| Complete Stories and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe |
Complete Stories and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe
Perhaps I should be reviewing each of his works seperately - but I don't think I have the time. His works are plentiful, and each one has too many merits to mention. I truly believe that he is the most influential American author - and is quite possibly the second most influential author of all time (bowing down, of course, to William Shakesbeare).
Poe was a brilliant man, with a love of cryptography and the grotesque. The stories are what he is known for best - and it's impossible to ignore them. The Fall of the House of Usher, The Telltale Heart, The Gold Bug, The Red Masque of Death, etc. The list goes on and on, and there are no "dull" works in there. Poe redefined the art of the horror story. Perhaps the beauty of his horror is most easily seen today, with the modern horror movies following the plot: bad guy chases beautiful girl who screams a lot. Poe's horror wasn't the kind that would come out at you with an impossible scene. It was subtle, it messed with your mind, it made you sleep with your lights on, but it also made you want to be scared. Poe was able to do everything that modern authors attempt to do - control the pace. Since his untimely death, I believe that only Stephen King has anywhere near the gift that Poe had to control the pace of the reading. If it was action, you couldn't read fast enough, if a door was creaking open - it took forever. It was true mastery of the English language.
This mastery of language is better seen in his poetry. While people begged for the next "scare story," Poe slaved himself to write the perfect poem. The Raven is as close to perfection as anything I've ever read. The rhythm is flawless, the rhyme & meter match, and it's entertaining. There are not many poems that match all three descriptions. However, I believe that the shorter poem, Alone, published post-mortem, stands out beyond everything else he has written. I don't know what it is about that work, but it's more provocative than anything that I've ever read (and I read a fair amount).
When I was looking for a single book of his to review, I was disappointed in the fact that there were no books available from Amazon.com that include all of his works - as his essays are definately all works of art. Poe would write about anything, and it was all masterful. I happen to own a book that includes all of his work: short stories, poems, essays, and compositions. Unfortunately, I could not find this book anywhere - so I must review the first book that I do not own. But, if you wish to read his work without paying for it, visit The Edgar Allan Poe Socitey of Baltimore. It has all of his works available to read.
Being the only American author that I can think of who successfully mastered two distinctly different writing genres (the short story and poetry), his work will never be forgotten.
Grade: A+ (as if I needed to say so)
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