Typee
Gelesen von Michael Scherer
Herman Melville
(4,622 Sterne; 218 Bewertungen)
Typee is Herman Melville's first book, recounting his experiences after having jumped ship in the Marquesas Islands in 1842, and becoming a captive of a cannibal island tribe. It was an immediate success in America and England, and was Melville's most popular work during his lifetime. It was not until the end of the 1930's that it was surpassed in popularity by Moby Dick, more than thirty years after his death. The story provoked harsh criticism for its condemnation of missionary efforts in the Pacific Islands. Many sought to discredit the book, claiming that it was a work of fiction, but this criticism ended when the events it described were corroborated by Melville's fellow castaway, Richard T. Greene, who appears in the story as the character Toby (Summary by Michael) (11 hr 42 min)
Chapters
Bewertungen
review of Typee read by Michael Scherer
blueleader
(5 Sterne)
Mr. Scherer does an excellent job of reading this text. Anyone who has read Melville knows how wordy it can get at times. Mr. Scherer is always very clear and articulate, and his pronunciation is good as well. This recording comes very close to being professional quality. The only possible down side is that Mr. Scherer does not always read with emotion, but that's not a bad thing when compared to other recordings that take the emotional interpretation too far. Overall an excellent recording, and I hope that Mr. Scherer will favor us with more wonderful readings of Melville texts.
Good book, great reader!
Bj
(5 Sterne)
Excellent reader his performance improved the experience of the story. The story is really fun and gripping enough to hold your attention if your mind wanders like me.
excellent reader interesting account of writer
jaded_grl
(5 Sterne)
the reader did a fantastic job. the writer records the true account of his stay on the island with the native typee. this account really goes to show you that you should not judge a person by what you hear others tell you of them. only a few chapters got boring while discussing culture or missionaries with out relating events to them, but when the writer would write "an example of this" and give an account to go along with the history -then I found it interesting. recommended reading!
Read in a monotone, all ends of chapters fade before conclusion
Jac from Tucson
(2 Sterne)
Some previous reviewer called this reading to be close to professional quality. While the reader does a good job, his flat presentation, with little to no vocal inflections, sucks life out of a great writing! Even more annoying, EVERY chapter fades at the end, even though events are still occurring and clearly the reading is not over. It's frustrating to be following a story and have it quickly fade, only to be replaced by what sounds like a computer-generated voice saying, "This is a Librivox recording. All Librivox recordings are in the public domain," and then the following chapter number is read, and the reading resumes, leaving me to wonder how the previous chapter ended. I'm going to the library and check out this book. That way, as the end of a chapter nears and I hear the volume being turned down, I can finish the action. It's very, very annoying and prevents me from coming close to giving this five stars. Perhaps I'm spoiled from listening to professionally-read audio books (which I listen to while working out on my stationary bicycle in my study), but there is no reason every chapter in this book is cut short!
Why is Typée a great book?
Justin Allen
(5 Sterne)
Typée is a great book because it has confusion from Toby and the writer usually about the behavior of the typées. I like Toby’s story in the end it is a thing most books would not do. It is real but not realistic. It has many chapters each about twenty minutes. Every chapter is like a detail of the typée life executed in a strange romantic or scary way. I like how the book goes into the main characters thoughts and opinions on every situation.
Reply to Jac from Tucson
librivoxbooks
(0 Sterne)
Jac, the chapters do not, in fact, fade out at the end. What is happening is that some listening devices/programs truncate files slightly (Realplayer in particular). It is now Librivox policy to add 5-10 seconds of silence at the end of each file (depending on its length) to counteract this problem. This particular recording was made in early 2006, before we knew about the problem. I will download the files and add the extra silence as soon as I have time. :)
Refreshingly Candid from early 19th Century point of view
Jon Mark Wilson
(4,5 Sterne)
This version has a great reader. It reads like an autobiographical in that the author's surmises on motives are not then artfully validated; there are no big reveals that explain everything, no definite antagonist, while the suspense of a deserter among an uncolonized Polynesian culture is palpable. While resorting to language and descriptions that are euro-chauvinistic, Melville is overall progressive, global, humanitarian, and critical of colonial abuses and missionary myopia. For those reasons it was controversial.
Good work!
TwinkieToes
(5 Sterne)
Good story, although not a whole lot of action for the length of the book. A lot of it (like much of Melville's works) are explanatory - of customs, etc. The reader is very good. Sound quality is A-1 superb; hard to believe this was recorded in 2005! There is no "end of chapter" wording at the end of each chapter. After so many recordings with this there, it feels like each chapter ends without warning. :)