Aventuras de Arthur Gordon Pym

There is no danger of this ever becoming a favorite of mine. The basic travelogue format of the novel, does not resolve itself (there are several missing chapters according to Poe). The early sections of the tale lead us to a rather brutal, senseless mutiny, and cannibalism. The final section becomes a travelogue again ending in yet more senseless violence. Yep, this is not my cup of tea.

[The version I read is in fact part of The Complete Tales and Poems of Edgar Allen Poe (Random House 1938), a book I've been reading from since childhood.]

Let's just say if this was my first taste of Poe there never would have been a second. I chose it because of references in notes to the HPL book I just read, and they're part of the same cultural eddy, sure. A noxious backwater it is, though, to continue the metaphor.

That the seagoing part goes on and on I can forgive. Some stories wax long on description. The racist stuff though is outdated and disappointing... All that "savages" stuff, ugh. It started out in such a promising manner: dated but entertaining.

If you like Poe generally, and don't need to read this for research or studies, I'd definitely give it a pass. It did not age well!

This story is mostly entertaining and the time period and writing style make it a fascinating read. There are some parts that (I hate to say) get a bit tedious. Also, I did not get the sense of an ending. It seems to me that Pym died in the end, and that this narrative was found tucked away somewhere on his person. That might not sound very likely, but I can't think of anything much more plausible. Hmm.

I'm intrigued that there was a dog named Tiger, and a character (man) named Richard Parker, also.