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3.38 AVERAGE
3.38 AVERAGE
Edgar Allan Poe is best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre. But as writers are often commentators on matters of public concern, Poe too found inspiration in the zeitgeist of his day. He lived in what was termed the age of science and progress by his contemporaries. What emerged in his short stories and dialogs was science-themed fiction.
Poe was critical of the spirit of optimism. In "Some Words with a Mummy" he mocks the pride that modern men take in their recent technical achievements. In "The Colloquy of Monos and Una" he warns us that our attempts to rationalize every aspect of society turned us into slaves of reason and rendered as incapable of the intuitive appreciation of beauty.
Above I've said that Poe wrote tales of mystery, and some of his science-fiction writings fall under this umbrella, too. There are two stories about balloon journeys. "The Unparalleled Adventure of One Hans Pfaall" reports the wondrous journey to the moon. The unpopular tale was later republished in The Sun presented as non-fiction and soon called "Great Moon Hoax". Another hoax was consciously produced by Poe when, in the same paper, he publishes an article about balloonist Monck Mason and others crossing the Atlantic Ocean in a balloon. The tales are rich in technical detail and convey the impression that engineers could follow the advice and succeed.
Much darker – and more in the vain of what people will expect of Poe – are his two naval tales included here. "MS. Found in a Bottle" and "A Descent into the Maelström" tell us about journeys more straining that men are able to endure. They are classical adventures and, for this reason, more easily enjoyable reads. Similarly, "A Tale of the Ragged Mountains" and "The Thousand-and-Second Tale of Scheherazade" tell us of adventuring men, though their journeys appear significantly more fantastical.
Frankly, many contributions to the collection are small philosophical treatises in disguise. "The Conversation of Eiros and Charmion", "The Colloquy of Monos and Una", and "The Power of Words" share the common setting of interlocutors discussing worldly and metaphysical matters after death. In "Mesmeric Revelation" and "The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar" Poe puts his trust in accounts of Mesmerism that were taken seriously by scientific authorities of his day to create a communicational bridge between the mortal world and the realm beyond. "Von Kempelen and his Discovery" discusses the potential consequences of another pseudoscience once held in serious regard, alchemy.
If you are interested in somewhat more detailed discussions of the individual entries, I tried to summarize my thoughts on them in individual reviews. Due to length restrictions imposed by GoodReads, I wasn't able to include them in this review (as originally intended). Here are the links:
- MS. Found in a Bottle / A Descent into the Maelström
- The Unparalleled Adenture of One Hans Pfaall
- The Conversation of Eiros and Charmion
- The Colloquy of Monos and Una
- A Tale of the Ragged Mountains
- The Balloon-Hoax
- Mesmeric Revelation
- The Thousand-and-Second Tale of Scheherazade
- Some Words with a Mummy
- The Power of Words
- The System of Dr Tarr and Prof Fether
- Von Kempelen and his Discovery
I fully recognize the unquestionable quality of Poe's writing. Yet, to my mind it's an exemplary case of where the mind has to force the sentiment to take pleasure in what to read. Which is a rather convoluted way of say that it wasn't a lot of fun. The only exception is a story I haven't yet mentioned, "The System of Dr Tarr and Prof Fether". If we talk Poe I'm sure this is the kind of storytelling that comes to mind. It doesn't come as a surprise that many of his other pieces are mostly forgotten.
Rating: 3/5
Poe was critical of the spirit of optimism. In "Some Words with a Mummy" he mocks the pride that modern men take in their recent technical achievements. In "The Colloquy of Monos and Una" he warns us that our attempts to rationalize every aspect of society turned us into slaves of reason and rendered as incapable of the intuitive appreciation of beauty.
Above I've said that Poe wrote tales of mystery, and some of his science-fiction writings fall under this umbrella, too. There are two stories about balloon journeys. "The Unparalleled Adventure of One Hans Pfaall" reports the wondrous journey to the moon. The unpopular tale was later republished in The Sun presented as non-fiction and soon called "Great Moon Hoax". Another hoax was consciously produced by Poe when, in the same paper, he publishes an article about balloonist Monck Mason and others crossing the Atlantic Ocean in a balloon. The tales are rich in technical detail and convey the impression that engineers could follow the advice and succeed.
