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hanniew's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
aoutramafalda's review
3.0
Ler obras inacabadas é sempre um misto de: quero mais e imaginar o potencial da obra se estivesse acabada.
epop's review
5.0
It is absolutely unbelievable to me that more people have not read this last manuscript of Poe's. It is not in my complete Poe anthology, and I can hardly find it in print anywhere. Still, the eery end of this possible fragment- and the way it coincides with Poe's incredibly mysterious death- is something we all should be discussing.
In a way, this is the creepiest thing Poe has ever written, because of its unfinished end. Most assume he died before finishing this final work, as there was allegedly enough space on the papers to keep writing, but the sudden ending utilizes a certain, very modern kind of less-is-more horror in a very unusual story. The diary-entry format of the story is something I have not seen in any of Poe's other works, and was not a common device at the time of writing. I think it's possible the abrupt cutoff- just as the reader begins to realize the ominous danger of the lighthouse, the diary entry is interrupted and the diary suddenly ends- is an experimental ending to a very experimental story. If intentionally left unfinished, it's far ahead of its time. But even if it really is a fragment, certain disquieting elements of this story are still very unlike Poe's other settings.
I have one more theory. Of the possible explanations for Poe's sudden, delirious death- and there are many, ranging from various illnesses to poll kidnapping and subsequent hypothermia to a bad reaction to alcohol due to a brain tumor- the majority of theories, and first-person accounts, report a number of days of insanity before the death of the writer. I think it's possible this last, unfinished story was a true, delirious diary, written at some point under the influence of some fever or alcohol or illness. I think it's possible Poe was writing, believing he truly was keeping a diary of some sort of break from society, alone in a lighthouse, when he really was alone in his near-delirious mind.
There are so many things we don't know, and probably never will, about the death of the great Edgar Allan Poe. So many clues and eyewitness accounts just don't fit well together. But this story is something people too often overlook.
Even if you have no interest in the life and death of Edgar Allan Poe, this is a quick, beautiful, terrifying read.
In a way, this is the creepiest thing Poe has ever written, because of its unfinished end. Most assume he died before finishing this final work, as there was allegedly enough space on the papers to keep writing, but the sudden ending utilizes a certain, very modern kind of less-is-more horror in a very unusual story. The diary-entry format of the story is something I have not seen in any of Poe's other works, and was not a common device at the time of writing. I think it's possible the abrupt cutoff- just as the reader begins to realize the ominous danger of the lighthouse, the diary entry is interrupted and the diary suddenly ends- is an experimental ending to a very experimental story. If intentionally left unfinished, it's far ahead of its time. But even if it really is a fragment, certain disquieting elements of this story are still very unlike Poe's other settings.
I have one more theory. Of the possible explanations for Poe's sudden, delirious death- and there are many, ranging from various illnesses to poll kidnapping and subsequent hypothermia to a bad reaction to alcohol due to a brain tumor- the majority of theories, and first-person accounts, report a number of days of insanity before the death of the writer. I think it's possible this last, unfinished story was a true, delirious diary, written at some point under the influence of some fever or alcohol or illness. I think it's possible Poe was writing, believing he truly was keeping a diary of some sort of break from society, alone in a lighthouse, when he really was alone in his near-delirious mind.
There are so many things we don't know, and probably never will, about the death of the great Edgar Allan Poe. So many clues and eyewitness accounts just don't fit well together. But this story is something people too often overlook.
Even if you have no interest in the life and death of Edgar Allan Poe, this is a quick, beautiful, terrifying read.
stephmostav's review
3.0
Para entender melhor o que o protagonista de "Se um viajante numa noite de inverno" sente toda vez que um novo romance é interrompido, escolhi uma obra incompleta do Poe para ler. Mesmo em um texto tão curto, muitas das principais características de seu estilo estão presentes: a exploração psicológica de um personagem paranoico, o tema do isolamento e a relação ambígua do narrador com essa solidão, um comportamento misantropo com relação à sociedade, além do presságio opressor e constante de uma tragédia futura, mas próxima. Uma pena que ele tenha falecido antes de concluir o conto, porque ele é muito promissor nestas poucas páginas.
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