Benito Cereno
Herman Melville
Read by LibriVox Volunteers
On an island off the coast of Chile, Captain Amaso Delano, sailing an American sealer, sees the San Dominick, a Spanish slave ship, in obvious distress. Capt. Delano boards the San Dominick, providing needed supplies, and tries to learn from her aloof and disturbed captain, Benito Cereno, the story of how this ship came to be where she is. Dealing with racism, the slave trade, madness, the tension between representation and reality, and featuring at least one unreliable narrator, Melville's novella has both captivated and frustrated critics for decades. (Summary by Nullifidian) (3 hr 53 min)
Chapters
| Ch 1 - A Ship | 10:35 | Read by Nullifidian |
| Ch 2 - Aboard San Dominick | 17:41 | Read by Nullifidian |
| Ch 3 - Don Benito's Story | 9:10 | Read by Nullifidian |
| Ch 4 - The Blacks | 17:52 | Read by alwpoe |
| Ch 5 - Questions | 18:52 | Read by James K. White |
| Ch 6 - The Boat Appears | 23:42 | Read by James K. White |
| Ch 7 - The Boat Arrives | 15:59 | Read by James K. White |
| Ch 8 - In the Cuddy | 27:11 | Read by Bill Mosley |
| Ch 9 - Business | 6:28 | Read by Iris McLeod |
| Ch 10 - Safe Harbour | 17:54 | Read by James K. White |
| Ch 11 - Into the Boat | 11:32 | Read by James K. White |
| Ch 12 - Pursuit | 8:44 | Read by James K. White |
| Ch 13 - A Deposition | 38:34 | Read by Guero |
| Ch 14 - Conclusion | 9:03 | Read by James K. White |
Reviews
adam
This was a heavy and foreboding tale, wrapped in mystery and questions of deception. I found the book very entertaining and engaging. The reading was fine and by adjusting the speed went smoothly. Melville, as usual, creates absorbing characters, and with whom one is left, in this case, on the windless sea.
A LibriVox Listener
The first reader was really difficult to get through and one in the very middle was quite tedious, but the rest went well. I'm glad I pushed through. Better to just read the first two chapters through.
Vivien
This book has more clear language than some of the author's later more knotty, metaphysical works--a welcome respite. But the racist depiction of the black slaves grates on our modern sensibiites.
An interesting tale
A LibriVox Listener
A wonderful narration by an expressive reader is almost ruined by background white noise in the first part.
Rab
well read with the exception of one chapter by some texan who should have been rejected.
A LibriVox Listener
The reading is difficult to listen to, which, given Melville’s language, is a shame.
good
prusc
very well read by the various readers
it's homophobic
Bill Cosby
No explicit gay orgies. Remember any story that does not explicitly describe anuses being impaled by multicultural penises is in fact homophobic and raycyst. Story needs to be pulled from the world's libraries. Children could read this story and become rampaging, homophobic, raycyst, colonizing, cultural imperialists