Israel Potter: His Fifty Years of Exile is loosely based on an autobiography that Melville acquired in the 1840s, Life and Remarkable Adventures of Israel R. Potter. The story revolves around Potter who leaves his plow to fight in the American Revolution. He is wounded in the Battle of Bunker Hill later captured by the British Navy and taken to England where his escape launches him into a series of adventurous events. Herman Melville was an American writer of novels, short stories and poetry. Melville was a schoolteacher for a short time and a seaman. On his first voyage he jumped ship in the Marquesas Islands. His first book, Typee, was an account of that time and became a bestseller and Melville became known as the “man who lived among the cannibals.” Public indifference to Moby Dick put an end to his career as a popular author. It was not until the “Melville Revival” in the early 20th century that his work won recognition.
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* Books Details:
- Published on: 2014-02-01
- Original language:
English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: .38″ h x
6.00″ w x
9.00″ l,
.54 pounds
- Binding: Paperback
- 176 pages
Israel Potter – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Israel Potter: His Fifty Years of Exile (1855) is the eighth novel by American writer Herman Melville, and his first serialized one, in installments in Putnam’s
History of ancient Israel and Judah – Wikipedia, the free
The name Israel first appears in the stele of the Egyptian pharaoh Merneptah c. 1209 BCE, “Israel is laid waste and his seed is no more.” This “Israel” was a cultural
Migrations of Israel – Save Your Heritage
MIGRATIONS OF ISRAEL “Moreover I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own and move no more.”
The Origin of the Palestine-Israel Conflict
If Americans Knew is dedicated to providing Americans with everything they need to know about Israel and Palestine.
Breitbart News: Big Peace
State Dept.: Palestinians Do Not Need to Recognize Israel as Jewish State The U.S. State Department does not consider it necessary for Palestinians to recognize
Full text of “Reminiscences of Manchester fifty years ago”
See other formats. Full text of “Reminiscences of Manchester fifty years ago”
The Order of the Tribes Of Israel
Bereshit (Genesis) 35:22 While Israel was living in that region, Reuben went in and slept with his fathers concubine Bilhah, and Israel heard of it.
British-Israel.us – Lesson 15 – The Amazing HISTORY of the
A lesson which teaches the Biblical history of the nations of the world
Movies – Salon.com
Cops who beat homeless man to death walk free Natasha Lennard; Jailing of an Alabama blogger: It’s worse than we thought Natasha Lennard
Palestine Facts
Liz, I totally agree with you. What a crock to call this website PALESTINE FACTS! Id like to know who is behind this website! Strangely enough, you dont see any
- Published on: 2014-02-01
- Original language:
English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: .38″ h x
6.00″ w x
9.00″ l,
.54 pounds
- Binding: Paperback
- 176 pages
Israel Potter: His Fifty Years of Exile is loosely based on an autobiography that Melville acquired in the 1840s, Life and Remarkable Adventures of Israel R. Potter. The story revolves around Potter who leaves his plow to fight in the American Revolution. He is wounded in the Battle of Bunker Hill later captured by the British Navy and taken to England where his escape launches him into a series of adventurous events. Herman Melville was an American writer of novels, short stories and poetry. Melville was a schoolteacher for a short time and a seaman. On his first voyage he jumped ship in the Marquesas Islands. His first book, Typee, was an account of that time and became a bestseller and Melville became known as the “man who lived among the cannibals.” Public indifference to Moby Dick put an end to his career as a popular author. It was not until the “Melville Revival” in the early 20th century that his work won recognition.
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0 of 0 people found the following review helpful.
A minuteman’s odyssey
By Karl Janssen
Israel Potter, originally published in 1855, is perhaps Herman Melville’s least-known novel, but it is wholly undeserving of the obscurity into which it has fallen. The story is based on the autobiography of an actual American Revolutionary veteran of the same name, though Melville took plenty of liberties in his adaptation. The title character is a farmer from the Berkshires of western Massachussetts who enlists as a minuteman in the colonial army and fights in the Battle of Bunker Hill. He then volunteers for duty with the newborn U.S. Navy, but his ship is captured by the British, and he is taken to England as a prisoner of war. Shortly after his arrival he escapes his captors, but must constantly elude further capture while he does his part to further the American cause on the opposite side of the Atlantic.I must confess a predisposed fondness for fiction pertaining to the American Revolution. I can’t understand why so many novels about the Civil War are churned out every year while this fascinating conflict that gave birth to our nation is largely ignored. When it comes to literature about the American Revolution, the obvious works to compare this book to are the novels of James Fenimore Cooper. Cooper, for better or worse, would have taken this story and romanticized it into a heroic epic. While I would hesitate to call Melville a realist, he as usual scorns romantic clichés and pens the story in his own unconventional style. The first few chapters are tough to engage with. Though I’ve never read the source material, Melville’s adaptation feels like it may be a little too faithful to the original. At first it’s all “Israel went here; he did this; he went there; he saw that,” with little insight into the character or his thoughts and feelings. Early on there are about seven or eight successive instances of capture and escape, when two or three harrowing examples probably would have sufficed.Beyond the first few chapters, however, the novel improve considerably. As the story goes on, Israel develops into a sort of 18th-century Forrest Gump. He drifts through the events of the plot like a leaf on a stream, coming into close association with several luminary historical personages of his day, whose identities I won’t reveal here. For much of the novel, it seems the purpose of the book is not to tell Israel’s story, but rather for Melville to present his personal take on these famous historic individuals, and also to recount classic naval battles that were perhaps household names for the readers of his day but are all but forgotten to today’s audience. His treatment of the historical characters is a fun mix of reverence and caricature. Although the subtitle of the novel is Fifty Years of Exile, the story really only concentrates on the first few years of that fifty. Israel himself is a cipher for much of that time, merely a lens through which we view the events of the narrative. It isn’t until the last few chapters that the reader begins to truly identify with him as a man and sympathize with his plight. Melville’s purpose for writing the book was to draw attention to the forgotten contributions of those who fought for America’s independence. Several wars later, the relevance of such commemoration has been dulled by the distance of time, but by the novel’s close the reader does feel a profound pathos for this humble and dedicated soldier.The main obstacle to enjoying this work may be Melville’s usual thesaurus-exhausting vocabulary, but that’s also part of the fun. After the first few chapters one becomes accustomed to his highfalutin word choices, his arcane analogies, and his somewhat Shakespearean cadence. Beneath the surface of this ornate prose, the author’s wry sense of humor is constantly bubbling. Israel Potter may not be Melville’s best novel, but it’s still a buried treasure worth digging for.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful.
Really interesting
By drjaye
Melville’s writing is always fantastic, his plots perhaps not so easy to appreciate. Israel Potter is something of a swashbuckling adventure at times, at other times a chronicle of late eighteenth century London. It is a novelistic interpretation of a popular biography. It also gives great perspective on the American Revolution, of which Potter was a veteran.
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