The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket
By Edgar Allan Poe
From what I remember the story mysteriously stops
as the ship is spinning in the vortex of water.
Later, other authors wrote stories that picked up where Poe stopped.
The work relates the tale of the young Arthur Gordon Pym who stows away aboard a whaling ship called Grampus. Various adventures and mis-adventures befall Pym including shipwreck, mutiny and cannibalism. The story starts out as a fairly conventional adventure at sea, but it becomes increasingly strange and hard to classify in later chapters, involving religious symbolism and the Hollow Earth.
Unlike previous sea voyage tales that Poe wrote (i.e. "MS. Found in a Bottle") Pym is undertaking this trip on purpose.[1]
Poe may have been inspired, at least in part, by Jeremiah Reynolds, who had recently made a report to Congress on a proposed expedition to the South Seas.[2] Poe actually used about seven hundred words of Reynolds' address in Chapter XVI, almost half the length of the chapter.[3]
Science fiction author H. G. Wells noted that "Pym tells what a very intelligent mind could imagine about the south polar region a century ago".[6]
In 1897 French author Jules Verne published The Sphinx of the Ice Fields. A sequel to The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym, the two-volume novel explores the adventures of the Halbrane as its crew search for answers to what became of Pym. Translations of this text are sometimes titled An Antarctic Mystery or The Mystery of Arthur Gordon Pym.
Poe's novel was also an influence on H. P. Lovecraft, whose 1936 story At the Mountains of Madness follows similar thematic direction and borrows the cry tekeli-li from The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym.
In Paul Theroux's travelogue The Old Patagonian Express, Theroux reads parts of The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym to Jorge Borges.
I think that hollow earth presentations along these lines are more interesting and attractive than scientific ones, although we have to straddle a bit so as to be complete. Literature is always interesting.
And about this Brad Steiger- did he give up on te holow earth theory? Pass away? Did he ever get in contact with mainstream holow earth groups?
I don't think Brad Steiger is writing more books on the inner earth,
but he was getting my newsletter The Hollow Hassle for awhile,
a number of years ago. Then he married Sherry, who claimed
to be a star person and they wrote about that a lot. As for now,
I don't know what he's writing, if anything, and I don't think he is
involved in any hollow earth groups.
Thanks for your kind words regarding my email and feel free
to pick my brain anytime. There's no guarentee that I will
remember a lot of any of it, but sometimes the old brain
suprises me and comes up with some information.
Tuesday September 4th, 2007
Listen: Windows Media Real Media
The Shadow Realm Renowned author of books on the paranormal, Brad Steiger shared his research about a 'Shadow World' and its inhabitants, who may appear as normal to us, only to disappear without a trace. These beings, who can be thought of as "cosmic tricksters," may... more >>
Host: George Noory
Guest(s): Brad Steiger, Randy Cerveny
"If you believe in unlimited quality and act in all your business dealings with total integrity, the rest will take care of itself.""
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Be a better Heartthrob. Get better relationship answers from someone who knows.
First Many Many Thanks for this & your other many fine impeccable
postings on the list over the years that I have had the privledge of
reading. Just when the trickling of clues to my lives research project
have run out, you come along & turn me on with a link to J. Borges'
work. "The Book Of Sands, the rope of clues, at least for me, can
continue. I only read 1 of his pieces as a X link, decades ago, to E.
Swendenborg's contributions, there-by missing most of his.
Second, is there a site of your old list or mag. where I can read since
I now know I have missed some great reading?
Most interesting to know B.S. has been writing under 3 names, wondering
if its the real one and if Sherry knows what it is? With her long term
memory bank it probably didn't take long to find out what it is.
Being such a prolific reader, that I know you are, I am wondering if you
recall a story I read awhile back that I think may be related to the
"Sand's book about the sea captain, who had a lay-over in India [clue,
Bombay was written on the spine of the Sands book] and found a book or
manuscript in a book store & bought it from the owner, who knew not its
true value because it was written in a foreign lang. As mentioned in
Sand's by the bible salesman who makes the same statement about his
book. of the infinite or labyrinths: According. to the Indian owner his
book was about a immortality secret, as 1 or more interpreters had
recognized some related words or symbols, elephant[memory] crimson & or
cinnabar, [red mercury], stone as if in philosopher & alchemy. To
mention all I recall about the story I read.
Please, and if you have time, let me know where I may read your list or
mag. writings and if you recognize the story I'm talking about or know
its origins? Borges's Sands seems to close to the one I read to be
coincidental.
Many thanks for your kind words. I wish I could help you
with your question about the book but I don't really
know. I used to read a lot but now my eyesight gets
out of focus after about 20 minutes or so. That's why
it's so nice to be online, where it's easier to read. I am
totally amazed at how much info there is on my favorite
subject, the hollow earth.
There are no copies of The Hollow Hassle online, although
there may be in the near future. It's something I would like
to see happen. If it does come to pass I will definitely let
all the members know...........