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PYM: The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket / An Antarctic Mystery
PYM collects two classic novels: The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket (1838), by Edgar Allan Poe, and Jules Verne's sequel to it, An Antarctic Mystery (1897). Poe's work is full of mystery, horror, and a dark imagination, while Verne focuses on action and adventure. It is a fascinating look at two great literary minds as they work on the same subject: the strange voyage of Arthur Gordon Pym to the Antarctic.
272 pages, Paperback
First published June 23, 2015
39 people are currently reading
131 people want to read
About the author
Edgar Allan Poe
10k books28.9k followersThe name Poe brings to mind images of murderers and madmen, premature burials, and mysterious women who return from the dead. His works have been in print since 1827 and include such literary classics as The Tell-Tale Heart, The Raven, and The Fall of the House of Usher. This versatile writer’s oeuvre includes short stories, poetry, a novel, a textbook, a book of scientific theory, and hundreds of essays and book reviews. He is widely acknowledged as the inventor of the modern detective story and an innovator in the science fiction genre, but he made his living as America’s first great literary critic and theoretician. Poe’s reputation today rests primarily on his tales of terror as well as on his haunting lyric poetry.
Just as the bizarre characters in Poe’s stories have captured the public imagination so too has Poe himself. He is seen as a morbid, mysterious figure lurking in the shadows of moonlit cemeteries or crumbling castles. This is the Poe of legend. But much of what we know about Poe is wrong, the product of a biography written by one of his enemies in an attempt to defame the author’s name.
The real Poe was born to traveling actors in Boston on January 19, 1809. Edgar was the second of three children. His other brother William Henry Leonard Poe would also become a poet before his early death, and Poe’s sister Rosalie Poe would grow up to teach penmanship at a Richmond girls’ school. Within three years of Poe’s birth both of his parents had died, and he was taken in by the wealthy tobacco merchant John Allan and his wife Frances Valentine Allan in Richmond, Virginia while Poe’s siblings went to live with other families. Mr. Allan would rear Poe to be a businessman and a Virginia gentleman, but Poe had dreams of being a writer in emulation of his childhood hero the British poet Lord Byron. Early poetic verses found written in a young Poe’s handwriting on the backs of Allan’s ledger sheets reveal how little interest Poe had in the tobacco business.
For more information, please see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_al...
Just as the bizarre characters in Poe’s stories have captured the public imagination so too has Poe himself. He is seen as a morbid, mysterious figure lurking in the shadows of moonlit cemeteries or crumbling castles. This is the Poe of legend. But much of what we know about Poe is wrong, the product of a biography written by one of his enemies in an attempt to defame the author’s name.
The real Poe was born to traveling actors in Boston on January 19, 1809. Edgar was the second of three children. His other brother William Henry Leonard Poe would also become a poet before his early death, and Poe’s sister Rosalie Poe would grow up to teach penmanship at a Richmond girls’ school. Within three years of Poe’s birth both of his parents had died, and he was taken in by the wealthy tobacco merchant John Allan and his wife Frances Valentine Allan in Richmond, Virginia while Poe’s siblings went to live with other families. Mr. Allan would rear Poe to be a businessman and a Virginia gentleman, but Poe had dreams of being a writer in emulation of his childhood hero the British poet Lord Byron. Early poetic verses found written in a young Poe’s handwriting on the backs of Allan’s ledger sheets reveal how little interest Poe had in the tobacco business.
For more information, please see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_al...
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
November 15, 2009
This would have recieved more Stars had the whole style of the book been more in the vein of Jules Vernes section of the book.
From what I understand this is the only 'novel' by Edgar Allen Poe though in respects of the version I have(an older copy not pictured)it would be more a Novella being 70 pages only.
The Poe story was largely dismissed by the author later on although has been attributed as being of interest to Herman Melville and undoubtably Jules Verne who provides the second part/sequel apsect of this novel.
The Poe version of the tale is largely unfinished and though tidied up by the author reads at a pedestrian pace but does introduce characters and circumstances taken up by Verne later on.
Poe uses Arthur Gordon Pym as the narrator of the journal and also the individual to whom the adventure takes place in doing so he creates a descriptive account of the tale however the dialogue between characters in short supply which is I think it's weakness,Verne uses dialogue far more and in doing so creates an interesting interplay between characters.
Ultimately it's an interesting book which combines connected work by two of literatures greats,Poe sets the scene but ultimately Jules Verne steals it.
From what I understand this is the only 'novel' by Edgar Allen Poe though in respects of the version I have(an older copy not pictured)it would be more a Novella being 70 pages only.
The Poe story was largely dismissed by the author later on although has been attributed as being of interest to Herman Melville and undoubtably Jules Verne who provides the second part/sequel apsect of this novel.
