Status Updates From The Complete Tales and Poem...

I read Edgar Allan Poe’s short story Mesmeric Revelation and thought it was ambitious but a bit of a slog. The combination of scientific musing and whimsical spirituality in the dialogue at the centre of the story was an intriguing plot device. I thought its exploration of spirituality was interesting. Still, I’m not sure Edgar Allan Poe is the best science fiction writer.

Narrative of A. Gordon Pym — Boring & neverending. It’s clear why this is Poe’s only novel. Messy and haphazard and indecisive, nobody edited Poe’s work. It’s full of neverending descriptions of things that he’s never seen or interacted with, to justify their miraculous use in some aspect. It’s like a fever dream. Poe couldn’t even properly finish it.