Review of The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym by Edgar Allan Poe

Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym White Giant

"But there arose in our pathway a shrouded human figure, very far larger in its proportions than any dweller among men. And the hue of the skin of the figure was of the perfect whiteness of the snow."

That is the fantastic ending to Edgar Allan Poe's only novel: The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket. Is the human figure male or female? Does it mean ill will? Why is a giant white figure in the midst of the savages?

After editing Edgar Allan Poe's Short Stories Annotated, it gave me immense pleasure to read his only novel. Published in July of 1838 when Poe was only 29, the book follows the dark adventures of Arthur Gordon Pym who stows away in the cargo-hold of a whaling ship (the "Grampus") bound for the South Pole.

The novel has Poe's trademark horror and covers nearly every manner of ocean calamity. Pirates, cannibalism, a shipwreck, starvation, wild natives, sharks, and a ghost ship are present. Elements of Robinson Crusoe are here, yet that 1719 novel takes places mostly on an island. Given Arthur Gordon Pym's pace it may very well be deemed the first ocean thriller. Herman Melville appears to have drawn heavily on it when penning Moby Dick. In 1897 Jules Verne published a companion piece to The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket called An Arctic Mystery.

The band Ahab fashioned their third studio album The Giant with lyrics from Poe's Novel.

“Further South”
“Aeons Elapse”
“Deliverance (Shouting at the Dead)”
“Antarctica the Polymorphess”
“Fathoms Below”
“The Giant”
“Time’s Like Molten Lead”
“The Evening Star”


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