Skip to content
Sign in
Artwork for The Herman Melville Library
Fiction

The Herman Melville Library

Herman Melville

Beneath the wide and wandering sky, this podcast casts its lines into the deep waters of story, history, and the restless questions that follow humankind wherever the tide may carry it. Each episode is a voyage - part chronicle, part meditation - where books become ships and ideas the shifting winds that drive them onward. Listeners are invited to step aboard, to hear tales of ambition and obsession, of quiet scholarship and roaring seas, and to consider what it means to chase knowledge across an ever-moving horizon. Come not merely to listen, but to sail, through the books of Herman Melville.

Play
Open in
  • 38 episodes
  • Avg 11 min
  • English

Episodes 38

NewestOldestLongest
All20Unplayed20In progress0Played0
Counted on this page — what you have heard stays on this device, so it is not something the list can be paged by.
  • S13 · E1
    Yesterday · 8 min

    Clarel Part I Canto 1 - The Hostel

    In which a pensive student, freshly arrived in the ancient city, reflects with a contemplative melancholy upon the contrast between his prior scholarly expectations and the profound, sobering realities of the Holy Land’s timeworn stones and silent...

    • Transcript
  • S13 · E2
    Yesterday · 7 min

    Clarel Part I Canto 2 - Abdon

    In which Clarel encounters Abdon, a venerable Black Jew and host, whose discourse and solemn bearing conjure ancient mysteries of lost tribes and adherence to ancient law far from Judea. The evening unfolds in thoughtful reverie, caught between...

    • Transcript
  • S12 · E90
    Thursday · 7 min

    White Jacket Chapter XCIII - Cable And Anchor All Clear

    In which the voyage of the noble frigate nears its destined shore, inspiring reflections upon the trials endured and the brotherhood forged beneath the vast, mysterious heavens; and as the world-frigate of humanity sails onward through endless night...

    • Transcript
  • S12 · E91
    Thursday · 6 min

    White Jacket Chapter The End

    In which the earth is figured as a world-frigate, crowded with suffering souls and sailing under sealed orders through the immensities of God. Amid injustice, death, and the hidden weight of human misery, the crew are urged not to turn their guns upon...

    • Transcript
  • S12 · E89
    October 7 · 11 min

    White Jacket Chapter XCII - The Last Of The Jacket

    In which the narrator recounts a perilous nocturnal task aloft the frigate, where the treacherous embrace of his own jacket nearly betrays him to a fatal fall into the deep. Through a harrowing descent and desperate struggle against the sea’s...

    • Transcript
  • S12 · E88
    October 7 · 14 min

    White Jacket Chapter XCI - Smoking-Club In A Man-Of-War

    In which the snug galley on the gun-deck serves as the convivial sanctuary of sailors’ smoke and gossip, where talk turns from politics to private affairs and dreams of shore leave while the ship nears its destined port. Amidst the ruminations of men...

    • Transcript
  • S12 · E87
    October 6 · 27 min

    White Jacket Chapter XC - The Manning Of Navies

    In which the author reflects upon the harsh realities and moral complexities of manning naval vessels, revealing the diversity and often woeful origins of those compelled or lured into service amidst the stern discipline and brutality of the sea....

    • Transcript
  • S12 · E86
    October 6 · 8 min

    White Jacket Chapter LXXXIX - The Social State In A Man-Of-War

    In which a detailed portrait is drawn of the uneasy social fabric aboard a man-of-war, where marines, though ostensibly soldiers, serve chiefly as a controlling presence over sailors rather than as warriors in battle. The narrative lays bare the...

    • Transcript
  • S12 · E84
    October 5 · 12 min

    White Jacket Chapter LXXXVII - Old Ushant At The Gangway

    In which the old sea-dog Ushant and his fellow sailors defy a stern command to shave their venerable beards, enduring harsh punishment in steadfast defence of their rugged manhood and maritime pride. The episode paints a vivid tableau of naval...

    • Transcript
  • S12 · E85
    October 5 · 10 min

    White Jacket Chapter LXXXVIII - Flogging Through The Fleet

    In which the grim custom of flogging through the fleet is laid bare with unflinching candour, revealing a punishment both archaic and monstrous, inflicted to strike terror and uphold stern discipline among seamen. The narrative contemplates the...

    • Transcript
  • S12 · E82
    October 4 · 20 min

    White Jacket Chapter LXXXV - The Great Massacre of the Beards

    In which the narrative unfolds the somber tale of a grievous edict issued aboard the Neversink, demanding the compulsory shaving of cherished beards—a decree met with staunch resistance and deep lamentation among the crew. The episode gently reveals...

    • Transcript
  • S12 · E83
    October 4 · 5 min

    White Jacket Chapter LXXXVI - The Rebels Brought To The Mast

    In which a stubborn band of aged sailors resolutely defies the command to part with their cherished beards, standing as dignified relics amid the bustling ship. Among them, the venerable old Ushant, a living emblem of naval tradition and endurance,...

    • Transcript
  • S12 · E81
    October 3 · 13 min

    White Jacket Chapter LXXXIV - Man-Of-War Barbers

    In which the intricate profession of man-of-war barbers is unveiled, their roles and remunerations amidst the rigours of naval life explored with a keen eye for the peculiarities of shipboard economy and discipline. The narrative then turns to the...

    • Transcript
  • S12 · E80
    October 3 · 13 min

    White Jacket Chapter LXXXIII - A Man-Of-War College

    In which the solemn realities of man-of-war life unfold alongside the peculiar rigours of naval education, where youthful midshipmen are tutored in the abstruse arts of navigation and fleet tactics by a meticulous yet somewhat impractical Professor....

    • Transcript
  • S12 · E78
    October 2 · 2 min

    White Jacket Chapter LXXXI - How They Bury A Man-Of-War's Man At Sea

    In which the solemn rituals of a man-of-war’s funeral are observed with martial discipline, as both officers and sailors alike pay their respects to a departed comrade amidst the relentless tides of duty and fate. The scene is quietly sanctified by a...

    • Transcript
  • S12 · E76
    October 1 · 8 min

    White Jacket Chapter LXXIX - How Man-Of-War's Men Die At Sea

    In which the quiet solemnity of a man-of-war’s sick-bay reveals the tender vigil kept by a mess-mate over a dying seaman, whose spirit is slowly extinguished beneath the sweltering ship’s decks. Amidst whispered duties and somber rituals, the living...

    • Transcript
  • S12 · E77
    October 1 · 7 min

    White Jacket Chapter LXXX - The Last Stitch

    In which the solemn and somber duty of the sail-maker’s gang sewing up a fallen shipmate’s body is observed with a touch of naval superstition and gentle comradeship amid the dim light of dawn. The old seamen debate the necessity of a final stitch,...

    • Transcript
  • S12 · E75
    September 30 · 6 min

    White Jacket Chapter LXXVIII - Dismal Times In The Mess

    In which the sombre and oppressive heat of an equatorial calm ushers in a grim reckoning among shipmates, as sickness and misfortune cast a dark shadow over their mess. The narrator, burdened by superstition and the heavy blame of a grumbling gunner’s...

    • Transcript
  • S12 · E74
    September 30 · 19 min

    White Jacket Chapter LXXVII - The Hospital In A Man-Of-War

    In which the reader is introduced to the sombre and confined sick-bay of a great man-of-war, where the air is scarce and the care dispensed by pallid attendants proceeds with a cadaverous solemnity amidst the unyielding discipline of naval life. Here...

    • Transcript
Showing 1–20 of 38 episodes