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3.82 AVERAGE
3.82 AVERAGE
Overall, okay. I like that the M. Auguste Dupin stories are included ("The Purloined Letter"), and some classic macabre tales (e.g. "Masque of the Red Death", "The Black Cat"). Reading beyond "The Raven" and the most famous stories I could enjoy Poe's humor, but to me it seemed he had a peculiar and sublime fixation on asphyxiation.
i knew going in that i wouldn't love poe b/c he's horror and horror not my thing.. but also poe's writing... just a product of his time i guess :-( took me waaaaay too long to slog through this
my becoming-a-genius project, part 3!
in case you somehow missed both parts one and two, here's the situation:
i have decided to become a genius.
to accomplish this, i'm going to work my way through the collected stories of various authors, reading + reviewing 1 story every day until i get bored / lose every single follower / am struck down by a vengeful deity.
i am very excited for this one, which i have unhauled (put into a donate pile in my closet) and rehauled (added to goodreads yet again) at least 4 times.
PROJECT 1: THE COMPLETE STORIES BY FLANNERY O'CONNOR
PROJECT 2: HER BODY AND OTHER PARTIES BY CARMEN MARIA MACHADO
PROJECT 3: 18 BEST STORIES BY EDGAR ALLAN POE
DAY 1: THE BLACK CAT
it's actually very funny and 19th-century-horror to be like "the Beast...the Wick'd Creature of Nightmare Itself..." and then you're describing a cat.
not scary, also kind of disturbing, but funny for sure.
rating: 3
DAY 2: THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER
being alive is amazing. there is literally nothing stopping you from reading this horror story from the 1800s and pretending it's about early 2000s performing artist Usher.
but this is good stuff either way.
rating: 4.25
DAY 3: THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH
rich people are the worst and this story is the best.
rating: 4.5
DAY 4: THE FACTS IN THE CASE OF M. VALDEMAR
gross out horror! gross out horror! gross out horror!!!
i've always been more of a standard Ghosts n Spooks Horror girl myself, but this is a better than usual example.
rating: 3.5
DAY 5: THE PREMATURE BURIAL
reading this story in Modern Times, when the entire point of it is like "ah, man, if only there were a way we could tell if people are dead...maybe then we wouldn't have to bury dozens of people alive...but there isn't so oh well! sucks for them"...well, it's weird as hell.
rating: 2
DAY 6: MS FOUND IN A BOTTLE
took a day off because i am actually...not enjoying this very much?
poe is not my favorite. who knew.
rating: 2.5
DAY 7: A TALE OF THE RAGGED MOUNTAINS
took another day off because again, not feelin this.
poe sure showed me, because this one was really good.
rating: 4.5
DAY 8: THE SPHINX
this has the funniest plot twist of any story i've ever read.
rating: 3.5
DAY 9: THE MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE
arthur conan doyle should give edgar allan poe a hundred bucks and a kiss on the forehead because holy smokes does this read just like sherlock holmes.
anyway, this is worth the read for the description of alone.
rating: 3.5
DAY 10: THE TELL-TALE HEART
well, we all know this one is iconic.
rating: 4.5
DAY 11: THE GOLD-BUG
for the first time in my life, i'm DNFing a short story.
this one is pretty long and, as it turns out, Poe's not being from the South doesn't prevent him from writing racist stories about Southern slaves and their masters!!
hard pass.
rating: none
DAY 12: THE SYSTEM OF DR. TARR AND PROF. FETHER
not the greatest depiction of people with mental illness, but i have to admit that the structure of this story is fun as hell.
also, it was 18whatever.
rating: 3.5
DAY 13: THE MAN THAT WAS USED UP
i find this very amusing: "But although men so absolutely fine-looking are neither as plenty as reasons or blackberries, still I could not bring myself to believe that the remarkable something to which I alluded just now,- that the odd air of je ne sais quoi which hung about my new acquaintance,- lay altogether, or indeed at all, in the supreme excellence of his bodily endowments."
both me and poe are really trying to find something to like in a handsome dude other than his handsomeness, am i right?
anyway this was complete nonsense.
rating: 2
DAY 14: THE BALLOON-HOAX
i do love a good prank, and convincing a bunch of old-timey bozos that someone crossed the whole damn ocean in a balloon in under 4 days is for sure a good prank.
rating: 3.75
DAY 15: A DESCENT INTO THE MAELSTROM
snooze city.
rating: 1.5 or 2
DAY 16: THE PURLOINED LETTER
what i wouldn't give to be the fat rich 1800s style editor of this story. smoking a cigar. drinking whiskey, which tastes good to me for some reason. drawing huge X's over the part where poe inexplicably spends half the story explaining the relationship between poets, mathematicians, logic, and reason.
rating: 3.25
DAY 17: THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM
personally, if i were in a gross-out rat-filled dungeon being confronted with a series of horribly logical means to enact my death sentence, i would have given up immediately.
rating: 4
DAY 18: THE CASK OF AMONTILLADO
i see you, acclaimed actor Vincent Price, editor of this book. i see you ending with one of Poe's best stories and attempting to trick me into thinking i liked this more than i did using your shared spooky charm. I'M NOT FALLING FOR IT!!
rating: 4.25
OVERALL
i like Poe fine. don't love him. creepy little dude, really. weird guy. big variance in quality imo.
the technically-least-successful entry in my genius project!
rating: 3.5
in case you somehow missed both parts one and two, here's the situation:
i have decided to become a genius.
to accomplish this, i'm going to work my way through the collected stories of various authors, reading + reviewing 1 story every day until i get bored / lose every single follower / am struck down by a vengeful deity.
i am very excited for this one, which i have unhauled (put into a donate pile in my closet) and rehauled (added to goodreads yet again) at least 4 times.
