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3.88 AVERAGE
3.88 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Book 142 out of 200 books
"Tales of Mystery and Imagination" by Edgar Allan Poe
"Tales of Mystery and Imagination" is Edgar Allan Poe's collection of his best-known stories, all published when he was still living. The title was a posthumous title, given first in 1908 upon compiling Poe's well known stories.
MY THOUGHTS:
This is the first I actually am reading Edgar Allan Poe but more seriously instead of reading his poems and fragmented stories. I read this book as part of my May reads and wasn't disappointed by the stories here.
I liked "The Tell-Tale Heart" the most because I was genuinely frightened at the Deranged protagonist! Also, "A Descent into the Maelstrom" is one spooky tale as well. It also was the first time I read "The Purloined Letter", I didn't read its prequel stories because I've read them a long time past.
This book is a great book to start reading E.A. Poe seriously and literarily, to be honest. I read the Collins Classics edition of this book which was around 490 pages, not bad..
"Tales of Mystery and Imagination" by Edgar Allan Poe
"Tales of Mystery and Imagination" is Edgar Allan Poe's collection of his best-known stories, all published when he was still living. The title was a posthumous title, given first in 1908 upon compiling Poe's well known stories.
MY THOUGHTS:
This is the first I actually am reading Edgar Allan Poe but more seriously instead of reading his poems and fragmented stories. I read this book as part of my May reads and wasn't disappointed by the stories here.
I liked "The Tell-Tale Heart" the most because I was genuinely frightened at the Deranged protagonist! Also, "A Descent into the Maelstrom" is one spooky tale as well. It also was the first time I read "The Purloined Letter", I didn't read its prequel stories because I've read them a long time past.
This book is a great book to start reading E.A. Poe seriously and literarily, to be honest. I read the Collins Classics edition of this book which was around 490 pages, not bad..
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Now this was a long one. It took me a week and a half to read it and now I'm just tired and I want to read something happy because most of these stories were kinda depressing. Not bad per se, but the mood was dark and gloomy.
Some of the stories were actually really good, but unfortunately there were a lot of them that didn't work for me at all.
For everyone who doesn't want spoilers for the stories, there is a ranking of them and also the rating a gave each of them, but I also have a spoilery review of each story below.
1 star:
28. The Balloon Hoax
27. The Domain of Arnheim
26. The Island of the Fay
2 stars:
25. The Imp of the Perverse
24. MS. Found in a Bottle
23. The Pit and the Pendulum
22. A Tale of the Ragged Mountains
21. The Mystery of Marie Roget
3 stars:
20. Berenice
19. Eleonora
18. The Purloined Letter
17. Landor's Cottage
16. The Conversation of EIROS and CHARMION
15. The Gold Bug
14. The Oval Portrait
13. A Descent into Maelstrom
4 stars:
12. The Fall of the House of Usher
11. William Wilson
10. The Cask of Amontillado
9. Ligeia
8. The Murders in the Rue Morgue
7. The Colloquy of MONOS and UNA
6. The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar
5 stars:
5. The Tell-Tale Heart
4. The Premature Burial
3. The Black Cat
2. The Assignation: Venice
1. The Masque of the Red Death
Overall, I think this is a solid collection of short stories and as all of them it has its highs and lows. I gave it 3 stars as it is also the average rating if we take all short stories into account. I would recommend if you are in the mood for something dark and for some murders and gore.
SPOILERS FROM HERE ON!
The Gold Bug 3/5
I didn't really like the vibe of this as I would personally wish for some more fantastical elements. I found it hard to read at moments and it was a bit too long for my short story taste. The most off-putting thing for me was that Legrand explained how he found the treasure after they have dug it out. It took away all the tension, although I really liked that decoding part.
The Balloon Hoax 1/5
God I hated this. Poe just threw a bunch of balloon facts at us and bombarded the reader with "this is how balloons are built". It just offers nothing outside of that. It's just awfully boring and I zoned out multiple times reading it.
The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar 4/5
This was refreshing. After reading the first two stories in this collection I was beginning to think that I won't like it at all, but hey, I finally enjoyed something. I like how Valdemar essentially just turns into a zombie abomination. There is some mystery as you are waiting for what will happen to him which kept me hooked. I also liked this hypnosis guy and the creepy vibes of the story.
