The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket

By: Edgar Allan Poe

Narrated by: Peter Noble

“My visions were of shipwreck and famine; of death or captivity among barbarian hordes...”

Edgar Allan Poe’s only novel, The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket, is a classic adventure story with disturbing supernatural elements that has fascinated and influenced many subsequent writers. It relates the various adventures and misadventures of young Arthur Gordon Pym, who stows away aboard a whaler called the Grampus. After surviving mutiny, cannibalism and shipwreck, Pym and his last surviving companion sail deep into the uncharted, mysterious Antarctic seas, where they face bizarre creatures, encounter hostile native islanders and, ultimately, the great unknown.

By weaving together elements of the adventure travelogue and the Gothic horror story, Poe skilfully explores the boundaries of human knowledge and morality.

Please note that this story contains racist language and stereotypical portrayals of non-white persons that were typical of the era in which it was written.

Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849) was an American writer, poet, editor and literary critic known for his dark, atmospheric tales and haunting poetry. Widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in American literature, Poe helped shape the horror and science-fiction genres and is widely credited with inventing detective fiction in his 1841 short story, Murders in the Rue Morgue. Despite a life marked by personal tragedy and financial hardship, Poe produced a number of enduring classics such as The Raven, The Tell-Tale Heart, and The Fall of the House of Usher, and since his somewhat mysterious death, he and his writings have had a wide-ranging influence in popular culture. In 1946, the Mystery Writers of America established the annual Edgar award, which honour the best in mystery fiction, non-fiction and film.

Public Domain (P)2021 SNR Audio

The ending was classic

I like the way he writes. vocabulary and thought processes. Everything is very well explained

"Something Ever More About to Be" (mild spoilers)

I am a fan of Poe's short stories and so was curious to listen to his novel. As a surface adventure account, it started somewhat drily, but once the action got going in earnest, I was hooked. While listening I thought of Moby-Dick, Huck Finn, and Blood Meridian (there are some truly ghastly events), but the closest heirs perhaps would be the heroes of Edgar Rice Burroughs and Robert E. Howard. Dirk Peters could stand shoulder-to-shoulder (well, not literally) with Conan.

I figured more was going on beneath the surface of the narrative, but not being clever enough to have spotted many of the clues myself, I happily resorted to some of the critical literature afterward to lessen my ignorance.

The reader does a fine job.

Incredibly painful

I have listened to a few other of Poe's short stories, and they were fine. I didn't think they were the best but not bad either. I heard something about this story and figured I would give it a try, and I paid for it. To say Verbose is to understate this story in the extreme. He takes a whole chapter to say he went upstairs. To be completely honest I couldn't actually finish, it was that bad.

‚very silly little book’…

I like Poe stories, but for this his only novel, I have to agree with the authors own assessment that it is a very silly little book. It starts well with a coming of age sea story. But suddenly turns into a travel log with entire chapters describing nothing but various seabirds and geography of some islands without narrative at all. The last part is truly silly indeed. Some mystical descent in Antarctica. It was hard to finish even on double speed. Nothing happening. The pedantic over-explaining was hard to stomach. Also the what amounts to basically murder of various ‘savages’, ‘idiotic natives’, and ‘primitives’… apparently Poe had to write a longer narrative for his publisher to get some money. I am not sure, if he was simply incapable of sustaining a longer narrative or just bored to bits having to deliver it….either way, a waste of time. Narrator does a good job, but that patient was dead on arrival.