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The Selected Works of Edgar Allan Poe by Edgar Allan Poe

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hux's review against another edition

4.0

A collection of short stories, some wonderful, some slightly forgettable, but all written in utterly sublime prose. Personally speaking, I was mostly impressed with the stories that dealt with guilt rather than straight-up horror. That being said 'The Black Cat' stood out as the most macabre and haunting (and the creepy nature of 'The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar' was fun). And I enjoyed 'The Pit and the Pendulum.' But the more famous stories (The Fall of the House of Usher and The Tell-Tale Heart) didn't entirely bowl me over (maybe because I had higher expectations for those). I was especially pleased with 'William Wilson.' This story immediately made me think of 'Fight Club.' The protagonist dealing with a doppelganger/alternative version of himself, one who torments and frustrates him at every turn.

And speaking of inspiring other works, I must confess I knew nothing of the character Dupin, the genius French detective who is patently the origin of Sherlock Holmes. As I was reading 'The Murders in the Rue Morgue' I instantly wanted to shout... 'but this is clearly Sherlock!' I mean, it's so transparent. How did Doyle get away with that? Having read a couple of Holmes stories, I was entirely in the grips of experiencing deja vu as I read the piece. I was slightly perplexed by the bizarre reveal of the guilty party in the story but was utterly entranced by the writing and the narration by Dupin's unnamed friend (the Watson character). And then, in 'The Purloined Letter' all that was missing was a pipe and a deer stalker.

Some of the stories (like 'The Balloon Hoax' and 'The Duc L'Omelett') left me somewhat underwhelmed. But even when I was reading these less appealing entries, Poe's style and flourish was always engaging. The prose always gives the impression of great intelligence at work, a mind exploring all manner of dark and fanciful ideas with rich, wonderful language. I think this collection contains a good mixture of his work (it ends with the fantastic 'The Raven') and I would highly recommend it.