The stolen letter has been concealed, but all logicał attempts to locate it have failed. Dupin comes to the conclusion that, “to conceal the letter, the Minister had resorted to the comprehensive and sagacious expedient of not attempting to conceal it at all.”

The Complete Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe The Complete Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe

This short story is a marvel. It appears confusing and contradictory, but if you stop and consider who is actually speaking then its true nature is revealed. Admittedly, on my first read I was a little lost, though after a second read I began to see it for what it was. This is not as approachable as some of Poe’s other works, and it really isn’t an advisable starting point for the author. But, the short story is wonderful, truly wonderful. It highlights the working of the mind in a state of sheer depravity; it is disturbing and brilliant.

Never Bet the Devil Your Head": 3 - read 1/1/2022. Oscar Wilde definitely followed this philosophy, as evident by "Dorian Gray": "provided the morals of an author are pure, personally, it signifies nothing what are the morals of his books." With the creepy title and the horrifying premise - the narrator talking about a fishing trip with his two brothers which ended in chaos and turmoil years ago - I expected this story to be a little more frightening and engaging than it ultimately ended up to be. You will find Poe's classic style, though nothing extraordinary. He who has never swooned, is not he who finds strange palaces and wildly familiar faces in coals that glow; is not he who beholds floating in mid-air the sad visions that the many may not view; is not he whose brain grows bewildered with the meaning of some musical cadence which has never before arrested his attention.” Either way, I'm just going to list the stories and poems I did enjoy. Although, I can't read my handwriting so now I have to go through the book. Well, I guess I could just look at the Contents at the front. Duh, if I can still read my handwriting. I don't know why I wrote it on freaking post-its! In the deepest slumber - no! In delirium - no! In a swoon - no! In death - no! Even in the grave all is not lost. Arousing from the most profound of slumbers, we break the gossamer web of some dream.”

Complete Tales and Poems by Edgar Allan Poe | Goodreads Complete Tales and Poems by Edgar Allan Poe | Goodreads

In contrast, the narrator of “Morella” longs for the death of his eponymous wife, who eventually dies while giving birth to a daughter with the same name and characteristics. There are many other short stories including a treasure hunting story along costal South Carolina (The Gold Bug), detective stories (The Murders in the Rue Morgue and The Mystery of Marie Roget), and a selection of poems including the supernatural classic, 'The Raven'. There are a few techniques that Poe really works with that help make his stories so unsettling or successful. Poe was a believer in what has been termed Poe’s Single Effect Theory, which is drawn from his review of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Twice-Told Tales: dai oare seama ce minunată întâmplare a fost faptul că toate aceste evenimente s-au petrecut în acea singură zi a anului în care a fost destul de frig ca să facem foc, şi că fără foc sau amestecul câinelui, tocmai în clipa aceea când a intrat, eu n-aş fi luat cunoştinţă de capul de mort şi, prin urmare, n-aş fi ajuns niciodată în stăpânirea comorii?"

His soul will never lift anymore; hope shall never be lifted anymore. By the end of the poem he has full realised the reality of the situation. The raven, the dark bird of harsh truth, the harbinger of the words he simply doesn’t want to hear, has become demonised. It has become the very object he did not want to face; he created a sense of longing to protect himself from the emotional loss of Lenore, and this bubble of falsehood has been burst. Reality sets in, and it is a fate worse than death. It is one of persecution and mental chaos as the bird is simply unable to supply the man with all his answers. He is driven mad by the unknown. For all Poe’s Gothic Romanticism, horror and humour, his metafictional objectives make his tales that much more interesting, entertaining and relevant to our time. I also loved the poem Annabel Lee. It's a really gorgeous poem that was a joy to read (and by gorgeous I mean quite melancholic and depressing at times - hey, it's Poe!). I'm not really a big fan of poetry, but I appreciated the simplicity and beauty of this one. The Mystery of Marie Roget": 1 - read 1/22/2022. Based on the real murder of Mary Cecilia Rogers in NYC in 18141. DNF. Found it boring, lots of tell don't show. I don't enjoy police procedurals/detective stories that much.