Edgar Allan Poes only novel has provoked intense debates about its meaning since its first publication. The novel relates the adventures of Pym after he stows away on a whaling ship, where he endures starvation, encounters with cannibals, a whirlpool, and finally a journey to an iceless Antarctic sea. It draws on the conventions of travel writing and science fiction, and on Poes own experiences at sea, but is ultimately in a category of its own.
