478. Six Great Modern Short Novels: The Dead, by James Joyce; Billy Budd, Foretopman, by Herman Melville; Noon Wine, by Katherine Anne Porter; The Overcoat, by Nikolay Gogol; The Pilgrim Hawk, by Glenway Wescott; The Bear, by William Faulkner (read 16 Apr 1956) All are well worth reading. ( )

BILLY BUDD - Perhaps the most studied of Melville's works, enriched by his friendship with Hawthorne and his dark symbol-laden stories. Narrative heads straight to the hanging of the hero with allusions to Myth, naval histoire, at sea. Three essential characters, each with a flaw come to be tragic: Billy with his stutter, Captain Vere, with a "queer streak of the pedantic", and master-at-arms Claggart, with an sallow antipathy to the righteous. Budd is a Christ, created at the end of Melville's life near to 68 (d. at 72)in his obscurity.