dinsdale 's review for:

Bartleby the Scrivener: a tale of Wall Street by Bob Neufeld, Herman Melville

4.0

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I first read this in the last century, in a high school American Lit class. I didn't remember much of it, except the famous last line, but I recall it was about a disgruntled office worker which I couldn't relate to at the time. Now, in this new shiny future, I work in an office and it all seemed more interesting to me. Although I never had coworkers with as colorful as names as Nippers, Ginger Nut, and Turkey.

I listened to the free Librivox version and the narration by Bob Neufeld as the old business owner / office manager was absolutely perfect. His performance added a lot to my enjoyment of this story.

This was a better read for me the second time around. Melville addresses all kinds of subjects in his book, among them: office dynamics, mental issues, isolation, capitalism. I found it to be rather amusing at the start only to get increasingly darker and sad right up until the last line. I'm glad I revisited it, and I appreciate that Librivox makes these public domain classics available in audio for free.