For a book that inspired at least three other books, Edgar Allan Poe wrote a bit of a mess here. ('An Antarctic Mystery'- Jules Verne (1897), 'At the Mountains of Madness' - H. P. Lovecraft (1936), 'Pym' - Mat Johnson (2011)). Published in 1837, Poe's 'Pym' is a bit of a seafaring adventure that runs into Antarctica and what they find there. Even if the footnotes weren't constantly either spoiling the later plot points of the book or pointing out flaws, I would still see some glaring problems here. Maybe this is why this is Poe's only novel and why he kept to short stories. Maybe he doesn't like the longer form. It seemed difficult for him to plot in advance -- though I believe this was published in pieces. But write the entire thing before the first part is published, Mr. Poe! The ending was interesting and maybe it's all the plot holes and problems that inspired the other books. We shall see. I read 'At the Mountains of Madness' years ago and LOVED that one. But I probably would have bailed on this book if I wasn't trying to read them all to get to Mat Johnson's book which I just KNOW will be good. On to 'Antarctic Mystery'... ( )

What an odd and wonderful book! A sea voyage unlike any other I've read about (and I've read about a lot of them). The story really pulled me in, even as it got stranger and more outlandish. I thoroughly enjoyed the ride. ( )

I love Edgar Allan Poe that's why I'm giving his only novel 4 stars. If it was anyone else it would only be 3 but I'm prejudiced! ( )

This is an amazing novel, and it is baffling that it isn't better known. I still can't believe Poe wrote it in 1838, as it would have seemed current in the 1950s Scifi era. The ending is rushed, and I wonder if Poe simply ran out of ideas. ( )

Único romance escrito por Poe. Começa como uma aventura marítima convencional, em que os marinheiros devem enfrentar calmaria, motim e canibalismo, mas fica progressivamente mais estranho e misterioso, e termina de forma imprevisível. Seu modo macabro, quase esquivo, inspirou Baudelaire e Melville. ( )