PROJECT 1: THE COMPLETE STORIES BY FLANNERY O'CONNOR
PROJECT 2: HER BODY AND OTHER PARTIES BY CARMEN MARIA MACHADO
PROJECT 3: 18 BEST STORIES BY EDGAR ALLAN POE
DAY 1: THE BLACK CAT
it's actually very funny and 19th-century-horror to be like "the Beast...the Wick'd Creature of Nightmare Itself..." and then you're describing a cat.
not scary, also kind of disturbing, but funny for sure.
rating: 3
DAY 2: THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER
being alive is amazing. there is literally nothing stopping you from reading this horror story from the 1800s and pretending it's about early 2000s performing artist Usher.
but this is good stuff either way.
rating: 4.25
DAY 3: THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH
rich people are the worst and this story is the best.
rating: 4.5
DAY 4: THE FACTS IN THE CASE OF M. VALDEMAR
gross out horror! gross out horror! gross out horror!!!
i've always been more of a standard Ghosts n Spooks Horror girl myself, but this is a better than usual example.
rating: 3.5
DAY 5: THE PREMATURE BURIAL
reading this story in Modern Times, when the entire point of it is like "ah, man, if only there were a way we could tell if people are dead...maybe then we wouldn't have to bury dozens of people alive...but there isn't so oh well! sucks for them"...well, it's weird as hell.
rating: 2
DAY 6: MS FOUND IN A BOTTLE
took a day off because i am actually...not enjoying this very much?
poe is not my favorite. who knew.
rating: 2.5
DAY 7: A TALE OF THE RAGGED MOUNTAINS
took another day off because again, not feelin this.
poe sure showed me, because this one was really good.
rating: 4.5
DAY 8: THE SPHINX
this has the funniest plot twist of any story i've ever read.
rating: 3.5
DAY 9: THE MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE
arthur conan doyle should give edgar allan poe a hundred bucks and a kiss on the forehead because holy smokes does this read just like sherlock holmes.
anyway, this is worth the read for the description of
Spoiler
an orangutan shavingrating: 3.5
DAY 10: THE TELL-TALE HEART
well, we all know this one is iconic.
rating: 4.5
DAY 11: THE GOLD-BUG
for the first time in my life, i'm DNFing a short story.
this one is pretty long and, as it turns out, Poe's not being from the South doesn't prevent him from writing racist stories about Southern slaves and their masters!!
hard pass.
rating: none
DAY 12: THE SYSTEM OF DR. TARR AND PROF. FETHER
not the greatest depiction of people with mental illness, but i have to admit that the structure of this story is fun as hell.
also, it was 18whatever.
rating: 3.5
DAY 13: THE MAN THAT WAS USED UP
i find this very amusing: "But although men so absolutely fine-looking are neither as plenty as reasons or blackberries, still I could not bring myself to believe that the remarkable something to which I alluded just now,- that the odd air of je ne sais quoi which hung about my new acquaintance,- lay altogether, or indeed at all, in the supreme excellence of his bodily endowments."
both me and poe are really trying to find something to like in a handsome dude other than his handsomeness, am i right?
anyway this was complete nonsense.
rating: 2
DAY 14: THE BALLOON-HOAX
i do love a good prank, and convincing a bunch of old-timey bozos that someone crossed the whole damn ocean in a balloon in under 4 days is for sure a good prank.
rating: 3.75
DAY 15: A DESCENT INTO THE MAELSTROM
snooze city.
rating: 1.5 or 2
DAY 16: THE PURLOINED LETTER
what i wouldn't give to be the fat rich 1800s style editor of this story. smoking a cigar. drinking whiskey, which tastes good to me for some reason. drawing huge X's over the part where poe inexplicably spends half the story explaining the relationship between poets, mathematicians, logic, and reason.
rating: 3.25
DAY 17: THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM
personally, if i were in a gross-out rat-filled dungeon being confronted with a series of horribly logical means to enact my death sentence, i would have given up immediately.
rating: 4
DAY 18: THE CASK OF AMONTILLADO
i see you, acclaimed actor Vincent Price, editor of this book. i see you ending with one of Poe's best stories and attempting to trick me into thinking i liked this more than i did using your shared spooky charm. I'M NOT FALLING FOR IT!!
rating: 4.25
OVERALL
i like Poe fine. don't love him. creepy little dude, really. weird guy. big variance in quality imo.
the technically-least-successful entry in my genius project!
rating: 3.5
I read a variety of Poe’s works when I was in middle school and high school, but this collection had a number of stories I don’t recall ever reading before - The Facts of the Case of M Valdemar (couldn’t help but think of Valdemort), The Black Cat, A Tale of the Ragged Mountains, The Sphinx, The System of Dr Tarr and Prof Fether, The Man That was Used Up, The Balloon Hoax, and A Descent Into the Maelstrom.
Not all of his tales are horror stories, and several - especially The Murders in the Rue Morgue - evoke Sherlock Holmes (who made his first appearance in 1887, some 46 years after Poe’s short story was published). Still it’s his horror tales that stay with me – The Pit and the Pendulum, The Tell Tale Heart, and The Mask of the Red Death.
I’m glad I revisited these classic tales.
concierge, library, short-stories, 19th-century
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
The detective stories are very fun, the sci-fi adventures stories pretty meh, and the horror stories are where Poe really shines.
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Murder, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail