Literature Network » Herman Melville » Typee

Typee


Advanced Search

(1846)



Typee is the first "romance" of the South Seas, a semi-autobiographical account of life in the Marquesas Islands in the 1840s. A blend of personal experience and the narratives of explorers and missionaries, it influenced many later writers on the Pacific, including Robert Louis Stevenson and Jack London.



~

Fan of this book? Help us introduce it to others by writing a better introduction for it. It's quick and easy, click here.

  • Quizzes on Typee

    No quizzes available to take yet.

Please submit a quiz here.

Recent Forum Posts on Typee

Typee as a class selection

As an American literature teacher, often working with advanced high school students, I feel compelled to teach Melville as part of the standard canon of American literature. Moby Dick, however, is just a little too much for even the best readers--I usually recommend they read it later in life. But Typee has an enduring appeal and is, for the most part, easily understood. To be sure, the redundant descriptions of the island can get tedious, but put in the perspection of Romanticism, it becomes tolerable. The issue of the encroachment of civilization upon the idyllic Typees still provides some spirited discussion. I think Typee is a better introduction to Melville than anything else. Afterall, it was his major work during his life and remained so until he was "rediscovered" in the 1920's. Maybe it needs to be "rediscovered."

Posted By Scott at Mon 7 Jun 2004, 12:00 AM in Typee || 1 Reply

general comments

I found this to be a most extraordinary book and would strongly recommend it to *everyone*. Just before reading TYPEE (which I have just finished), I read Nathaniel Philbrick's "In The Heart Of The Sea", which sets the scene perfectly for both TYPEE as well as any bold enough to thoroughly engage with MOBY DICK.

What is truly unique about this book is that it is, at points, an anthropological study of a Polynesian society -- from an unwilling captive perspective -- before the influence of Western society has really been felt at a cultural / social layer.

My only cautionary word is that I found reading it ultimately made me sad because I am going to TYPEE (aka TAIPI) valley soon ... actually making the trip ... and I know that what remnants may still exist of TYPEE culture will be little more than a shadow of what it once was. That's life. That's Western influence.

READ THE BOOK. FIVE STAR PLUS RECOMMENDATION.

Posted By Dave Allen at Tue 24 May 2005, 5:03 PM in Typee || 0 Replies

Melville: Taipi

I'm just reading Hermann Melville's Taipi and I think it's really a great novel. A very fascinating description of life in the Southern Sea with quite modern thoughts about the advantages and disadvantages of civilization. I#m not very much into American literature and thought until now that Melville is just Moby Dick. Does anyone know if this novel is autobiographic. I mean did he really live for a while on such an island or is ist based on his experiences as a sailor? I personally can only recommend this novel for reading. Are there more interesting works from Melville than Moby Dick and Taipi?

Posted By Schiller at Tue 22 Apr 2003, 7:19 AM in Typee || 4 Replies

Post a New Comment/Question on Typee



Attention Bookworms:

Buying from Amazon.com? Check out the Amazon Coupons first so you get the best deal.

Shakespeare wrote over 150 sonnets!
Join our Sonnet-A-Day Newsletter and read them all, one at a time.
Email:
As Seen In: USA Today "Hot Sites"