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A review by kirstenann5
The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym by Edgar Allan Poe
2.0
There is a reason Poe is known as a poet and teller of short tales. This is his only novel, and rightfully so.
There is no doubt the writing in this novel is fantastic. There are several moments where his genius in poetically describing a simple emotion or situation left me in awe. The story too, is very very exciting at times, and is like that of classic adventure tales of the 19th century. Where this book fails however, is how much useless information is included. I mean this in a joking manner, but it often reminded me of when you insert nonsense into a paper to make it longer. Poe included so much information that was completely unnecessary to the story. He describes the ins and outs of the boat, he goes on and on about attitude and longitude, about bird species etc. It's mind numbing to someone who has no interest in these things' nd does absolutely nothing for the tale.
The characters are also all incredibly flat. While he is really good at describing emotions like fear and pain, none of the characters, including Pym, who is first person, have any personality.
That said, I did not hate this, and found myself very intrigued in the high points of the tale.
There is no doubt the writing in this novel is fantastic. There are several moments where his genius in poetically describing a simple emotion or situation left me in awe. The story too, is very very exciting at times, and is like that of classic adventure tales of the 19th century. Where this book fails however, is how much useless information is included. I mean this in a joking manner, but it often reminded me of when you insert nonsense into a paper to make it longer. Poe included so much information that was completely unnecessary to the story. He describes the ins and outs of the boat, he goes on and on about attitude and longitude, about bird species etc. It's mind numbing to someone who has no interest in these things' nd does absolutely nothing for the tale.
The characters are also all incredibly flat. While he is really good at describing emotions like fear and pain, none of the characters, including Pym, who is first person, have any personality.
That said, I did not hate this, and found myself very intrigued in the high points of the tale.