Redburn His First Voyage is a novel written by the famous American author Herman Melville. The book tells the story of a young man named Wellingborough Redburn, who embarks on his first voyage as a sailor on board a ship called the Highlander. Redburn is a naive and inexperienced youth who is forced to confront the harsh realities of life at sea, including the cruelty of his shipmates, the dangers of the ocean, and the harsh conditions of life on board a ship. The novel is a coming-of-age story that explores themes of ...
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Redburn His First Voyage is a novel written by the famous American author Herman Melville. The book tells the story of a young man named Wellingborough Redburn, who embarks on his first voyage as a sailor on board a ship called the Highlander. Redburn is a naive and inexperienced youth who is forced to confront the harsh realities of life at sea, including the cruelty of his shipmates, the dangers of the ocean, and the harsh conditions of life on board a ship. The novel is a coming-of-age story that explores themes of identity, morality, and the struggle to find one's place in the world. Redburn's journey takes him from his home in New York City to Liverpool, England, and back again, and along the way he learns valuable lessons about life, love, and the human condition. Melville's writing is vivid and evocative, painting a picture of life at sea that is both beautiful and brutal. Redburn His First Voyage is a timeless classic that continues to captivate readers with its powerful storytelling and rich characters.Yes, I will go to sea; cut my kind uncles and aunts, and sympathizing patrons, and leave no heavy hearts but those in my own home, and take none along but the one which aches in my bosom. Cold, bitter cold as December, and bleak as its blasts, seemed the world then to me; there is no misanthrope like a boy disappointed; and such was I, with the warmth of me flogged out by adversity. But these thoughts are bitter enough even now, for they have not yet gone quite away; and they must be uncongenial enough to the reader; so no more of that, and let me go on with my story.This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.
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Add this copy of Redburn His First Voyage to cart. $73.74, new condition, Sold by Booksplease rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Southport, MERSEYSIDE, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2010 by Kessinger Publishing.
Add this copy of Redburn His First Voyage to cart. $75.74, good condition, Sold by Bonita rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Newport Coast, CA, UNITED STATES, published 2010 by Kessinger Publishing.
I decided to celebrate this past Memorial Day (2012) by revisiting a classic American novel. I settled upon Herman Melville's "Redburn: His First Voyage" (1849).
"Redburn" was Melville's fourth novel and followed upon the visionary book, "Mardi". The author readjusted his course briefly to write a realistic, semi-autobiographical novel centering upon a sea voyage. Author's frequently are poor judges of their own work; and so, Melville spoke disparagingly of "Redburn".
The novel is both a coming-of-age story and a depiction of a changing United States. In its portrayal of a naive young man losing his innocence, the book reminded me of a later Huckleberry Finn and his journey down the Mississippi River. Wellingborough Redburn's journey was of longer scope: from New York City to Liverpool, England and back on a sailing merchant vessel, the Highlander. Melville makes much of names as a sign of change and character. Young Wellingborough is part of a distinguished once-wealthy family. His uncle had been a United States Senator and his family had been influential in Revolutionary days. With his father's bankruptcy, the family and Wellingborough fall on hard times. Wellingborough is a reader, a teetotaler, and a churchgoer. Much of the force of the book derives from the rude awakening to life he receives both during his voyage and on land. The sailors quickly change the young man's name from Wellingborough to "Buttons".
Redburn tells his story in his own voice which gives the novel a degree of intimacy. But the chapter headings, such as the first, "How Wellingborough Redburn's Taste for the Sea was Born and Bred in him" all speak of the protagonist in the third person. Much of the writing in the book seems detached from the narrator as well. Thus the book also manages to convey a sense of distance. This combination of perspectives is one of many instances of studied ambiguity in this seemingly straightforward story.
Redburn is an innocent at sea, and Melville makes much of his dress, his character, and his tastes in contrast with the rough, lonely, brutal life of the American sailor in the 19th Century. Much of the book is in a bantering tone, but a great deal is also tragic. Here and in his better-known books, Melville is enigmatic.
Besides telling the story of Redburn's transformation, the novel shows a change in the United States from the genteel character of the hero's grandparents and parents to the raw, expanding nation in the decades before the Civil War. Some of the best scenes in the novel occur at land, in Redburn's wandering the streets and ports of New York City before and after his voyage. During the voyage and while in England, Melville is again thoughtful and many sided. The book portrays the possibilities of the United States with its openness to diversity, to settlement, and new ideas (as compared with much of what Redburn sees in England). It also points out the slavery, poverty, and hard laissez-faire economy (Redburn is a reader of Adam Smith's "Wealth of Nations") of the young, growing United States.
The book is lengthy but reads relatively quickly. It is organized into 62 short chapters. The narrative moves smoothly and chronologically. The book can be divided into the following sections: 1. Redburn's life before the voyage and the considerations which led him to the sea; 2. the voyage from New York City to Liverpool; 3. Redburn's six-week stay in Liverpool; 4. the return voyage to New York City which features a storm at sea and an epidemic among the steerage passengers; 5. a short concluding section about Redburn in New York following the voyage.
The book proceeds largely in short scenes with characters moving in and out. Redburn himself is the central character. But other individuals, including the lost, forbidding seaman, Jackson, Redburn's rakishly handsome and reckless young friend Harry Bolton, and the conniving Captain Riga of the Highlander receive strong portrayals. The best scenes in the book take place in Liverpool and London, in dives, docks, cheap saloons and gaming houses as Redburn receives an unforgettable exposure to life's cruelties.
In its portrayal of a changing American character and a changing United States, "Redburn" proved an appropriate choice for thinking about the United States over Memorial Day . I was pleased to have the opportunity to revisit Melville and to reread with more understanding a book I had read long ago.
