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A review by seaglasspoet
Bartleby the Scrivener by Herman Melville
4.0
I am annoyed by how much more I enjoyed this now versus the last time I read it as an undergrad studying literature. I have been hating on Melville for so long that changing this part of my identity is uncomfortable for me. Gosh darn it.
The way that Bartleby gives up and acknowledges the clear futility of playing the games of society and participating in societally demanded labor is now quite relatable. The loss of self and the near religious ascension of the character, and the way that the narrator is drawn seductively to this view which would result in the abandonment of the physically world (which we can examine through both the embedded desire for the freedom of social structures surrounding what gives man meaning and, additionally, through the lens of a queer reading) was very interesting for me this read through.
I guess my whole Melville-hating-identity has gone to the dogs. Does that mean I have to re-read "Moby Dick"?? This is my Walt Whitman crisis all over again. Ugh. Lolll!
The way that Bartleby gives up and acknowledges the clear futility of playing the games of society and participating in societally demanded labor is now quite relatable. The loss of self and the near religious ascension of the character, and the way that the narrator is drawn seductively to this view which would result in the abandonment of the physically world (which we can examine through both the embedded desire for the freedom of social structures surrounding what gives man meaning and, additionally, through the lens of a queer reading) was very interesting for me this read through.
I guess my whole Melville-hating-identity has gone to the dogs. Does that mean I have to re-read "Moby Dick"?? This is my Walt Whitman crisis all over again. Ugh. Lolll!