A review by kellieveltri
Billy Budd, Sailor by Herman Melville

2.0

It’s hard to refute that this book is well-written—after all, the only thing that Melville may be better known for than his sprawling prose is his love of boats—but if you are a person who prefers plot-driven stories like I do, this novella is probably not for you. Not much happens, and even the stakes of the central crisis feel much lower than they should given the situation. All in all, this story is a quick read that’s largely exposition and denouement without a lot of climactic action in the middle, but at least you can say you’ve read Melville without having to attempt Moby Dick.

P.S. There’s no doubt that my reading journal on this book for class will include the phrase “heavy-handed symbolism” at least once.