Bartleby, the Scrivener

Herman Melville · 1819–1891 · USA

Why it matters

A Wall Street copyist who 'would prefer not to,' and the phrase's quiet detonation of every office, obligation, and explanation since. The most modern story of the nineteenth century; Kafka before Kafka.

At a glance

Deceptively plain prose masks deep, unresolved ambiguity about motive and refusal.