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Herman MelvilleTypee

Librivox recording of Typee, by Herman Melville.

Read by Michael Scherer

Typee is Melville's first novel, based on his actual experiences after having jumped ship in the Marquesas Islands. Extremely popular at the time of its initial publication, it provoked disbelief among its readers until the events it described were corroborated by Melville's fellow castaway, Richard T. Greene, who appears in the story as the character Toby. While the book is factually based, Melville exercised his artistic license so much that Typee is properly considered a work of fiction: the three week stay on which he based his story is extended in the narrative to four months, and he drew extensively on contemporary accounts by Pacific explorers to add cultural detail to what might otherwise have been a straightforward story of escape, capture and re-escape. (Summary from wikipedia.org)

For more free audiobooks, or to become a volunteer reader, please visit librivox.org.


This audio is part of the collection: LibriVox

Artist/Composer: Herman Melville
Source: Librivox recording of a public-domain text
Keywords: librivox; audiobook; literature

Creative Commons license: Public Domain

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Reviewer: librivoxbooks - - November 28, 2008
Subject: Reply to Jac from Tucson
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. :)

Reviewer: Jac from Tucson - - November 16, 2008
Subject: Read in a monotone, all ends of chapters fade before conclusion
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!

Reviewer: alamedared - - April 16, 2008
Subject: Don't mIss it!
I stumbled on this gem one winter night when it was very foggy here in California's Central Valley and was entranced. The story is captivating and the reading superb. Don't overlook this Melville--it is very enjoyable and you'll feel like you are right there going through all the trials and tribulations that the main characters. Hop on board and get ready for an adventure.

Reviewer: TheBookworm - - November 4, 2007
Subject: Well done!
Excellent theatrical reading. Thoroughly recommend it. (The BookWorm, Manchester, UK)

Reviewer: blueleader - - November 8, 2006
Subject: review of Typee read by Michael Scherer
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.