Yes, Herman Melville sold a lot of books before he died, but it was his Typee, an account of “life among the savages,” that captured the popular imagination, not the unloved and disregarded Moby-Dick. Perhaps the most depressing part of seriously studying English literature is realizing just how little of it was actually read at any point in history by anyone. The printing presses of the Western world before the 20th century were kept humming not by Hawthorne or the Brontë sisters but instead by hastily written and only accidentally factual travelogues meant to shock and titillate the respectable middle class in an era when it was always difficult, frequently dangerous, and occasionally fatal to leave one’s home country.
White Rural Rage: The Threat to
Join the conversation!
Please share your thoughts about this article below. We value your opinions, and would love to see you add to the discussion!