12 h 48 minAudiobook14 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
Readers who love sea adventure, island travel, and strangers meeting unfamiliar cultures will enjoy this novel. It also suits those drawn to witty narrators and bold opinions on empire and missions.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Cruelty aboard the Dolly drives a sailor ashore
- Two friends slip away and climb the mountain
- Hunger and fever drive them down a ravine
- A frightened welcome ends with a shared name
- Kindness surrounds the narrator, yet questions grow
- The narrator learns he cannot leave the valley
- Days of ease lead into the Feast of Calabashes
- Melville asks who is truly savage
- Beneath the paradise runs a steady fear
- A comic voice carries a dark tale
Who’s who
- TommoA young American sailor who jumps ship and tells the story, he is curious, restless, and desperate to leave the valley that holds him.
- TobyA slight, moody sailor with dry humor and a hidden past, he flees the ship with the narrator and hopes for escape.
- MeheviThe tattooed chief and king of the Typee valley, he welcomes the strangers warmly yet decides what they may do.
- Kory-KoryThe narrator's devoted servant, tattooed and eager, he feeds, carries, and guards him and explains customs in rapid gestures.
- FayawayA gentle and beautiful island girl who comforts the sick narrator and wants to share his days on the lake.
- MarheyoKory-Kory's eccentric old father, forever building a small hut and showing the narrator fatherly sympathy.
- TinorKory-Kory's industrious mother, who runs the household, cooks, and treats the narrator like a favorite child.
- MarnooA handsome, English-speaking islander protected by taboo, he travels between hostile valleys and warns the narrator against trying to leave.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet or computer, once the book texts are online.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, once the book texts are online.
- Audiobook
- Read by Lucas Linden, complete. It opens once the recording is online.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 14 minutes, to read today.
- 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.
Every printed copy is made when you order it and shipped worldwide; shipping is shown at checkout. The eBook and the audiobook open when the book texts go online.
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
Taïpi : un roman des mers du Sud in 25 languages, side by side, paragraph by paragraph, once the book texts are online: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
Taïpi : un roman des mers du Sud
by Herman Melville · 1846
Two sailors abandon a whaler and stumble into a valley of reputed cannibals, where kindness may hide a trap.
Challenging5–10 hours to read2 languages
Learn a language with challenging classicsEspagnolFrançaisAllemandItalienJaponaisPortugaisAnglaisHow we measure levels
Excellent
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
- Read or listen
- 25 languages, side by side
- Print and large print at cost
- 5 accounts for the price of one
In short
Six months at sea, no land in sight, and the only fresh meat left is one miserable rooster. That is where Typee begins, aboard a whaling ship called the Dolly in the Pacific.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Cruelty aboard the Dolly drives a sailor ashore
For six months the Dolly has hunted sperm whales without sight of land. Only salt beef and biscuit remain.
At last the course is set for the Marquesas. The narrator arrives at Nukuheva Bay in the summer of 1842 and finds six French warships at anchor. Rear Admiral Du Petit Thouars has just claimed the islands for France. The narrator sees broadsides aimed at a handful of palm huts and suspects the French have come to do the islanders more harm than good.
Free for 3 months · Cancel anytime
You looked at
Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1846
- Language
- français
- Reading time
- 8 h 20 min
- Level
- Challenging
Cite this edition
Melville, Herman. Typee: A Romance of the South Seas. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/typee-a-romance-of-the-south-seas.
Melville, H. (2026). Typee: A romance of the South Seas. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/typee-a-romance-of-the-south-seas (Original work published 1846)
Melville, Herman. Typee: A Romance of the South Seas. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/typee-a-romance-of-the-south-seas.
@book{melville2026typee,
author = {Melville, Herman},
title = {Typee: A Romance of the South Seas},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/typee-a-romance-of-the-south-seas},
note = {First published 1846}
}
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 Taïpi : un roman des mers du Sud
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 follows a young sailor who leaves a whaling ship in the Marquesas Islands with his friend Toby. They descend into a hidden valley of reputed cannibals, where he is treated well yet cannot leave, and he watches the people closely.
Is Typee a true story?
Melville based it on his own stay in the Marquesas in 1842 and published it in 1846 as a factual account. Readers have long noted that he shaped events and mixed memory with invention, so it reads as a romance of real experience.
Who are the Typees and what does the name mean?
The Typees are the people of a valley on Nukuheva island. The narrator says their name in the local speech means a lover of human flesh, which makes them feared by their neighbors and by every sailor.
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
Voir tous ses livresMore 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
