1.18k reviews for:

Bartleby, The Scrivener: A Story Of Wall-Street

Herman Melville

3.73 AVERAGE

sunday_evening's review against another edition

3.0

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Read for literary theory class. You hate your job so you enter a nearly-catatonic state and starve to death in a mental hospital? Yeah get in line buddy 

mjmcvey007's review against another edition

4.5

mysterious reflective

maggie22's review against another edition

2.75

slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: N/A

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

chiara_calime's review against another edition

3.5

funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: N/A

mediumwellread's review against another edition

4.0

mysterious sad fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

lovemyshelf's review against another edition

3.75

challenging reflective relaxing fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

emilio_breastevez's review against another edition

4.0

funny lighthearted reflective fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: N/A

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

ericle2's review against another edition

3.25

reflective medium-paced

vernittae's review against another edition

4.0

mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

marinetucker's review against another edition

2.0

challenging funny reflective slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Bartleby rebuffs even the most gentle demands of his Wall Street job with "I would prefer not to"; the mutinying slaves of the San Dominick skin their owner alive and tie him to the prow under a ragged sheet reading FOLLOW YOUR LEADER. Both stories start with a fissure or slip in the series of performances that produce authority, and proceed about how you'd expect until the fissure is sewn up again.

The collective rebellion seems a lot more real than Bartleby's withdrawal from life, but the slaves are defeated quite easily. Which is also realistic. That's usually how it went. I felt frustrated and bored by the motions of Benito most of the time. This is corny but I want to see it get an Inglourious Basterds type adaptation where the slaves pull off their scheme and set for the high seas.

Bartleby on the other hand was a perfect modernist story and a breezy read, felt more like Kafka than Melville.