Interest in the work of Herman Melville arose only after his death. The most amazing thing is that many readers of the XX century considered him their contemporary. A man of complex fate, Melville has seen a lot in life. The rich life experience of the American writer was reflected in his works, the most famous of which was the Moby Dick novel.
From the biography of Herman Melville
American writer Herman Melville was born on August 1, 1819 in New York. There he went to high school. In 1830, his father went bankrupt. The family had to move to Albany, where Herman continued his studies. A year later, my father was gone. Melville himself had to earn a living. He managed to work on a farm, in a bank, in school, in a fur factory.
In 1839, Melville hired the St. Lawrence Boat, which flew between New York and Liverpool. And two years later, the young man went on a long voyage along the South Seas. In those days, the extraction of fat from whales brought good profit to owners of whalers. Many managed to make a fortune in this fishery. However, the young adventurer quickly got tired of such hard work.
Once Melville, unable to withstand the severe temper of the ship's captain and his tyranny, escaped from the ship. For a month he lived among cannibals in the picturesque valley of Taipei on one of the islands in the south of the Pacific Ocean. And he didn’t even escape captivity. From there, Melville sailed to Tahiti in a whaling ship, then lived in Hawaii. In October 1844, a sailor who gained life experience arrived in Boston.
