Springy story review: Bartleby, the Schriver by Herman Melville

Via Melville House, an independent publisher
in Brooklyn, New York

Why it springs to mind: When you're feeling disgruntled or unreasonably put upon at work. Or, after seeing this coffee mug.

Title: "Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall-street"
Where read: High school English class or online.
Length: 14,000+ words
Summary: To an employer's dismay and frustration, an employee slowly becomes less and less productive overtime and cannot be persuaded to change or even to quit employ.
Memorable: The enigmatic Bartleby, the mystery, the unanswered and unresolved tension, and Bartleby's ultimate display of passive resistance, but to no clear end
Origin: Hard to say, but perhaps this bio holds a clue. The author, "drifted into obscurity, writing poetry and working for the Customs House in New York City, until his death in 1891."
Quote:

“I prefer not to."
"Ah Bartleby, Ah humanity!"

Personal attachment: Just a favorite haunting story about a worker writer.
Pairs well with: "Division of Labor" (2013) by Benjamin Roy Lambert
About the author: The American author Herman Melville also wrote Moby-Dick (1851) and The Encantadas (1854).

Comments

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