About book The Complete Works Of Edgar Allan Poe (2010)
What can be said about the works of Edgar Allan Poe that hasn't already been said, and doesn't need to be said?Hypnotic is the word best used to describe his works. In my copy of his complete words, I leave little marks in the Table of Contents for my favorite poems and favorite short stories (the result being dozens of little asterisks lining the contents page). Neil Gaiman once said that the secret to comprehending Poe is to read him aloud, whether to someone else or to yourself, and once I read that, I felt that I had the key to Poe. I always could understand his works, but honestly, reading them aloud (usually to myself), has helped a lot.When it comes to reading a poem by Edgar Allan Poe, I always say to read it at least three times. Once for the rhythm and the feel of the poem. Second for language and the appreciation of it. And third, to fully understand the story that the poem is telling, because there is a lot to get, usually, and no matter how many times you read a Poe poem, you'll always pick up something new.His words lull you into a trance, if you let them. It's almost as though Poe had his own language, some of it is that beautiful, that impressive, and sometimes, that complex and dense. His stories can be chores to get through, but I always suggest making it through the first reading, then you can read it again eventually with more enjoyment, more understanding. And his stories really are full of such gothic, articulate, elegant horror, from emotional torment to gore and death. Melancholy and emotional and physical agony haunt these pages, both in the characters of each story, and in the voice of the poems.Poe is one of few writers who will actually make me laugh and sort of giggle with amazement (weird as that sounds, but have you ever heard a song that touched your heart so deeply and was so beautiful that you couldn't help but smile and almost laugh, almost cry, with sheer amazement? it's like that), especially at my favorite poems of his: Ulalume; The Raven; Dream-Land; Alone; Romance; and so on. His stories inspire images and feelings of madness and unfathomable sorrows and darkness, enhanced by his endlessly poetic language. Some of his stories even manage to be witty and funny, like The Purloined Letter, which is small relief.Read Poe, is all I can say. There's nothing like it. He's the master of what he did, and inspired and still inspires ages of literature.
Well... technically this is not the "complete works" of Edgar Allan Poe. It's more like the "almost complete works" of Edgar Allan Poe. There are some compositions of his not included in this book. However, the compositions that EAP is known for & the ones that define him as a writer are in here. I'm pleased with this book's content and price. I think most EAP fans would agree. For those who haven't read much by EAP and would like to, this book would be a good one to do so. I feel this need every now and then to read something by one of the masters of literature. I guess it would be equivalent to a music lover's desire to listen to and appreciate one of Beethoven's 9 symphonies. EAP is a bit gothic, yes, but I enjoy his work nonetheless. He was a master of words. He owned them, and he controlled them in his work as a skillful puppeteer controls the strings of his puppets and brings them to life.Take one of his most famous pieces of work, The Raven. It's poem made up of 18 stanzas of six lines each. It consist of a series of pattern such as one stressed syllable followed by one unstressed syllable. As the 1st line goes..."Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary..."EAP not only chose appropriate and comprehensible words to make a rhyming pattern, he chose just the right descriptive word to bring life and passion to his story. All in ONE word! LOL, we can't even barely find authors nowadays to make their subjects and verbs agree. Ok, sorry for the cheap shot. (I think I'm suppose to be acting like an adult here.)Bottom line: Great book! Great Price! A MASTER writer! Yes! I recommend this book.
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While this book is huge I have read a great deal of it and have all intentions of reading it all. Some of the stories I had already read and others were new to me. I especially liked "Ligeia". I had watched the movie The Tomb based on this story but it was loosely based on it. While the movie had Ligeia being an evil person hellbent on witchcraft and prolonging her life, Poe's story was more about a man so obsessed with his wife, Ligeia, that when he married again after Ligeia's death he wanted
—Ashley Logan
FINALLY! I have been reading this book for years, one little bit at a time, and I finally finished. It should be getting 3.5 stars if Goodreads would allow that. The stories that everyone knows are classics for very good reasons. I've never been into poetry but you can't read "The Raven" without feeling that creeping sense of dread. "The Tell-Tale Heart" is a short story that fully engrosses and absorbs the reader and deserves all the accolades it gets. However, there are some stories in this book that felt like they would never end. It is a comprehensive complete works so of course, they can't all be amazing. And as I said before, I'm not good with poetry so reading his 40 page essay on the structure of poetry was burdensome to say the least. If you like Edgar Allan Poe, it's definitely worth checking out.
—Christine
Every reader and writer should read this. He is a true genius, taken from us far too soon. On an aside, I don't consider Poe to be anywhere near the horror icon that he's become. His poetry is beautiful, lyrical masterpieces. His short stories are pure suspense and mystery (I think his mysteries are even better than his suspense pieces, he pretty much invented the Detective Genre), and he does it all without cheap theatrics like blood and guts. Writers, pay attention. Read his essay "The Philosophy of Composition." It applies more to short stories and poetry than novels, but it is the core of all fine work. Single Effect, Single Effect, Single Effect. In other words: concentrating on a single effect that you want to create raises tension. Tension keeps your reader reading. Read it. Do it.
—C.A. Sanders
