Bartleby, the Scrivener

Bartleby, the Scrivener by Herman Melville

by Herman Melville

Shares rank 18 of 32 short stories by recommenders

People recommend this short story for its prophetic quality and its strong craft; it is a short, rewarding read.

4 people gave an opinion

Each figure is one person. RecommendsCriticizes

The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works

The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.

Each mark is one comment

Prophetic and insightful work
“Bartleby, the Scrivener is an incredibly prophetic work”
Comment from 20 Jul 2026 in “Who Is America's Homer?”
Very good story
“Melville's "Bartleby" is very good”
Comment from 29 Jul 2026 in “KOReader”
Enjoyable, memorable story
“Loved that Bartley story.”
Comment from 19 Nov 2025 in “Short Little Difficult Books”

3 of the 4 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.

“Melville's "Bartleby" is very good”

RecommendsComment from 29 Jul 2026 in “KOReader”

“Bartleby, the Scrivener is an incredibly prophetic work”

RecommendsComment from 20 Jul 2026 in “Who Is America's Homer?”

“Loved that Bartley story.”

RecommendsComment from 19 Nov 2025 in “Short Little Difficult Books”

Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.

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