Bartleby le scribe/Bartleby the Scrivener by Herman Melville

Bartleby le scribe/Bartleby the Scrivener by Herman Melville

Parallel Text/Dual Language Paperback, 144 pages

Set in an office that is barely surviving this is the story of Nippers, a man who suffers from chronic indigestion making him irritable in the morning and Turkey an alcoholic who is constantly drunk in the afternoon. When Bartleby appears he seems to be to be a boon to the practice but this changes when he starts answering with what becomes his stock response “I would prefer not to" allowing Lawyer and narrator to glimpse the world as the miserable scriveners see it.

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" Bartleby the Scrivener is a story about a man who "prefers" not to play the game of men or, as it looks today, who prefers not to play the game of men. He expressed this preference by a conditional policy, i would prefer not to , but it is so radical that it refuses any explanation. " Daniel Pennac.

Preface: Daniel Pennac

Translation to English: Pierre Leyris