Length3h 33m
About this audiobook
With its intense mix of mystery, adventure, and a surprise ending, Benito Cereno at first seems merely a provocative example from the genre Herman Melville created with his early bestselling novels of the sea. However, most Melville scholars consider it his most sophisticated work, and many, such as novelist Ralph Ellison, have hailed it as the most piercing look at slavery in all of American literature.
Based on a real life incident—the character names remain unchanged—Benito Cereno tells what happens when an American merchant ship comes upon a mysterious Spanish ship where the nearly all-black crew and their white captain are starving and yet remain hostile to offers of help. Melville’s most focused political work, it is rife with allusions (a ship named after Santo Domingo, site of the slave revolt led by Toussaint L’Ouverture), analogies (does the good-hearted yet obtuse American captain refer to the American character itself?), and mirroring images that deepen our reflections on human oppression and its resultant depravities.
It is, in short, a multilayered masterpiece that rewards repeated readings and deepens our appreciation of Melville’s genius.
Audiobook details
GenreLiterary Classics, General Fiction
Length3 hrs 33 mins
Narrated byStefan Rudnicki
FormatAudiobook
Publish dateJul 2, 2009
LanguageEnglish
Series
More from Herman Melville
TypeeHerman Melville10h 34m$20
The Confidence-ManHerman Melville10h 27m$23
Bartleby, the ScrivenerHerman Melville1h 48m$10
Billy BuddHerman Melville3h 32m$12
Bartleby, the ScrivenerHerman Melville1h 28m$10
Moby-DickHerman Melville20h 58m$35
PierreHerman Melville19h 45m$25
The Gulag Archipelago Volume 3Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn21h 56m$46 · $0.00
Sherlock Holmes: The Ultimate CollectionArthur Conan Doyle59h 49m$5 · $0.00
The Complete Works of Fyodor Dostoyevsky: Novels, Short Stories and Autobiographical WritingsFyodor Dostoyevsky270h 59m$2 · $0.00
The Complete Works: Charlotte, Emily, Anne, Patrick & Branwell BrontëCharlotte Brontë, Anne Brontë, Emily Brontë138h 12m$1 · $0.00
L. M. Montgomery – Premium Collection: Novels, Short Stories, Poetry & MemoirsLucy Maud Montgomery155h 1m$2 · $0.00
MARK TWAIN: 12 Novels, 195 Short Stories, Autobiography, 10 Travel Books, 160+ Essays & Speeches (Illustrated)Mark Twain415h 9m5 (2)$2 · $0.00
The Great Gatsby: Original 1925 Edition (An F. Scott Fitzgerald Classic NovelFrancis Scott Fitzgerald4h 45m$18 · $0.00
The Brontë Sisters: The Complete Novels (Unabridged) (Annotated)Charlotte Brontë, Emily Brontë, Anne Brontë120h 3m$2 · $0.00
The Complete Works of TolstoyLeo Tolstoy412h 44m$1 · $0.00
Louisa May Alcott: 16 Novels in One Volume (Illustrated Edition)Louisa May Alcott141h 35m$2 · $0.00
The Fire Next TimeJames Baldwin2h 25m$15
The Complete Works of Oscar WildeOscar Wilde80h 38m$1 · $0.00
The Count of Monte Cristo (With Original Illustrations)Alexandre Dumas54h$1 · $0.00
The Complete Books of F. Scott Fitzgerald (all his 5 novels + all 4 short story collections published during his lifetime)F. Scott Fitzgerald87h 43m$1 · $0.00
Braving the TruthRachel Held Evans11h 31m$29 · $0.00
Richard Wagamese SelectedRichard Wagamese3h 14m$15
Henry V (The Play, Historical Background and Analysis of the Character in the Play)William Shakespeare, William Hazlitt8h 40m$1 · $0.00
Pathways to LightPrakash Amte7h 6m$8
The Holy BibleKing James99h 50m$12 · $0.00
The Greatest Works of Jules VerneJules Verne246h 57m$2 · $0.00
RiversnowTess Thompson8h 11m$20
Supreme ClienteleAshley & JaQuavis8h 58m$20
Body Refinement in a Beast Tamer’s World, Book 1Seth Ring14h 7m$27
EmberJeffrey Wilson, Brian Andrews13h 58m$23
The Complete Works of Jane Austen (Unabridged)Jane Austen88h 8m5 (1)$1 · $0.00
Desperate MeasuresBrenda Jackson8h 59m$28 · $0.00
Searching For ThanksgivingS.E. Smith4h 24m$20
Naughty 4Brenda Hampton7h 30m$17
The Dance with Me TrilogyShelley Shepard Gray21h 44m$35
Anne Shirley (Complete 14 Book Collection)Lucy Maud Montgomery125h 28m$2 · $0.00
The DopemanJaQuavis Coleman5h 25m$20
Sherlock Holmes: The Ultimate CollectionArthur Conan Doyle59h 49m$5 · $0.00
WhistlerAnn Patchett10h 45m4.5 (8)$29 · $0.00
Grand Opening 2Carl Weber9h 16m$20
Sons of Valor II: Violence of ActionBrian Andrews, Jeffrey Wilson12h 34m$23
Malevolent MagicMildred Abbott7h 13m$17
Bikes, Toys, and Hot BoyzGenesis Woods, Shantaé13h 9m$23
War LordBernard Cornwell13h 21m$33 · $0.00
Ghetto BastardK’wan7h 37m$20
The Great Gatsby: Original 1925 Edition (An F. Scott Fitzgerald Classic NovelFrancis Scott Fitzgerald4h 45m$18 · $0.00
You may also like
A Rogue by CompulsionVictor Bridges11h 9m$1 · $0.00
Death Lands a CargoArthur Leo Zagat1h 2m$7 · $0.00
Raw GoldBertrand William Sinclair5h 50m$2 · $0.00
The Lunatic at LargeJ. Storer Clouston6h 11m$2 · $0.00
It’s Murder at St. Basket’sJames Lincoln Collier3h 39m$15
The Inside ManJames Phelps12h$29 · $0.00
They Dine in DarknessArthur Leo Zagat1h 41m$1 · $0.00
The Wreck of the Grosvenor, Vol.2 (of 3)William Clark Russell4h 37m$2.30
They Dine in DarknessArthur Leo Zagat1h 40m$7 · $0.00
SeizedElizabeth Heiter9h 55m$25 · $0.00
Matrix - The Source CodeGabriel Moraes44m$11 · $0.00
Unforced ErrorMichael Bowen6h 15m$20
Trust Me OnceJan Coffey, May McGoldrick12h 31m$6 · $0.00
Florida WomanDeb Rogers10h 21m$28 · $0.00
All at Once, No AliceCornell George Hopley-Woolrich1h 48m$2 · $0.00
Illusion of JusticeJerome F. Buting10h 37m$29 · $0.00
The Crazy SchoolCornelia Read8h 31m$17
Losing YouNicci French10h 10m$29 · $0.00
No One AboardEmy McGuire11h 11m$29 · $0.00
Ordinary ThunderstormsWilliam Boyd12h 4m$29 · $0.00