12 h 48 minAudiobook5 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 12 h 48 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if escaping a hungry ship means entering a paradise you may not be able to leave?
In Herman Melville’s Typee: A Romance of the South Seas, Tommo and his shipmate Toby flee a whaling ship in the Marquesas Islands. They climb steep green slopes, lose their way and reach a hidden valley. The Typee people welcome them, but Tommo’s injured leg leaves him dependent on strangers whom outsiders fear as cannibals.
Tommo finds kindness, companionship and reasons to wonder at his own fears. Kory-Kory tends him with devotion, while Fayaway shares quiet hours on the lake. Yet care and confinement become hard to separate. Through this uneasy stay, Melville questions what European visitors, missionaries and trade bring to island life—and what they take away.
What you’ll discover
- Escape into uncertainty Follow Tommo and Toby from salt meat and hard biscuit into steep, unfamiliar mountains.
- A welcome with limits Feel Tommo’s uncertainty as generous care leaves him unsure whether he is guest or prisoner.
- Life beyond the ship Explore breadfruit meals, patterned tattoos and the customs that shape daily life in the valley.
- Companionship on the lake Join Tommo and Fayaway in a canoe, where closeness offers a pause from his fears.
- Civilization under question Consider Melville’s sharp challenge to the damage European and American visitors cause in the Pacific.
Who will love it
For readers who love sea stories, travel writing and early American fiction, and anyone curious about what Melville wrote before Moby-Dick.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A ship too long at sea
- Into the mountains without a map
- The valley opens its doors
- A hurt leg and a gentle captivity
- Daily life in a world without money
- Fayaway, taboo and the rules of the valley
- Tattoos, warriors and the fear of the feast
- What civilization costs the islands
- How the book is told and why it lasts
Who’s who
- TommoThe young narrator, a sailor who flees his whaling ship, falls ill in the mountains and lives among the Typees while longing for home.
- TobyTommo's cheerful shipmate, who shares the escape into the mountains and tries to find help for his friend's injured leg.
- Kory-KoryTommo's devoted servant in the valley, who feeds him, carries him and guards him with unfailing loyalty.
- FayawayA young woman of the valley, kind and graceful, who becomes Tommo's close companion and joins him on the lake.
- MeheviThe dignified chief of the Typees, who welcomes the strangers and treats Tommo with respect.
- Mow-MowA fierce one-eyed warrior who seems to resent the stranger and watches him with suspicion.
- MarheyoKory-Kory's gentle father, an old man who is always building a little hut.
- KarkyA skilled tattoo artist who is determined to tattoo Tommo's face.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet, computer or Kindle, with the type as large as you like.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 12 h 48 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 5 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
eBooks and audiobooks open right away. Download EPUB or PDF, or send the book to your Kindle. Every printed copy is made when you order it and shipped worldwide; shipping is shown at checkout.
How it works
- Start free. Nothing to pay today; the eBook of this book is yours to keep.
- Read, listen and print. 200,000+ classics as eBook, large-print eBook, audiobook and 15-minute summary, and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print, 5 accounts for the price of one.
- We remind you first. Free for 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment. Then 0,14 USD a day in your first year on the yearly plan and 0,27 USD a day after, or 0,66 USD a day on the monthly plan. Cancel online in two clicks.
Bought on its own? Every eBook, audiobook and printed book you buy without the plan carries our 30-day money-back guarantee.
25 languages, side by side
Read and hear Typee: una novela de los mares del Sur in 25 languages and switch at any time. Or read two side by side, paragraph by paragraph: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
Typee: una novela de los mares del Sur
by Herman Melville · 1846
Tommo escapes a whaling ship into a hidden valley, where he cannot tell whether he is a guest or a captive.
Challenging10–20 hours to read25 languages
Excellent
- Read or listen
- 25 languages, side by side
- Print and large print at cost
- 5 accounts for the price of one
Free for 3 months · starts right away, on any device
Read free3 months free · cancel anytimeFree for 3 months, then 0,14 USD a dayCancel anytimeHow it works
In short
Imagine a ship that has sailed six months without touching land, and a young sailor who decides he has had enough. Typee is the first book Herman Melville published, in 1846, when he was in his twenties.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A ship too long at sea
The story opens aboard a whaling ship that has sailed six months without touching land. The crew is tired of salt meat and biscuit. Tommo, the narrator, dreams of fresh fruit and solid ground.
The ship anchors at Nuku Hiva in the Marquesas. Tommo sees the captain as a tyrant and dreads more years at sea. He cannot simply leave, so he must run.
Free for 3 months · Cancel anytime
Free gifts
580 USD in free gifts when you start
Every book in every format and in 25 languages, 5 accounts for the price of one. Nothing to pay today.
- 200,000+ classic eBooksIn 25 languages, side by side
170 USDFREE - Every audiobookIn 25 languages, any device
120 USDFREE - 15-minute summariesRead or listen, in 25 languages
60 USDFREE - Print at cost, no markupPaperback, hardcover, large print
60 USDFREE - 5 accounts for the price of oneA shelf for everyone at home
170 USDFREE - A part in rebuilding the libraryNew languages and books for all
FREE
Questions about Typee: una novela de los mares del Sur
Can I read it free?
Yes. The first key idea of the 15-minute summary is free with no sign-up. Start free and the whole book is yours for 3 months, with the eBook to keep, plus 200,000+ more classics and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print. Nothing to pay today: we email you 7 days before your first payment, and you can cancel online in two clicks.
Can I buy the printed book?
Soon. The paperback, hardcover and large print editions are being prepared. Choose Paperback or Hardcover above, leave your email, and we tell you the day you can order it, printed at cost.
How many accounts do I get?
Five, for the price of one: you and 4 more people, each with their own login, shelf and their own place in every book.
Can I cancel anytime?
Yes. Cancel online in two clicks at any time and nothing more is charged. Nothing is charged in your first 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment.
What is Typee about?
Typee tells of a sailor named Tommo who deserts a whaling ship in the Marquesas Islands and lives for weeks among the Typee people. He enjoys their welcome and fears they may be cannibals.
Is Typee based on a true story?
Partly. Melville deserted a whaler on Nuku Hiva in 1842 and spent time in the Typee valley. The book blends his real experience with invention and material from earlier travel writers, so it is fiction rooted in fact.
Who is Fayaway in Typee?
Fayaway is a young woman of the Typee valley who becomes Tommo's close companion. She takes him on the lake in a canoe, and her kindness gives the book some of its warmest scenes.
The author
Herman Melville
1819–1891 · American novelist and poet
Herman Melville (1819–1891) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and poet. He was born and died in New York City and also lived in Massachusetts. He published Moby-Dick in 1851, Pierre in 1852, and The Confidence-Man in 1857. His unfinished Billy Budd was published after his death, in 1924.
More by Herman Melville
All 11 booksMore like this
Our mission
The library burned once. We are building it back.
Every great book, in every language and every format, for every family. Every plan helps pay for new languages, new audiobooks and books for readers who have never had them. Join the movement.
Read our story- Every language25 languages today, side by side, and more every year
- No wastePrinted on demand: no warehouses, no unsold stock, no pulped copies
- For everyonePaperback, hardcover and large print at the cost of printing
