or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
 
 
More Buying Choices
13 used & new from £3.94
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
   
The Confidence-Man: His Masquerade (Oxford World's Classics)
 
 
Share your own customer images
Search inside this book

The Confidence-Man: His Masquerade (Oxford World's Classics) (Paperback)

by Herman Melville (Author), Tony Tanner (Editor), John Dugdale (Editor) "AT sunrise on a first of April,* there appeared, suddenly as Manco Capac at the lake Titicaca,* a man in creamcolours, at the water-side in..." (more)
3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
Price: £10.99 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
In stock but may require up to 2 additional days to deliver.
Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk. Gift-wrap available.

Only 1 left in stock--order soon.

5 new from £4.44 8 used from £3.94

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Pierre: Or the Ambiguities (Penguin Classics)

Pierre: Or the Ambiguities (Penguin Classics)

by Herman Melville
4.5 out of 5 stars (2)  £8.13
Typee (Modern Library Classics)

Typee (Modern Library Classics)

by Herman Melville
4.3 out of 5 stars (3)  £7.30
› Explore similar items

Product details

  • Paperback: 416 pages
  • Publisher: Oxford Paperbacks; New edition edition (29 Jul 1999)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0192837621
  • ISBN-13: 978-0192837622
  • Product Dimensions: 19.3 x 12.2 x 2.3 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 1,036,108 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #72 in  Books > Fiction > Authors, A-Z > M > Melville, Herman

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Product Description

Product Description

Male, female, deft, fraudulent, constantly shifting: which of the `masquerade' of passengers on the Mississippi steamboat Fidèle is `the confidence man'? The central motif of Melville's last and most `modern' novel can be seen as a symbol of American cultural history.
Inside This Book (Learn More)
First Sentence
AT sunrise on a first of April,* there appeared, suddenly as Manco Capac at the lake Titicaca,* a man in creamcolours, at the water-side in the city of St. Louis.* Read the first page
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
Search inside this book:

Suggested Tags from Similar Products

 (What's this?)
Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
 
gamblers and hustlers
trust
oxford worlds classics
herman melville
con men
classic literature
19th century american literature

Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

The Confidence-Man: His Masquerade (Oxford World's Classics)
61% buy the item featured on this page:
The Confidence-Man: His Masquerade (Oxford World's Classics) 3.7 out of 5 stars (3)
£10.99
Pierre: Or the Ambiguities (Penguin Classics)
39% buy
Pierre: Or the Ambiguities (Penguin Classics) 4.5 out of 5 stars (2)
£8.13
Explore similar items
 

Customer Reviews

3 Reviews
5 star:
 (1)
4 star:
 (1)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:
 (1)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.7 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars A though nut to crack, but a satisfying one too, 25 Oct 2007
By Didier (Ghent, Belgium) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   
As the previous reviewer remarked, this is indeed no easy book by any standard. It's the last book Melville wrote, and if "Moby Dick" may at times be obscure and require explanatory notes, "The Confidence-Man: His Masquerade" is a real puzzle.

It's a reflection on many themes, but the central one is Melville's assumption that if, as the American dream has it, anyone can become anything he desires, who then can we still trust to be what he professes to be? Melville consequently tries to delude his readers too. There is not a single narrator for instance but many, and even that is not straightforward: you have to deduce from tiny details in the text which narrator is speaking in each of the 45 chapters.

It could be argued that Melville is taking the literary type of the 'picaro' to its extreme in this novel. In its earliest form (e.g. in the novel "Lazarillo De Tormes" published as early as 1554) the picaro is a rogue or rascal living by his wits in a corrupt society by tricking others. In "The Confidence-man" Melville seems to be saying we've all become picaros, and none of us can be trusted. Small wonder the book was subject to some very negative reviews when it was first published in 1857. But I for one found that it is still relevant, even in 2007.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars A Difficult Read, 19 Jul 2002
By A Customer
There is no doubt that this is a difficult read. That said there are some comic parts to the book and Melville is I believe making the point that, in his view, the "American Dream" of life is not sustainable. It is possible that a further reading of the book may improve the understanding, that is if you could be bothered.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
5.0 out of 5 stars Underrated Melville Novel - His Last (includes *Spoiler*!), 7 Dec 2007
By A. S. Wrathall (Northern Ireland) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
I came to this with some trepidation, thinking it would be unreadable and turgid, thanks to the proclamations of some critics and readers. Warning: don't believe the hype! This is a fantastic book.

True, Melville's melodramatic and portentous style (as readers of his other works will attest) can take a bit of getting used to; but once you get past that, his dry sense of humour and imagination come to the fore.

Plotwise, The Confidence Man is simple: passengers on a steamboat sailing down the Mississippi are bamboozled by a confidence man (or confidence men)into loaning or investing money, all the while being subjected to lectures on the themes of charity, trust and confidence. The actions of the novel begin at dawn and end (roughly) at midnight - on April Fool's Day!

Whether the character of the Confidence Man is angel or demon is left to the reader to decide. He asserts his belief in charity and trust in one's fellow human beings while duping them. Though the general tone throughout the book is light and humorous, towards the end a sinister aura begins to pervade the narrative, culminating in the Cosmopolitan ( the final guise of the trickster or possibly the core personality) leading an old man away into the darkness, the novel ending on the line:

"Something further may follow of this Masquerade".

Part of the fun in reading this book is spotting the tricksters, although in some cases there appear to be more than one confidence man working at the same time. It's worth re-reading as clues and hints are revealed which may not have been apparent first time round.

In short: an April Fool's Day comedy with a touch of menace. Try it! You won't be disappointed.



Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Only search this product's reviews


Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
   
Related forums

Look for similar items by category

Look for similar items by subject
















i.e., each product must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...

Feedback

Ad

Your Recent History

 (What's this?)

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.