Typee Resources
Websites
Here's a compact-and-useful explanation of the book's standing in Melville's larger life and career.
This is a "fluid text" of the book, including scholarly introductory essays and a copy of the first edition that shows the path of revisions in each successive edition.
Well, just head to the local tourism board.
Get a sense of the geography at work in Typee—all from the comfort of your own home.
Or maybe you'd like to visit the place where Tommo—er… we mean, Herman, ended up.
The Polynesian Cultural Center is a good place to start.
Movie or TV Productions
The 1958 film is loosely based on the novel, and known mostly for being, well, "terrible."
Articles and Interviews
Here's a discussion of how early Melville work—Typee included—signaled his lifelong creative project.
Is the book a true story? Or is it simply a hoax? Click to find out more…
When it comes to a book, is it really "Just the Facts" that matter?
Check out this nearly-exhaustive introduction to Melville, whaling, and his life on the sea.
Typee may have started Melville's criticism of imperialism, but he kept on it.
This article is in regards to Moby Dick but we think you'll see some valuable points about Typee, too.
Video
Imagine you're one of those birds Melville goes on about, and soar through this site.
Here's a tourist's raw footage of his visit to Nuka Hiva. It may not be slick, but it's still pretty cool.
Check out this edited montage of sights from the island.
...and had a very different experience from Tommo.
Audio
These are from the general Polynesian neighborhood, anyway.
Here they are, by way of a twentieth-century folk act.
Check out this free audio version of the novel.
Images
Check out this first edition cover of Typee.
We dig the beard, Herman.
Here's a tattooed warrior chief, standing apart from the fracas.
Here's a seagull eye's view of the place.