Written by Herman Melville

Publisher: Putnam’s Magazine
Pages: 64
Genre: Short story, Classic
Published: 1853-12-01
Original Language: English

Academics hail it as the beginning of modernism, but to readers around the world—even those daunted by Moby-Dick—Bartleby the Scrivener is simply one of the most absorbing and moving novellas ever. Set in the mid-19th century on New York City's Wall Street, it was also, perhaps, Herman Melville's most prescient story: what if a young man caught up in the rat race of commerce finally just said, "I would prefer not to"?

Read from 2022-09-06 to 2022-09-06
Read in English
Rating: 4/5
Review: Read under the “it’s a classic!”-justification, Bartleby the Scrivener was a very fun little read. We hear the story through the voice of a lawyer who has hired a clerk who ends up being… more, or less, than the lawyer bargained for. The story is mildly humorous, keeps itself interesting, and while it’s very easy to read, and spawns an entertaining (at least for me) train of thought about what the story is actually about, and what it’s trying to tell the reader.

Not a groundbreaking story, and not one that is likely to stay with me for a very long time, but also not a bad way to kill some time in a relaxing way.