Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Typee | - | Herman Melville | Buy |
| 2 | Omoo | - | Herman Melville | Buy |
| 3 | Mardi | - | Herman Melville | Buy |
| 4 | Redburn | - | Herman Melville | Buy |
| 5 | White-Jacket | - | Herman Melville | Buy |
| 6 | Moby Dick | - | Herman Melville | Buy |
| 7 | Pierre | - | Herman Melville | Buy |
| 8 | Bartleby: The Scrivener | - | Herman Melville | Buy |
| 9 | Israel Potter | - | Herman Melville | Buy |
| 10 | The Confidence-Man | - | Herman Melville | Buy |
| 11 | Billy Budd | 1924 | Herman Melville | Buy |
Herman Melville’s standalone novels span a wide range of settings and tones, but most draw on his years at sea. The earliest books, “Typee” and “Omoo,” are relatively light adventures based on his time among Pacific islanders. “Redburn” and “White-Jacket” follow young sailors on merchant and naval voyages and have a more autobiographical feel.
“Moby Dick” (1851) stands apart from the rest. Captain Ahab leads the whaling ship Pequod in pursuit of the white whale that cost him his leg. The novel mixes adventure with philosophical digressions on obsession, fate, and the natural world. It opens with one of the most recognized lines in American literature: “Call me Ishmael.”
“Bartleby: The Scrivener” is a short, strange work about a Wall Street copyist who simply stops cooperating. “Billy Budd,” published decades after Melville’s death, tells the story of a young sailor falsely accused by a jealous master-at-arms aboard a British warship. “The Confidence-Man,” set on a Mississippi riverboat, is a dark satirical novel about deception and human gullibility that was largely ignored in its time.