Melville's Sleepless Nights
After reading Elizabeth Hardwick's lyrical introspective 1979 novel, "Sleepless Nights", I turned to this book to learn how Hardwick viewed one of my favorite authors. Born in Kentucky, Elizabeth Hardwick (1916-2007) was a co-founder of the New York Review of Books and a critic and essayist who had written about Melville's "Bartleby". She also endured a long difficult marriage to the American poet Robert Lowell.
It is tempting to see a connection between the reclusive, lonely narrator of "Sleepless Nights" and Melville (1819 -- 1891) himself as Hardwick portrays the man. The subject of many lengthy and perceptive biographies, Melville remains a stubbornly elusive figure, a loner and an outcast of ambiguous beliefs and sexuality as are many of the characters that people his novels. I also thought that Hardwick might be viewing her subject from the standpoint of Melville's long-suffering wife, Elizabeth Shaw. The daughter of an illustrious Massachusetts judge, Elizabeth remained married to Melville for 44 years. She endured her gifted husband's frustrations, long silences, drunkenness, withdrawals and possible violent behavior. She also suffered the suicide of the couple's son Malcolm at the age of 18 and the subsequent early death of another son, Stanwix. At the midpoint of the marriage, Elizabeth thought seriously of leaving Melville. But the marriage endured. Perhaps there are parallels between Elizabeth Shaw's marriage to Herman Melville and Elizabeth Hardwick's marriage to Robert Lowell.
Hardwick's biography is part of the "Penguin Lives" series which has the aim of presenting the lives of famous persons from a variety of walks of life in short, accessible formats for busy readers. (Another similar such series is the American Presidents series edited by Arthur Schlesinger Jr. and Sean Willentz.) Hardwick's book thus is only 160 pages in length and can be read in an extended sitting or two. Especially for a figure as complex as Melville, a short study must if it is to succeed capture its subject in a few words, present the subject insightfully and provocatively, and encourage the reader to pursue the subject on his own. While Hardwick's book received mixed reviews, I think it succeeds admirably in its aims.
Hardwick considers both Melville's life and his writings with an emphasis on the latter. The book is written in a passionate, novelistic style which bears little resemblance to academic or journalistic writing that might be expected in a short biography. The book is in the voice of a writer deeply committed to the work of a fellow-writer, shortcomings and all. The book describes Melville's early life, his marriage, the friendship with Hawthorne, his period of novel writing, and his long "withdrawal" late in life in sufficient detail to give a picture of the man in a short compass. While sympathetic to her subject, Hardwick shows the reader a troubled, enigmatic individual.
Melville's life, in Hardwick's account, is intertwined with his novels. She begins with a tough-minded portrayal of life at sea in mid-18th Century America and of how Melville saw such a life. She is drawn to the loners and outcasts that made up seafarers in Melville's day, as she points out the traits Melville shared with his fellow sailors and the ways in which he would differ from them.
Hardwick gives selective descriptions of Melville's books. For a short book, she gives an extensive treatment of "Moby-Dick" which helped me think about this difficult American masterpiece. Hardwick also offers good insight into the two other books for which Melville is best remembered: "Bartleby" and the posthumous "Billy Budd". Of the rest of Melville's writings, Hardwick offers praise for Melville's fourth novel, "Redburn", for his first novel, "Typee" and for his final novel, "The Confidence Man." She values "Redburn" especially highly and made me want to revisit the book. I was somewhat surprised by her negative judgment of "White Jacket", of Melville's Civil War poetry, and, perhaps, of "Mardi".
Hardwick's book captured something of Melville and gave me a fresh perspective on his life and writings. She made me eager to read Melville, an author I have already read and read about many times. The book makes no pretense of being definitive. But it offers insight into how one author views a great predecessor and thus is more than a simple introductory book. Hardwick has written a valuable short study for readers who wish to engage with Herman Melville.
Robin Friedman
