Customer Reviews

The Science Fiction of Edgar Allan Poe (Penguin English Library)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As a book-loving child, I always took it as an article of faith that Jules Verne and H.G. Wells were the two great pioneers of modern science fiction. But "The Science Fiction of Edgar Allan Poe," edited and with an introduction by Harold Beaver, well demonstrates that Poe was the pioneer who preceded those two giants of the genre. In fact, in his introduction Beaver notes that "Jules Verne himself acknowledged his debt to Poe." This book brings together a good selection of Poe's writings, with extensive endnotes.

The book as a whole is a mixed bag. Some of the pieces strike me as experiments which don't quite hold up. But the best of these pieces superbly showcase Poe's wit, descriptive skill, and active imagination. My favorite pieces are as follows:

"The Unparalleled Adventure of One Hans Pfaall": the story of a fantastic balloon journey; filled with clever details. "A Descent into the Maelstrom": an adventure story about an encounter with a horrific whirlpool. "Some Words with a Mummy": a humorous satire about an Egyptian mummy revived scientifically. And "The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar": a creepy tale about death and "Mesmerism" (i.e. hypnosis); this story has the most in common with Poe's famous canon of horror tales.

Other selections in the book include "The Conversation of Eiros and Charmion," "A Tale of the Ragged Mountains," "The Balloon-Hoax," "The System of Dr Tarr and Prof. Fether," and some others. The longest piece in the book (at about 100 pages) is "Eureka: An Essay on the Material and Spiritual Universe." It's rather tedious and dated; in it Poe discusses such topics as the formation of the solar system, the age of the stars, and the nature of the human soul.

The best pieces in this book are truly remarkable. If you want to trace the genealogy of science fiction, don't miss this collection.

This book is a marvel. Even the cover picture is brilliantly chosen. No other writer I have come across has captured that awesome, lonely sense of vastness in the most remote wildernesses of science better than Edgar Allan Poe. "The Unparralled Adventure of One Hans Phfall" is my favorite of all the tales, filled as it is with strange imagry and unexpected observations. The "Eye Balloon" on the front of the book easily becomes the vehicle in which the explorer Hans Phfall ventures into the those silent, rarified regions of lonely atmosphere beyond the reach of ordinary men. "Descent into the Maelstrom," a second story, is another example of the vastness and strangeness of nature, and the method of the sailor's escape from the vortex of thundering water is inspired. All the tales contain this sweeping sort of genius, and the whole book is without a doubt one of the greatest complilations of stories anywhere, and certainly one of the strangest. There is a certain fascination in the cold, rational extrapolation of Poe's seemingly dry, technical sentences, and the icy discipline he uses in analysing the incredible and bizarre places and things in the stories becomes entrancing.

Many people believe that Edgar Allan Poe was merely a horror writer who penned his dark tales while under the mind-warping influence of laudanum (opium). What is misunderstood, underestimated or perhaps disregarded altogether is the greatness of Poe's philosophical mind and the genius of his theories about reality and existence. In the Science Fiction of Edgar Allan Poe his philosophical prowess is evident, most notably in 'Eureka,' where he lays out his intense -- certainly somewhat surreal -- but always fascinating interpretation of the universe and the nature of human existence. For those readers who want to go beyond the traditional canon of Poe works and discover the incredible range and depth of this man's writing and the substance of his philosophy, this is the book for you.

Edgar Allan Poe is one of the most interesting and intriguing authors of the 19th century. A poet, and master of the short story, he is credited with creating the detective story, and of course his gothic horror stories are well known. The collection "The Science Fiction of Edgar Allan Poe" demonstrates that Poe also influenced the development of the genre of Science Fiction. There are 15 works of short fiction, along with the incredible essay/poem "Eureka". These stories are arranged in chronological order of when they were published.

While these are not typical of stories that one usually considers Science Fiction, for example the first story in the book "MS. Found in a Bottle" is a sea tale which probably would be considered more horror than science fiction, the narrator finds himself aboard the legendary Flying Dutchman, and hints at the idea of a Hollow Earth, but other stories which deal with mesmerism, and life-force, and even a trip to the moon, certainly include elements of science fiction.

For myself, the most interesting and amazing work in this collection is "Eureka", which isn't fiction at all, but rather an essay or prose poem containing Poe's thoughts on science and the nature of things. Though there are certainly many incorrect thoughts contained in the work, he did anticipate the theory of the Big Bang, and the existence of entities like black holes. That being said, one cannot call it a scholarly work, but rather one of inspiration on the part of the author. It is certainly interesting choice, and a good one as well, that this work is included in a collection dedicated to Poe's works which contain science fiction elements

There are too many works contained in this volume to go over each one, but some of my favorites include "A Tale of The Ragged Mountains", "Some Words with a Mummy", "Melonta Tauta", and "Von Kempelen and His Discovery". I wouldn't consider any of the works included to be poor, and the supporting documentation included with the Penguin Classics edition helps the reader to understand Poe, the stories, and the circumstances under which they were published. Overall, I am rounding this work up to 5-stars, even if not all of the stories contained merit a rating that high.