Edgar Allan Poe

Horror, madness, violence and the dark forces hidden in humanity abound in this tales, including - among others - the bloody, brutal and baffling murder of a mother and daughter in Paris in "The Murders in the Rue Morgue", the creeping insanity of "The Tell-Tale Heart", and the Gothic nightmare of "The Masque of the Red Death".

The Murders in the Rue Morgue and Other Tales

Pia Sophia

Let me begin by saying that I had never read anything by Edgar Allan Poe. And I was very pleased by our encounter! 
Some stories I didn't like a lot, but there were more that I fancied. Some made me shiver (The Fall of the House of Usher and The Black Cat) and some simply took me by the throat (Ligeia, which is one of the best short stories I have ever read, and Eleonora) or sucked me right in (The Murders in the Rue Morgue and The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar).

* In Manuscript Found in a Bottle, Poe tells an interesting tale of a man on the sea who finds himself in horrible circumstances. A good starter! 
* In Ligeia, a man beautifully revisits the love he has for his deceased wife, only to learn that she maybe wasn't dead after all... I loved this story so much for its beautiful choice of words and its harrowing plot. It might be my favorite story of this entire collection. 
* The Man That Was Used Up didn't really do it for me. It was a little too political and I didn't get the references before I looked them up online (although I must add, I like the way Poe went all sarcastic and satirical on this one). 
* The Fall of the House of Usher was eerie and well-written. I liked it a lot! I could see the Ushers dying right in front of me. This is the horror I bought this book for. Yes! 
* I liked William Wilson for its deeper meaning. Wilson tried to kill an exact copy of himself, as he thought someone was haunting and taunting him. It turns out to be nothing like he expected, which makes it painfully true to humanity's view of ourselves. 
* In The Man of the Crowd, Poe shows us just how easy it is to get lost in the company of a lot of people. 
* The Murders in the Rue Morgue is not so much a horror story (although the description of the crime is indeed bloody and horrific), but more a detective story. Other than the lengthy introduction about the importance of analytics, this was a fun and interesting read. 
* A Descent into the Maelström felt similar to Manuscript Found in a Bottle. About surviving nature's horrors while one shouldn't have survived them. A fun read. 
* I liked reading Eleonora, while Poe really got out there to find the most beautiful words and ways to describe the love between the narrator and his cousin. It was a sweet story, a nice way to mix things up in this collection! 
* The Oval Portrait was a very short story, and it had something dark and funny to it. I liked this one, and I was pleased to read that Oscar Wilde was inspired by it to write his fantastic The Picture of Dorian Gray. It shows the fragility of life, and also the absurdity of what was expected of women regarding their relationship to their husband in those ages.
* The Masque of the Red Death was a thrilling read. It builds up nicely, with the vivid details of the different rooms and the strange ebony clock. And when the story unravels... that's when the good stuff happens. 
* The Pit and the Pendulum for some reason didn't succeed in keeping my attention like some of Poe's other stories can. Yes, it's graphic and describes horrible things, but I kind of missed a deeper meaning to it. 
* The Tell-Tale Heart is amazingly written and shows just how far a human can go to take certain measures--only to come back from it... 
* In The Gold-Bug, Poe shows quite a few racist remarks, which made me dislike the story a lot. By making Jupiter (the African-American houseboy in this story) speak with double tongue and bad grammar, he insinuates white supremacy. Yikes. I did like the idea of deciphering a cryptogram to find a valuable treasure, but this story feels too wrong to like it because of the way Poe portrayed Jupiter. 
* The Black Cat I really liked. It was scary and showed the terrifying side that humans can have. Also: I liked the ending. Good for him. 
* I didn't quite enjoy The Purloined Letter. My mind kept drifting off, and to be completely honest I found this one a little boring. More detective stuff (although not nearly as twisted and exciting as The Murders in the Rue Morgue), more talk about analytics... This one just wasn't for me. 
* The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar was gory and terrible and unbelieveable. I loved it. 
* The Cask of Amontillado was so-so. Not a bad story (and yes, I know it is a famous one), but also not one that will stick with me for a long time. I think the writing felt somewhat rushed to me. Maybe I didn't catch it in the right time.
* This collection concludes with Hop-Frog. A tale about the consequences human terror can have. It's a nice one, with all its horrificness and terror. 

My book has an essay by D.H. Lawrence at the ending, a well-thought and elaborate essay on Poe and what moved him. A nice touch, and after finishing all of these tales I must say I agreed with lots of what Lawrence had to say. 

Overall, I liked this collection and I liked Poe's sad stories and exquisite writing style. Some stories were not as much my taste as others, but so it goes with collections as large as this one. Would reread and recommend.

The Murders in the Rue Morgue and Other Tales

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