Edgar Allan Poe is best known for his short stories and poetry, particularly the poem The Raven. In researching Poe I discovered that he is known as the founder of the detective fiction genre and credited with reinventing science fiction. During his lifetime he was best known as a literary critic. In reading the Wikipedia article I had another myth burst. I was always under the impression that Poe was a drug addict and died from such a life style. Poe had his issues, alcoholism may have been one of them, but many of the negative qualities associated with Poe are the result of a smear campaign by an enemy of his, Rufus Wilmot Griswold and a public all too willing to be titillated. However, Poe did die in mysterious circumstances and his death has been attributed to a cornucopia of etiologies.
The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket is Poe’s only novel, although not a long one. It is a book in 3 distinct parts.
The first part is the classic sea adventure story. A young man is desirous of going to sea for the adventures he believes he will encounter. His parents and grandfather are adamantly opposed to his plan. Continue reading “The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket by Edgar Allan Poe”