If you're looking to read Melville without tackling the lengthy Moby-Dick, I highly recommend the short story Benito Cereno:
http://www.esp.org/books/melville/piazza/contents/cereno.htm...
http://www.esp.org/books/melville/piazza/contents/cereno.htm...
I met him at a BarCamp in Los Angeles, that's how I started following the account. I miss BarCamp.
Anyway, The Good Captain.