MS. Found in a Bottle 2/5
This is again a pretty much boring story about a crew sailing and looking at the sun and the clouds. I zoned out multiple times again because sorry, but I don't care what the narrator thinks about the wood of which the ship is made of and the age of his crewmates who don't interact with him.
A Descent into the Maelstrom 3/5
This was... fine. I have no strong feelings about it one way or the other. I like stories about ocean abnormalities so maybe that's why I wasn't bored by this story. Either way, it's just a story about a man who survived this Maelstrom, so again, nothing special.
The Black Cat 5/5
I actually really liked this. It's the exact kind of story that I would expect from Poe. I just like how he took the concept of black cats being a symbol of misfortune and wrote a story about an alcoholic who abused cats and got what he deserved after all.
The Fall of the House of Usher 4/5
This was... interesting. I liked the vibe here. The mystery was present and so was the tension. The reveal of Usher's sister being buried alive was really cool but I think this story could've been shorter as we've spent a bit too much time describing the house and telling that story within the story.
The Pit and the Pendulum 2/5
I just couldn't pay attention to this story. It didn't hook me at all and this definitely isn't a good sign. It's essentially just a story about a man who is tortured and there's like a bunch of rats that want to eat him or something. Oh well, he is saved by the end so who cared.
The Premature Burial 5/5
For some reason this worked for me. Don't ask me why... I don't know how this would make sense either. Anyway, this story about multiple people being buried alive was really interesting and also a pleasant surprise.
The Masque of the Red Death 5/5
Maybe I am biased here as I have read this before about two years ago, but man... it's so good. I just love this plague medieval aesthetic and I love how Poe sets the mood with different colors. The story is full of mystery and anticipation. Not to mention how great of an idea it was to have the Red Death come to the party as a masked intruder.
The Cask of Amontillado 4/5
This was... fine. I am a bit confused right now. I get that it's a story of betrayal and there's a bunch of wine and murder involved which I really like but their names kinda lost me a little. Still, a good one.
The Imp of the Perverse 2/5
For the most part this is just some philosophical essay. There are basically just two pages of story in the end about how the narrator murdered someone and then confessed it, both because of his perverseness or whatever.
The Island of the Fay 1/5
So this one also begins with an essay which is most definitely not a good sign. Then our narrator is in the mountains and then he sees a fay or something and then the story ends. I cannot see the point of this.
The Oval Portrait 3/5
This one is really short but it's fine. It's essentially about a man who reads about the portrait of a woman who died while her husband was making this portrait. Nothing special, but still solid.
The Tell-Tale Heart 5/5
I really liked the writing style here as it was a bit different from the other stories. I also loved how the narrator was trying to convince the reader that he's not mad whilst also killing an old man because he didn't like his eye.
The Domain of Arnheim 1/5
This was so fucking boring. A half of it is just some discussion about perfection and art and nature and beauty then the second one is just a very detailed description of this Arnheim place and there's nothing else to it.
Landor's Cottage 3/5
This one kept my attention just slightly better than The Domain of Arnheim but it is, at its core, the same. I did like the last two pages and the indication of a story and I of course loved the part where the narrator mentioned magnolias but that's kind of it. It also gave me Tolkien vibes with all the descriptions of the trees.
The Assignation: Venice 5/5
I adore this story (which is weird as two people poison themselves in it but let's not worry about that). At the core of the story is this romance between marchesa and the guy who saved her child and this was just what I needed. I was instantly hooked and drawn to the story, craving the romance as I have only read about madmen and deaths and about the technological balloon facts for the past week. I am very thankful for this story.
William Wilson 4/5
I kinda liked this. It was interesting to read about this man who had some mental issues and was sort of haunted by himself who could only whisper. It was entertaining and kept me on the edge as I wanted to see what was about to happen with our protagonist and his clone.
Berenice 3/5
I was so confused reading this. The only thing I understood was that the narrator was attracted to Berenice - aka his cousin - and her teeth and then they both got sick or something. This one was just really weird for me.
Eleonora 3/5
The story was fine and I liked that we got some romance but as wholesome as it is to see a child promise his darling that he will never love another... they are cousins. And it weirds me out.
