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3.11 AVERAGE
3.11 AVERAGE
A shipwreck novel that touches all the expected plot points without adding much apart from a bit of Poe's darker imagery. The long-form narrative is not Edgar's strength and it shows - pretty clear why he only attempted the one novel.
Shipwrecks! Cannibalism! Wiley natives!
This is a quintessential ripping yarn, a page turner of the most classic kind - a book that inspired Melville and caused Auden to gush. It's Poe's only novel, and perhaps given his master of the short form it's best that he only gave us one to savor. And that ending! I wish I hadn't read the appendix; the end to the main narrative was so shocking and unexpected, so good.
Yes, yes, there are those long passages about rookeries and longitudinal markings, but don't skim those beauties. Poe writes in such precise language; the reader comes away from each sentence with the impression that the brush strokes couldn't be improved.
I'm reading Poe as a prelude to reading Arno Schmidt's "Bottom's Dream" and I'm very happy that it led me to finally reading something I've always meant to get to.
This is a quintessential ripping yarn, a page turner of the most classic kind - a book that inspired Melville and caused Auden to gush. It's Poe's only novel, and perhaps given his master of the short form it's best that he only gave us one to savor. And that ending! I wish I hadn't read the appendix; the end to the main narrative was so shocking and unexpected, so good.
Yes, yes, there are those long passages about rookeries and longitudinal markings, but don't skim those beauties. Poe writes in such precise language; the reader comes away from each sentence with the impression that the brush strokes couldn't be improved.
I'm reading Poe as a prelude to reading Arno Schmidt's "Bottom's Dream" and I'm very happy that it led me to finally reading something I've always meant to get to.
I had to read this book for class and honestly tried so hard, but could not finish..
It wasn’t the best book but I greatly enjoyed the character Peters.
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Makes a better story than a novel, if you know what I mean. I am more-or-less fully inoculated to the writing style of the mid-19th century masters, but this book is an absolute slog. Every paragraph is overwritten, so much more complicated than it needs to be. It's just an unpleasant burst of wordiness.
But man, what a tale! Ghost ships! Cannibals! Bizarre angelic figures! Racism! It's a novel that's so much fun to recap for someone else.
But man, what a tale! Ghost ships! Cannibals! Bizarre angelic figures! Racism! It's a novel that's so much fun to recap for someone else.