Reviews

The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket by Edgar Allan Poe, Richard Kopley

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teeni's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

3.5

kristendom's review against another edition

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2.75

It was just soooo boring. Parts of it were incredibly well-written - I mean, it is Poe, after all. But there was so much extraneous detail about ships and latitude and longitude that I found myself zoning out for several pages at a time. And what is with the ending - it just ends, while Pym is still lost at sea. What the hell. So yeah, I guess I'll just mark off that I have, indeed, read Poe's one actual novel, but I'll stick to his tales of horror from here on out.

ketutar's review against another edition

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4.0

Well... there's quite a lot of questionable things, like three men living three days on a human body, probably a man of about 50-60 kilos... I would say there's more to eat in that. But - all in all a very interesting story. Except when he starts explaining geography and zoology. One could have hopped over chapters. And the racism. Well... I suppose we all know he was a racist. This book is no different.

Interesting animals from Pym's adventures:

Southern Polar Bear
"a gigantic creature of the race of the Arctic bear, but far exceeding in size the largest of these animals." "This bear, upon admeasurement, proved to be full fifteen feet in his greatest length. His wool was perfectly white, and very coarse, curling tightly. The eyes were of a blood red, and larger than those of the Arctic bear—the snout also more rounded, rather resembling the snout of the bulldog."

"a singular-looking land-animal"
"It was three feet in length, and but six inches in height, with four very short legs, the feet armed with long claws of a brilliant scarlet, and resembling coral in substance. The body was covered with a straight silky hair, perfectly white. The tail was peaked like that of a rat, and about a foot and a half long. The head resembled a cat's, with the exception of the ears—these were flapped like the ears of a dog. The teeth were of the same brilliant scarlet as the claws."

"We saw several strange animals about the dwellings, all appearing to be thoroughly domesticated. The largest of these creatures resembled our common hog in the structure of the body and snout; the tail, however, was bushy, and the legs slender as those of the antelope. Its motion was exceedingly awkward and indecisive, and we never saw it attempt to run. We noticed also several animals very similar in appearance, but of a greater length of body, and covered with a black wool."

haveyouseentron's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

m4riareads's review against another edition

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5.0

4.5
Guau, un libro lleno de grandes aventuras, misterio y mucho entretenimiento eso es "Las aventuras de Arthur Gordon Pym".
¡Poe genio! Me encanta su forma de describir las cosas y los paisajes, como te teletransporta a esos lugares fantásticos a través de sus paginas, es increíble.
La verdad le tomé mucho cariño a Arthur, es un personaje entrañable y me gustó mucho su valentía y carisma en medio de todas las vicisitudes por las que tuvo que pasar a lo largo del relato, además de su forma de salir adelante y no dejarse vencer por el miedo ni la angustia. Disfruté muchísimo el libro y la verdad si te gustan los libros del tipo aventurero y emocionante entonces te lo recomiendo al 100%.