Review of “A Descent into the Maelström” (1841)
Edgar Allan Poe (writer).
Read in 2022.
A Norwegian man, who looks old, tells the story of how he came to be that way.
There is a sense of potential to the premise, opening like “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” (1798) but describing a natural phenomenon in a manner that is ultimately Todorovian-uncanny—despite Poe’s exaggeration—instead of an overt fantasy.