The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket: Amazon.ca: Edgar Allan Poe, Jeffrey Meyers: Books

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“It is Poe’s greatest work.”—Jorge Luis Borges

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After reading an 1836 newspaper account of a shipwreck and its two survivors, Edgar Allan Poe penned his only novel, The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket, the story of a stowaway on a Nantucket whaleship who finds himself enmeshed in the dark side of life at sea: mutiny, cannibalism, savagery—even death. As Jeffrey Meyers writes in his Introduction: “[Poe] remains contemporary because he appeals to basic human feelings and expresses universal themes common to all men in all languages: dreams, love, loss; grief, mourning, alienation; terror, revenge, murder; insanity, disease, and death.” Within the pages of this novel, we encounter nearly all of them.

This Modern Library Paperback Classic reprints the text of the original 1838 American edition.

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Inside This Book (Learn More)

First Sentence
My name is Arthur Gordon Pym. Read the first page

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Concordance

Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt

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Customer Reviews

12 Reviews

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
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Average Customer Review

4.7 out of 5 stars (12 customer reviews)

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Most helpful customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A Rare and Fantastic Adventure, Nov 28 2002

By	Wayne (Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Penguin Classics Narrative Of Arthur Gordon Pym (Paperback)

From the beginning when our hero finds himself in the dark coffin like hiding place in the hold of a ship sailing to Antartica to the bizzare ending ,Poes genius takes us on an incredible and horrific adventure.Even if you are not a horror fan you should give this excellent novel a try.

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4.0 out of 5 stars A Wonderful Sailor's Tale, Jul 5 2001

By	Katerina Canyon "poetkat" (Marina del Rey, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Penguin Classics Narrative Of Arthur Gordon Pym (Paperback)

Arthur Gordon Pym was a young man who had dreams of great adventure. He defied his family and stowed away on board a whaling ship. Doing this lead him into all sorts of exciting adventures. He confronted things like mutiny, near starvation, and altercations with different cultures.

I'd have to say that this story is "classic Poe". If you are a fan of Poe's short stories, you'll definitely like this book. I only had a few problems with the story. There were times that the story dragged, but this is far outweighed by the times that the story was very exciting, and I couldn't put the book down. I won't go into the ending, but it left me unsettled.

I found that the explanatory notes were very helpful. I'm not a great scholar on any level, nor will I ever claim to be. The explanatory notes were very simple to understand, and it helped me understand portions of the story that caused confusion, particularly the end.

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5.0 out of 5 stars An American Classic. A Horror Classic., Feb 28 2001

By	Eugene G. Barnes (Dunn Loring, VA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Penguin Classics Narrative Of Arthur Gordon Pym (Paperback)

Poe's only novel reminded me of Gogol's "Dead Souls," in that, in both, the story seems to take a weird turn toward the end and shuts down rather oddly. Gogol's excuse is that he became a fire-breathing convert to Christianity midway through writing his book, and so had no use for the book's initial cynical tone (instead we get a character rant on in socio-religious mode for awhile). I don't know what Poe's excuse is, but the effect of his end-of-story turn is remarkable, and I won't spoil it for you (unlike other reviewers below - warning!). There is a vivid, dreamlike, unsettling quality to the whole book, and (with the exception of a few dull pages of sailing life detail - not unlike "Moby Dick," but with nowhere near as much page-filling excess) there is rip-roaring action from start to finish. Poe's yarn is full of incident, and every bit of it counts. So at midnight, lock the door, sit back, put your feet up, and soak up this book in the dim light of your hurricane lamp. It's, after all, one of many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore!

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Most recent customer reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars A short read that is definitely worth your time
I am a relative newcomer to Poe, having only read a few short stories. I gave this a try because I love old fashioned adventure stories. I was not disappointed. Read more

Published on Feb 20 2006 by Kiehl

5.0 out of 5 stars So you want to go out to the sea?
This is the dark narrative of the misadventures of a young man from New England. Pym has a big illusion of going to the sea, and so, secretly, he embarks in a ship. Read more

Published on Feb 22 2001 by Guillermo Maynez

5.0 out of 5 stars A disturbing tale of shipwreck and savagery
This story, Poe's only novel, is an endurance test for both reader and characters. I believe it was originally serialized, and reads like a collection of incidents rather than a... Read more

Published on Dec 29 2000 by Zack Davisson

5.0 out of 5 stars thoroughly enjoyable
I haven't yet ruled out the possibility that I'm simply an oddball, but I assume every boy goes through a sort of Poe mania at some stage, at least I did. Read more

Published on Oct 13 2000 by Orrin C. Judd