Much darker – and more in the vain of what people will expect of Poe – are his two naval tales included here. "MS. Found in a Bottle" and "A Descent into the Maelström" tell us about journeys more straining that men are able to endure. They are classical adventures and, for this reason, more easily enjoyable reads. Similarly, "A Tale of the Ragged Mountains" and "The Thousand-and-Second Tale of Scheherazade" tell us of adventuring men, though their journeys appear significantly more fantastical.
Frankly, many contributions to the collection are small philosophical treatises in disguise. "The Conversation of Eiros and Charmion", "The Colloquy of Monos and Una", and "The Power of Words" share the common setting of interlocutors discussing worldly and metaphysical matters after death. In "Mesmeric Revelation" and "The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar" Poe puts his trust in accounts of Mesmerism that were taken seriously by scientific authorities of his day to create a communicational bridge between the mortal world and the realm beyond. "Von Kempelen and his Discovery" discusses the potential consequences of another pseudoscience once held in serious regard, alchemy.
If you are interested in somewhat more detailed discussions of the individual entries, I tried to summarize my thoughts on them in individual reviews. Due to length restrictions imposed by GoodReads, I wasn't able to include them in this review (as originally intended). Here are the links:
- MS. Found in a Bottle / A Descent into the Maelström
- The Unparalleled Adenture of One Hans Pfaall
- The Conversation of Eiros and Charmion
- The Colloquy of Monos and Una
- A Tale of the Ragged Mountains
- The Balloon-Hoax
- Mesmeric Revelation
- The Thousand-and-Second Tale of Scheherazade
- Some Words with a Mummy
- The Power of Words
- The System of Dr Tarr and Prof Fether
- Von Kempelen and his Discovery
I fully recognize the unquestionable quality of Poe's writing. Yet, to my mind it's an exemplary case of where the mind has to force the sentiment to take pleasure in what to read. Which is a rather convoluted way of say that it wasn't a lot of fun. The only exception is a story I haven't yet mentioned, "The System of Dr Tarr and Prof Fether". If we talk Poe I'm sure this is the kind of storytelling that comes to mind. It doesn't come as a surprise that many of his other pieces are mostly forgotten.
Rating: 3/5
I was sadly underwhelmed. I like Jules Verne, but this was just... boring. And not very imaginative, to mee.
challenging
slow-paced
I really don't know how to give this a star rating. It was an interesting read, but if anything it made me appreciate Poe's horror writing more. There were a few stories in here I genuinely enjoyed ("MS In a bottle" and "A tale of the ragged mountains" come to mind) and there were a few more that I found interesting if not actually enjoyable, but far more that I found boring or confusing or both. There were even a couple I just skipped by after reading 5-10 pages or so.
The commentary added some interesting context in places but also expected more pre-knowledge than I have so it wasn't as useful as I'd hoped.
The commentary added some interesting context in places but also expected more pre-knowledge than I have so it wasn't as useful as I'd hoped.
Трудно ми е да дам оценка на сборника, тъй като по начало рядко чета такива разкази, а и това е първата ми среща с Едгар Алан По (но не и последна!). Тъй като може да се каже,че половината разкази ми хареса, а другата половина-не особено, ще дам оценка от 3 звезди.
emily brontë made me think i could read classics… i cannot. maybe i’ll return to this when i feel like torturing myself
Sci-fi and fantasy has always been my genre, but reading this triggered my love of darker and gothic genres, classics, poetry...Even in this day and age, Poe's imagination draws you in and makes it real, whether it be journeying to the moon in a balloon or falling through the centre of the earth at the poles...
Shelving this for now. I got two stories in and had to get a change of pace.
I'll pick this up in a bit.
I'll pick this up in a bit.