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4.19 AVERAGE
4.19 AVERAGE
In this final volume of the works of Poe we are at the conclusion of all his literary writings. Included in this volume are his poems, thoughts of poetry, some stories, a play and surprisingly an article written about decorating called “Furniture”. Needless to say the man to me was a enigma and not surprisingly that there is an under current of a melancholy which accompanies quite a deal of the work throughout the 5 volumes. Not always macabre in nature but some bits of humor shining though. UN-appreciated in his life, even after death his obituary notice in the New York Times by Griswold is not flattering. “this announcement will startle many, but few will be grieved by it”. But Griswold, we remember Poe but who are you? I found it interesting that their was a dedication to a published work of his poems as follows... Poems “To the noblest of her sex, The author of “The Drama of Exile”-to Miss Elizabeth Barrett Browning of England, I dedicate this volume with the most enthusiastic admiration and with the most sincere esteem. 1845 E.A.P. The most notable poems Poe wrote would likely be “The Raven” and “Annabel Lee”, but my favorite is “Alone” which I think best sums up Poe the man and his brief life.
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Eh, not my favorite stories by Poe. But some were still ok.
Pit And The Pendulum is so good. Definitely my favorite of the collection.
I am not a fan of the prose here; much as I hate to say it. There is a reason we do not speak so formally anymore. By using such dense language, Poe masks his meaning. It fails to create nuance or subtly; rather, this type of prose simply creates confusion. I wasn't able to read Lord of the Rings for similar reasons. On top of that, the narrator here is very dry. His speaking voice is monotonous, and the lack of significant inflection does little to help the listener parse the meaning of the story. In fact, it all blurs together and creates a very dissociative listening experience. It does not help that this voice actor struggles to pronounce many of the French and Latin words appropriately.
Edgar Allan lived a short life but was a prolific writer, known for his brilliant scary works as well as mysteries and for early science fiction. The stories in this volume are representative of these types. My favorites were The Gold Bug, The Murders in the Rue Morgue and The Oval Portrait. In addition, I also liked The Mystery of Marie Roget, although it isn't as famous as the others. There are two having to do with flights in hot air balloons (pre-Jules Verne, who was influenced by Poe). One, interestingly enough, was published as a "journalist hoax!" Fake news is, apparently, an old concept!
In this volume are: The Unparalled Adventures of one Hans Pfaal, The Gold Bug, Four Beasts in One, The Murders in the Rue Morgue, The Mystery of Marie Roget, The Balloon-Hoax, MS. Found in a Bottle, The Oval Portrait
In this volume are: The Unparalled Adventures of one Hans Pfaal, The Gold Bug, Four Beasts in One, The Murders in the Rue Morgue, The Mystery of Marie Roget, The Balloon-Hoax, MS. Found in a Bottle, The Oval Portrait
dark
slow-paced
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
And this is how I learned that Edgar Allan Poe is very much not my jam. Some of the more well-known stories are in this volume and those tend to stand out a bit more, but mostly I just found this very dull and meandering. I ended up skipping around a bit because that's a benefit afforded by short story collections. But yeah, really just not for me.
This one actually was better than Part 2, it had more stories and more of them picked my interest. It was also free.
Two months that I read this and I still remember the story about the cat on the wall or the corpse under the living room.
Two months that I read this and I still remember the story about the cat on the wall or the corpse under the living room.