A review by booksandbigideas
Benito Cereno by Herman Melville

1.0

This *could* be criticism of a man whose racism makes him blind, but it is SO long and unnecessarily detailed (it’s an 80-page “short story”) and obvious and repetitive (“He thought about this and this and this, but then decided not to think it was strange like it obviously is, hint hint!!”) and the Africans are still the source of suspense which places them in the role of villains. Slave revolts are interesting and important historical subject matter, but the third person POV of an oblivious racist is painful to read, especially when Melville constantly points out the clues he misses. Also I read 4 whole pages describing a ship. No wonder Moby Dick is so long.