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A review by thomas_edmund
Poe's Tales of Mystery And Imagination - Illustrated by Arthur Rackham by Edgar Allan Poe
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Despite reading genres that are heavily inspired by the 'horror lord' I've actually barely read any Poe - until now of course!
The first thing that stood out about Poe, is that this man does MADNESS. I was expecting things similar to Lovecraft, but Poe is on a whole other level. Classics like The Telltale Heart, and the Cask of Amontillado (almost spelt that right without Google) were among my favourites and display a certain level of cray-cray not seen in most fiction.
The Masque of the Red Death also stood out as a somehow relevant again in Covid times, as the story revolves around a rich/upper class hiding away from a plague.
I was also super intrigued to finally read Dupin, and Murder in the Rue Morgue. For those unaware Dupin is the OG inspiration for Sherlock and other mastermind detectives - although I have to confess its clearly through the creation of the trope of 'deductive' characters basically pulling evidence of thin air due to their brilliant intellects - the stories themselves aren't actually that great. In a interesting twist its like the original creation of a trope is the MOST annoying and over-the-top and later editions actually ground the style out a little (for example Dupin literally just spends the stories pontificating to the narrator the nature of the various crimes based on a small amount of information, he doesn't even visit crime scenes or discuss with witnesses or anything!!) Although Rue Morgue gets a pass for being such a bizarre story overall.
All in all a great collection of Poe - Rackham's illustrations are an absolute bonus to this book they capture Poe very very well.
The first thing that stood out about Poe, is that this man does MADNESS. I was expecting things similar to Lovecraft, but Poe is on a whole other level. Classics like The Telltale Heart, and the Cask of Amontillado (almost spelt that right without Google) were among my favourites and display a certain level of cray-cray not seen in most fiction.
The Masque of the Red Death also stood out as a somehow relevant again in Covid times, as the story revolves around a rich/upper class hiding away from a plague.
I was also super intrigued to finally read Dupin, and Murder in the Rue Morgue. For those unaware Dupin is the OG inspiration for Sherlock and other mastermind detectives - although I have to confess its clearly through the creation of the trope of 'deductive' characters basically pulling evidence of thin air due to their brilliant intellects - the stories themselves aren't actually that great. In a interesting twist its like the original creation of a trope is the MOST annoying and over-the-top and later editions actually ground the style out a little (for example Dupin literally just spends the stories pontificating to the narrator the nature of the various crimes based on a small amount of information, he doesn't even visit crime scenes or discuss with witnesses or anything!!) Although Rue Morgue gets a pass for being such a bizarre story overall.
All in all a great collection of Poe - Rackham's illustrations are an absolute bonus to this book they capture Poe very very well.