The Poe version of the tale is largely unfinished and though tidied up by the author reads at a pedestrian pace but does introduce characters and circumstances taken up by Verne later on.
Poe uses Arthur Gordon Pym as the narrator of the journal and also the individual to whom the adventure takes place in doing so he creates a descriptive account of the tale however the dialogue between characters in short supply which is I think it's weakness,Verne uses dialogue far more and in doing so creates an interesting interplay between characters.
Ultimately it's an interesting book which combines connected work by two of literatures greats,Poe sets the scene but ultimately Jules Verne steals it.
October 6, 2025
Leí el libro por primera vez hace más de 20 años y entonces no me gustó, me pareció lento y aburrido. He vuelto a leerlo y por desgracia mi opinión no ha cambiado. Es lento y algo denso y sus 200 páginas se hacen eternas. Tiene algún momento interesante pero eso no lo salva. Incluso el final es abrupto y lo deja todo en el aire. Una decepción de libro.
February 2, 2013
I bought an older copy of this book and I have to say it wasn't what I was expecting. The title page for the book only gives part of the title. I was mislead to believe this was going to be a macabre tale. To my surprise, and liking, it turned out to be an adventure story! I couldn't put it down!
November 2, 2025
It had some promise at the beginning but as the book wore on, it became more and more of a slog to read. As many other reviewers have pointed out, the racism was revolting. Even if you took that away, however, the narrative was so uneven, poorly-paced, unrealistic, and filled with unnecessary minutiae about ships that I gave up when they were rescued by the ship from Liverpool.
That Pym survived as long as he did - twice - without food and water was too much to believe, especially the second time when he hadn't even recovered from the first time. And the dog! His beloved Tiger who he didn't mention at all until the dog showed up unexpectedly, and then whose death didn't even merit being noticed, let alone mourned.
I skimmed most of the part where they were shipwrecked, because it was so mind-numbingly dull and and so ridiculously implausible that they survived, but the thing that made me throw in the towel was that, when they were rescued, Pym immediately started judging their rescue ship as being unsuitable. This guy is the king of choosy beggars. That was enough for me - I was reading this while ill and desperately bored, but staring at the walls was a more entertaining option than this dreck.
That Pym survived as long as he did - twice - without food and water was too much to believe, especially the second time when he hadn't even recovered from the first time. And the dog! His beloved Tiger who he didn't mention at all until the dog showed up unexpectedly, and then whose death didn't even merit being noticed, let alone mourned.
I skimmed most of the part where they were shipwrecked, because it was so mind-numbingly dull and and so ridiculously implausible that they survived, but the thing that made me throw in the towel was that, when they were rescued, Pym immediately started judging their rescue ship as being unsuitable. This guy is the king of choosy beggars. That was enough for me - I was reading this while ill and desperately bored, but staring at the walls was a more entertaining option than this dreck.
February 26, 2023
Aunque leí una versión diferente me pareció muy interesante y el detalle que tiene con respecto a temas de embarcaciones, a mi parecer, es muy bueno, claro que me quede frustrada de no saber el desenlace del misterio final.
January 3, 2024
Great Stories…Poor Kindle Rendition
This was a great story. Sadly, this particular Kindle edition is fraught with tons of grammatical and spelling errors throughout the text, to the point where you start to get accustomed to it.
This was a great story. Sadly, this particular Kindle edition is fraught with tons of grammatical and spelling errors throughout the text, to the point where you start to get accustomed to it.
December 5, 2019
Mistery in every page. This has to be the weirdest book I've ever read, but I love it! I'll read it again soon!
June 12, 2019
El relato de Arthur Gordon Pym resulta horripilante y fascinante a la vez. Sin duda Edgar Allan Poe sabia la manera de escarbar en la profundidad de la naturaleza humana y sacar a relucir las facetas más grotescas para plasmarlas en sus obras sin dejar de lado el humor negro y la narración fluida y maravillosa que tanto le caracteriza. Lo que más me llamo la atención de este libro, sin embargo, fue el final abierto e inconcluso que nos da y que nos incentiva a dejar volar nuestra imaginación y explorar cientos de escenarios como posibles finales que, si bien no nos satisface, nos deja una cierta sensación de conclusión.
Un libro muy recomendable.
Un libro muy recomendable.
April 14, 2009
Edgar Allan Poe's only novel telling the tale of a South Seas adventure
December 7, 2010
La seule histoire du monde Qui commence mal, continue mal et fini très mal.
c'est un régal pour qui aime les bonnes histoires de bateaux, de naufrages et d'aventures.
c'est un régal pour qui aime les bonnes histoires de bateaux, de naufrages et d'aventures.
August 7, 2011
Only have read The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket. Still need to read An Antarctic Mystery.
September 13, 2011
What a really strange book...
August 7, 2013
Poe leaves you wanting for SO much more with his "ending"!
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews