bartleby the scrivener a story of wall street

The indigestion seemed betokened in an occasional nervous testiness and grinning irritability, causing the teeth to audibly grind together over mistakes committed in copying unnecessary maledictions, hissed, rather than spoken, in the heat of business and especially by a continual discontent with the height of the table where he worked. The ambition was evinced by a certain impatience of the duties of a mere copyist, an unwarrantable usurpation of strictly professional affairs, such as the original drawing up of legal documents. I always deemed him the victim of two evil powers - ambition and indigestion. Nippers, the second on my list, was a whiskered, sallow, and, upon the whole, rather piratical-looking young man of about five and twenty. For instance, this is our introduction to one: Melville’s descriptions of these characters is quite entertaining.

The only names we know them by are Turkey, Nippers, and Ginger Nut. At the time the attorney first meets Bartleby, he has in his employ three copyists. The book is narrated by an elderly attorney who recounts all he knows of the title character.

It will now go on the list of those I want to re-read. I owe John Self (previous link) a debt for persuasively reviewing this book. Though apparently there is shame in it, I will admit to not having read this book previously. The task is difficult, because Bartleby, the Scrivener is an excellent work.

This review will attempt to be as effectively concise. This is a very short book, easily mistaken for a longish short story. Very short books warrant very short reviews.

Bartleby the scrivener a story of wall street