In this episode, I discuss Mardi by Herman Melville: the circumstances that brought it about and the strangeness of the novel itself. Melville is a personal favourite and a hero of mine; I feel I could talk to death about every one of his novels that I've read, but Mardi is a particularly intriguing work both for its inherent qualities and for where it fits into his career as a whole. While not well received at the time of publication, like all of Melville's works it was the subject of renewed attention in the 20th century, and I think can be well appreciated by the readers of today.

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