Well that was dumb.

[synapticjava]

Just finished Bartleby the Scrivener. Boy, that was dumb. No actual conclusion, and just a guy that won't leave? Am I missing something? And dead letters? Mental note: Kick Williams on Tuesday.

Comments

[caviling]

Gasp!

YES YES OH MY GOSH YOU'RE MISSING SO MUCH BEST SHORT STORY IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE HATING BARTLEBY DOES NOT COMPUTE DOES NOT COMPUTE BRAIN ESSPLODE--*pop*

I certainly hope Williams tells you guys about how and why Melville wrote this. I promise it's not dumb or pointless.

And dead letters are letters that can't get where they're supposed to go. (Wrong address or whatever.) Bartleby's job was destroying thwarted correspondence.
I totally blame Williams for this. Without context, it's a puzzling story. (Sorry; I read it the first time with Wiliams in the American novel class, and then I had it last quarter with American Lit Goddess Lucy Rinehart, and I assure you it's good.)

Ah, Bartleby! Ah, humanity!

</english major>

Your icon makes me giggle, by the way.

[moonfire77.livejournal.com]

Yeah I pretty much felt the same way about it. Kick Williams for me while you're at it ok?

[lunabee34.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry you didn't like it, sweetie. I really love that story. I find it very very humorous. It's interesting if you read it in the context of Emerson and Thoreau. "Bartleby" has some interesting things to say about the concept of community and whether it's necessary for human survival, among other things.