The Tale of the Adventures of Arthur Gordon Pym. Stories as a Replacement for a Tale

The Tale of the Adventures of Arthur Gordon Pym is the only completed novel by the progenitor of thrillers Edgar Allan Poe. The author himself attempted to present it as a real document, as the novel begins as an ordinary narrative about sea adventures. The subsequent events, which lead to a swift conclusion steeped in the horror of the inexplicable, become all the more strange and terrifying. Although during the author's lifetime critics referred to the novel as a failure, it became the most translated work of Poe. The translation into French was done by Charles Baudelaire. Another Frenchman, Jules Verne, wrote a continuation of the novel titled The Ice Sphinx. Herbert Wells regarded the Tale... as one of the three books that particularly impressed his childhood imagination. The Mountains of Madness by Howard Lovecraft is full of allusions to Pym's adventures. The novel is published in the translation by G. Zlobin. The stories included in the collection demonstrate all facets of Edgar Poe's talent - innovator, humorist, and master of sharp plot.