The Science Fiction of Edgar Allan Poe

by Edgar Allan Poe

Other authorsHarold Beaver (Editor)

Paperback, 1976

Status

Available

Call number

813.3

Genres

Science Fiction

All Topics

Fiction

Collection

Your library

Publication

Penguin Classics (1976), Edition: 3rd THUS, Paperback, 464 pages

Description

One of the greatest of all horror writers, Edgar Allan Poe (1809-49) also composed pioneering tales that seized upon the scientific developments of an era marked by staggering change. In this collection of sixteen stories, he explores such wide-ranging contemporary themes as galvanism, time travel and resurrection of the dead. 'The Unparalleled Adventure of One Hans Pfall' relates a man's balloon journey to the moon with a combination of scientific precision and astonishing fantasy. Elsewhere, the boundaries between horror and science are elegantly blurred in stories such as 'The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar', while the great essay 'Eureka' outlines Poe's own interpretation of the universe. Powerfully influential on later authors including Jules Verne, these works are essential reading for anyone wishing to trace the genealogy of science fiction, or to understand the complexity of Poe's own creative vision.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member katekf

A fascinating and thoughtfully put together collection of Edgar Allan Poe's speculative fiction. The stories cover a range from the almost possible to stories that would feel comfortable in any modern science fiction collection. A good book for a reader who wants to know more about how the genre of

science fiction began and enjoys untangling untrustworthy narrators.

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LibraryThing member Stevil2001

This book collects all of Edgar Allan Poe's short fiction that could be reasonably dubbed "science fiction"-- and perhaps some of it, unreasonably dubbed. It's an odd, difficult collection; one suspects that Poe's influence on modern sf comes not via his actual sf, but the material he wrote that we

now would dub "horror"; surely "The Fall of the House of Usher" or "The Tell-Tale Heart" has inspired more sf than "The Conversation of Eiros and Charmion" or "Some Words with a Mummy."

Still, this is an important and interesting set of stories. You really can see Poe working through what he thinks the genre we now call "science fiction" is: fantastic extrapolation, but with scientific rigor or at least claims to rigor. This especially comes through in the stories that were intended to be hoaxes, such as "The Unparalleled Adventure of One Hans Pfaall," which tries really hard to convince you it's about a man who really did go to the moon.

To my surprise, I ended up liking some of the really weird stuff, like the dialogues between dead(?) spirits, "The Conversation of Eiros and Charmion" and "The Colloquy of Monos and Una." "Some Words with a Mummy" was good fun, and there were creepy moments in "The System of Dr Tarr and Prof. Fether."

What the heck is up with "Eureka," though? A more brave mind than mind will have to try to untangle that.

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