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bookiesanta's review against another edition
3.0
2.5 stars, to be honest. Really could not get into Poe's collection. The well known stories were mostly good, with Fall Of The House of Usher being my favorite. But the others ranged from crazy to crazy-but-boring. The Arthur Gordon Pym story saved it at the end, and even that was hard to follow at times, though I did like how it slowly went from a survival at sea tale to just plain bizarre.
alexisdpatt's review against another edition
5.0
“Essential Tales and Poems: Edgar Allen Poe” edited by Stefan Dziemianowicz
Due to lack of characters, I can only review a few.
“The Raven” ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Poe brilliantly captures the mental state of a loved one left behind on earth who has trouble deciding whether or not to let things die. Poe’s rhyming scheme in this narrative poem is one of my favorites and incredible easy to get into. Each line flows like a pen writing on paper, only to break contact by starting the next line.
“The Fall of the House of Usher” ⭐️⭐️⭐️
“Shadow—A Parable” ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
“Silence—A Fable” ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
“The Black Cat” ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Brilliant story of a man’s decent into madness set upon by alcoholism and animal cruelty. The superstitious-ness of a black cat can drive anyone into paranoia, but here is it show as an extreme. I feel like the black cat symbolizes the narrators need for love and attention but he is not satisfied with it so he kills it in order to feel something. Unfortunately, he doesn’t and replacing the cat only made things worse. The only time the narrator is actually able to feel anything is when he murders his wife. And even then, the euphoria that came from her death eventually gave him away.
“The Murders and the Rue Morgue” ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Dupin’s deduction is on another level.
“The Tell-Tale Heart” ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This has always been and continues to be my favorite Poe story. The obsession with the man’s eye that eventually is the reason for his death is so brilliant because people have killed for less. What really strikes me this read around was how similar it is to “The Black Cat” in terms of the Narrators Ego and how it gets to the better of him and ultimately serves as their downfalls. Love it.
Due to lack of characters, I can only review a few.
“The Raven” ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Poe brilliantly captures the mental state of a loved one left behind on earth who has trouble deciding whether or not to let things die. Poe’s rhyming scheme in this narrative poem is one of my favorites and incredible easy to get into. Each line flows like a pen writing on paper, only to break contact by starting the next line.
“The Fall of the House of Usher” ⭐️⭐️⭐️
“Shadow—A Parable” ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
“Silence—A Fable” ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
“The Black Cat” ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Brilliant story of a man’s decent into madness set upon by alcoholism and animal cruelty. The superstitious-ness of a black cat can drive anyone into paranoia, but here is it show as an extreme. I feel like the black cat symbolizes the narrators need for love and attention but he is not satisfied with it so he kills it in order to feel something. Unfortunately, he doesn’t and replacing the cat only made things worse. The only time the narrator is actually able to feel anything is when he murders his wife. And even then, the euphoria that came from her death eventually gave him away.
“The Murders and the Rue Morgue” ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Dupin’s deduction is on another level.
“The Tell-Tale Heart” ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This has always been and continues to be my favorite Poe story. The obsession with the man’s eye that eventually is the reason for his death is so brilliant because people have killed for less. What really strikes me this read around was how similar it is to “The Black Cat” in terms of the Narrators Ego and how it gets to the better of him and ultimately serves as their downfalls. Love it.
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