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The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket (Penguin Classics) by Edgar Allan Poe
Reader Reviews 6 of 9 people found the following review helpful: An American Classic. A Horror Classic., February 28, 2001 Reviewer: Eugene G. Barnes from Dunn Loring, VA USA Poe?s only novel reminded me of Gogol?s ?Dead Souls,? in that, in both, the story seems to take a weird turn toward the end and shuts down rather oddly. Gogol?s excuse is that he became a fire-breathing convert to Christianity midway through writing his book, and so had no use for the book?s initial cynical tone (instead we get a character rant on in socio-religious mode for awhile). I don?t know what Poe?s excuse is, but the effect of his end-of-story turn is remarkable, and I won?t spoil it for you (unlike other reviewers below ? warning!). There is a vivid, dreamlike, unsettling quality to the whole book, and (with the exception of a few dull pages of sailing life detail ? not unlike ?Moby Dick,? but with nowhere near as much page-filling excess) there is rip-roaring action from start to finish. Poe?s yarn is full of incident, and every bit of it counts. So at midnight, lock the door, sit back, put your feet up, and soak up this book in the dim light of your hurricane lamp. It?s, after all, one of many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore!
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