''The Passages of H.M.'' is a 2010 historical novel written by

Jay Parini Jay Parini (born April 2, 1948) is an American writer and academic. He is known for novels, poetry, biography, screenplays and criticism. He has published novels about Leo Tolstoy, Walter Benjamin, Paul the Apostle, Herman Melville, and a noveli ...

about the life of

Herman Melville Herman Melville (Name change, born Melvill; August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet of the American Renaissance (literature), American Renaissance period. Among his best-known works ar ...

Reviews

The novel was well received. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' said, "Parini's 'Passages' is a spokesman for the 'fiction is more true than fact' camp. Organized as a series of episodes, many of them imaginative reconstructions of what may have transpired on Melville's known sea voyages, 'Passages' purports to reveal the workings of Melville's mind as he finds his vocation as a writer."

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

called the novel "A thoughtful re-imagining of the man who remains America's Milton." And the

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

said "it is deeply absorbing.... A literary novel in every sense of the word.... It adds strongly to Melville's posthumous presence."

References

External links

2010 American novels American historical novels Novels about writers Herman Melville Doubleday (publisher) books {{2010s-hist-novel-stub