experience would have believed their veracity.
Melville completed
Typee
in the summer of 1845. After some difficulty in arranging publication,
[11]
he saw it first published in 1846 in London, where it became an overnight bestseller. The Boston publisher subsequently accepted
Omoo
sight unseen.
Typee
and
Omoo
gave Melville overnight renown as a writer and adventurer, and he often entertained by telling stories to his admirers. As the writer and editor
Nathaniel Parker Willis
wrote, "With his cigar and his Spanish eyes, he
talks
Typee and Omoo, just as you find the flow of his delightful mind on paper".
[11]
The novels did not generate enough royalties to support him financially.
Omoo
was not as colorful as
Typee
; readers began to realize Melville was not producing simple adventure stories
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