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larakai 's review for:
The Complete Stories and Poems
by Edgar Allan Poe
I am finding this impossible to rate. A few thoughts...
I don't think that anyone should ever read the COMPLETE works of Edgar Allan Poe. He wrote a LOT of things. So many. Too many. You know how, in order to be great at something, you have to practice a lot? And some of your practice maybe isn't great. Probably most of your practice, actually. Well, reading this is like reading every bit of practice that Poe wrote on his way to producing the more well-known stories and poems.
Even if you had never heard of any of his works before, you would be able to pick out the ones with staying power. Many of them are half-baked. Some seem like snarky slam pieces that I don't understand because I have no context. Some of them truly make no sense. And others are interesting, impactful, and coherent.
There were some surprises... a few insane stories that were new to me and that were so over the top that I couldn't help but enjoy them. Some poems that made me laugh out loud. Some concepts so odd that I had to wonder what kind of crazy person wrote them.
His range is impressive. He covers a wide range of topics - some faux science, philosophical musings, lots of dead/lost loves, people getting buried alive, pandemics, beheadings, deals with the devil, detective stories, etc. You really never know what you're going to get.
For most normal people, I'd say that reading a "best of" Edgar Allan Poe is probably more than enough. If you are part of a book club that likes reading incredibly tedious books, maybe go for the complete works.
I can't come up with a rating because the highs were very high, but my goodness, the lows were VERY low. Some stories/poems get zero stars. I would give them negative stars if possible. Others were easily 5+ star worthy.
There are some stories I would certainly like to read again someday, but there is no part of me that feels like I'll ever need to go through the entire catalog again. (There is also no part of me that feels like I really needed to go through it once.) I'm glad it's over.
I don't think that anyone should ever read the COMPLETE works of Edgar Allan Poe. He wrote a LOT of things. So many. Too many. You know how, in order to be great at something, you have to practice a lot? And some of your practice maybe isn't great. Probably most of your practice, actually. Well, reading this is like reading every bit of practice that Poe wrote on his way to producing the more well-known stories and poems.
Even if you had never heard of any of his works before, you would be able to pick out the ones with staying power. Many of them are half-baked. Some seem like snarky slam pieces that I don't understand because I have no context. Some of them truly make no sense. And others are interesting, impactful, and coherent.
There were some surprises... a few insane stories that were new to me and that were so over the top that I couldn't help but enjoy them. Some poems that made me laugh out loud. Some concepts so odd that I had to wonder what kind of crazy person wrote them.
His range is impressive. He covers a wide range of topics - some faux science, philosophical musings, lots of dead/lost loves, people getting buried alive, pandemics, beheadings, deals with the devil, detective stories, etc. You really never know what you're going to get.
For most normal people, I'd say that reading a "best of" Edgar Allan Poe is probably more than enough. If you are part of a book club that likes reading incredibly tedious books, maybe go for the complete works.
I can't come up with a rating because the highs were very high, but my goodness, the lows were VERY low. Some stories/poems get zero stars. I would give them negative stars if possible. Others were easily 5+ star worthy.
There are some stories I would certainly like to read again someday, but there is no part of me that feels like I'll ever need to go through the entire catalog again. (There is also no part of me that feels like I really needed to go through it once.) I'm glad it's over.