Ligeia 4/5
This was... interesting. I liked how the story starts and it's full of love between Ligeia and the narrator. Then she dies and he remarries. And then the second wife dies. And well... Ligeia kinda possesses her body or something. So yeah, that was cool.
The Murders in the Rue Morgue 4/5
First of all let me just say that Dupin and the narrator have romantic chemistry for sure (if the narrator had to mention that they don't, then we all know it's the opposite). Either way, this was really intriguing. I had a fun time reading this but the reveal kinda made it worse. I mean... it was the fucking monkey. Ugh.
The Mystery of Marie Roget 2/5
This was really disappointing and a major degrade in quality when compared to its predecessor. At least in The Murders in the Rue Morgue we found out that the murderer was an ape... Here it's just: well, it's a mystery so we can't reveal who the murderer is or something. Ugh, so stupid, long and boring to read. I would recommend to just skip it as it adds no real value as the premise is better than execution.
The Purloined Letter 3/5
This was certainly better than The Mystery of Marie Roget but it also wasn't that great. It was the least cohesive of the three stories even if we got back to investigations and not looking for clues in newspaper articles. I didn't care much about that letter but either way, it was a solid detective story.
The Colloquy of MONOS and UNA 4/5
This one was... fine. I really liked the concept and it was interesting to see two people being dead and talking about how they died and how it felt or something. Still, it has quite a bit of unnecessary filler which brings it down for me.
The Conversation of EIROS and CHARMION 3/5
Another story with two dead people talking but it's much more confusing than the previous one. The idea of the comet eradicating humanity is good but it just comes out of nowhere.
A Tale of the Ragged Mountains 2/5
Everything here was confusing. I didn't know who was who and I had no idea what was real and what wasn't. I just know that there was a vision and something stupid about the name Bedloe.
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
A classic. Besides the iconic stories, the rest of them range from fine to reletavely interesting.
I was surprised at recognising some moments of comedy. Also, there is a shocking amount of abusive husbands as the protagonists of these stories. And galvanism.
It was interesting to see the (essentially detective) stories with Dupin, and how apparent it is that they were what the famous writers after him, like Doyle and Christie, drew upon.
I was surprised at recognising some moments of comedy. Also, there is a shocking amount of abusive husbands as the protagonists of these stories. And galvanism.
It was interesting to see the (essentially detective) stories with Dupin, and how apparent it is that they were what the famous writers after him, like Doyle and Christie, drew upon.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
unexpectedly horrifying and beautifully ornate once one gets used to the monotony of the recounting style and fixed focalisation!
a peerless masterpiece of aesthetic composition
a peerless masterpiece of aesthetic composition
dark
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
3.5 estrelas
A Esfinge de Caveira - 5 estrelas. Very clever!
O Escaravelho de Ouro - 4 estrelas
Silêncio - Uma Fábula - 1 estrela
A Queda da Casa de Usher - 3 estrelas
Ligeia - 2 estrelas
O Retrato Oval - 3 estrelas
O Pipo de Amontillado - 3 estrelas
O Poço e o Pêndulo - 4 estrelas
O Gato Preto - 4 estrelas
Os Crimes da Rue Morgue - 4 estrelas
A Esfinge de Caveira - 5 estrelas. Very clever!
O Escaravelho de Ouro - 4 estrelas
Silêncio - Uma Fábula - 1 estrela
A Queda da Casa de Usher - 3 estrelas
Ligeia - 2 estrelas
O Retrato Oval - 3 estrelas
O Pipo de Amontillado - 3 estrelas
O Poço e o Pêndulo - 4 estrelas
O Gato Preto - 4 estrelas
Os Crimes da Rue Morgue - 4 estrelas
Read this to see whether Poe stands up to an older reader (I place under the "books for teenagers" category, not detrimentally so). Overall, I say he is quite a readable and enjoyable writer with a peculiar imagination. However, the weight of said imagination can sometimes cause him to stagger beneath his own inventions. We see this mostly whenever he begins a tale with an intriguing setup (like in the case of "MS. found in a bottle"), which then finishes in a very abrupt manner that otherwise could have been developed further by the narrative. Still, I have to give credit where credit is due, and say that Edgar Allan Poe remains a classic to this age for a reason. That this reason being the aforementioned imaginative prowess which his writing darkly evokes.