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cartoonmicah's review against another edition
4.0
Poe is skillful in creating unique and surreal scenes. He evokes eery supernatural dreamscapes and peoples them with really diverse and authentic characters. His stories range across horrors, from dark fairy tales to murder confessions to haunting. Some of his stories are most memorable because of the bizarre location and the terrifying tableaux that they highlight. Often his narrators and their lack of sanity are the highlight of the story. Across the board, his stories of the scenes they paint leave a stark mark upon the reader.
I don’t enjoy Poe’s frequent and excessive philosophizing in the midst of his tales. He does not feel any need to stick with plot and often takes rabbit trails to explain the universal principles he believes to exist behind some element in the tale. This, along with somewhat scientific and overwrought language are detrimental to the enjoyment and full effect of some of his stories.
Among these stories, there is one that stands apart and needs further discussion. I’m referring to The Murder In The Rue Morgue. While this story does maintain a level of the macabre, it is really one of the first detective stories. It is hilarious to be to finally read this much references tale and see just how much Conan Doyle cribbed for Sherlock and Watson. In their first escapade of A Study In Scarlet, Watson and Holmes specifically talk about Poe’s Dupin as a detective and Holmes berates his methods. In actuality, Holmes reflects Dupin almost precisely and everything from his pontifications to the the friendship to the conversations and metaphors of Holmes are lifted almost verbatim from this Dupin story. While the mystery and adventure here is much less satisfying than most Conan-Doyle stories, it’s hard to read both and not feel that Sherlock Holmes started out as Rue Morgue fanfiction.
I don’t enjoy Poe’s frequent and excessive philosophizing in the midst of his tales. He does not feel any need to stick with plot and often takes rabbit trails to explain the universal principles he believes to exist behind some element in the tale. This, along with somewhat scientific and overwrought language are detrimental to the enjoyment and full effect of some of his stories.
Among these stories, there is one that stands apart and needs further discussion. I’m referring to The Murder In The Rue Morgue. While this story does maintain a level of the macabre, it is really one of the first detective stories. It is hilarious to be to finally read this much references tale and see just how much Conan Doyle cribbed for Sherlock and Watson. In their first escapade of A Study In Scarlet, Watson and Holmes specifically talk about Poe’s Dupin as a detective and Holmes berates his methods. In actuality, Holmes reflects Dupin almost precisely and everything from his pontifications to the the friendship to the conversations and metaphors of Holmes are lifted almost verbatim from this Dupin story. While the mystery and adventure here is much less satisfying than most Conan-Doyle stories, it’s hard to read both and not feel that Sherlock Holmes started out as Rue Morgue fanfiction.
ladyash8878's review against another edition
4.0
Heard a couple new stories from Poe I hadn't heard before, plus two of my all time favorite stories of his were in here so a nice mix
mclizzy6710's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed this collection there were actual a couple in this one I've either never read or don't remember reading so it was awesome to experience some new Poe.
maaaariiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii's review
dark
inspiring
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.5
elicia_95's review
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
selia_'s review
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
captaincymru's review against another edition
dark
3.0
This edition was let down by some weird production values and the narrator's French accent which I found really hard to understand.
rita89's review
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
pasinsky's review
dark
fast-paced
3.5
Nella maggior parte dei racconti le immagini suscitate sono particolarmente affascinanti, ma la brevità dei racconti è tale per cui non si ha molto tempo per restarne immersi.