Typee

Herman Melville
1846
Rating: 6

How did I come across this book? I don’t remember. I read … ah yes, I watched a documentary about the 19th century American whaling industry on either Amazon or Netflix, and portions of it were about the whaling ship that was destroyed by a sperm whale, which inspired a non-fiction account which inspired Moby Dick. The documentary said that the novel was based on Melville’s experiences in Tahiti after he jumped ship, and may have mentioned an insurrection. It sounded exciting, and I was curious. Moby Dick is one of my favorite books.

I thought it was mostly a good read. It was held together as a story by the tension that ran throughout concerning what the indigenous people were going to do with Melville’s character. They are alleged to be cannibals.

On top of this is another mystery: the fate of the character, Toby, who jumped the whaling ship to live on the island.

Because I knew it was autobiographical to an extent, I wondered throughout which elements were true and which were embellished. My impression based on the background reading I’ve done (not much / wikipedia and a couple other items) is that it is mostly a true account.

It’s pretty shocking that it was published when he was 26, and it made him an overnight success.

The main criticism I have is that the book is arguably more of an ethnography than a novel, and as an ethnography it’s constrained by the language barrier between Melville and the locals.

Also left hanging is the question of why the tribe he tucks in with wanted to keep him as a prisoner. They treat him well, but they prevent him from leaving them. Why? Maybe there was no way for Melville to know.

Some of the passages and details were a bit slow-going, but I’m pretty quick to put a book down if I get bored, and I was able to stick with Typee without much of a problem.