just finished this bad boy.

>>8329922
Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul; whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses, and bringing up the rear of every funeral I meet; and especially whenever my hypos get such an upper hand of me, that it requires a strong moral principle to prevent me from deliberately stepping into the street, and methodically knocking people's hats off - then, I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can. This is my substitute for pistol and ball. With a philosophical flourish Cato throws himself upon his sword; I quietly take to the ship. There is nothing surprising in this. If they but knew it, almost all men in their degree, some time or other, cherish very nearly the same feelings towards the ocean with me.

>>8329922
Billy Budd, Sailor has God-tier prose imo. Bartleby The Scrivener is also worth checking out - it's sort of a precursor to some of the early 20th century existentialists, at least it seemed to influence Camus to some extent.

"Talk not to me of blasphemy, man; I'd strike the sun if it insulted me."

>>8329922
seconding billy budd as good, but i havent read anything else by him

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anything to read prior to this??? reading a king james bible and am working my way through shakespeare. what else does melville draw from? dante, milton, homer, virgil etc? what shakespeare should i know at least minimum?

>>8330126
wodehouse

>>8329922
It's written by a white straight male.

>>8330134
>author's irrelevant specifications
let's keep this literature-related

>>8330134
>melville
>straight

>>8330126
i remember he explicity mentions Phaedo. not in a super deep way though. some macbeth parodies. edmund burke. several others.

you dont need any of it except the Bible if you buy an edition with notes.

>>8330159
you have a point there