Edgar Allan Poe's Gothic tales have established themselves as classics of horror fiction, and as the inventor of the modern mystery, Poe created ma...
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reviews
Jan 07, 2012
Nikki
rated it: 
Oh, look, I can review this book from my computer. The ins and outs of this problem deeply, deeply confuse me...
Anyway, to actually review the book: the Penguin edition of selected tales of Edgar Allan Poe is an interesting one. His writing is interesting, reasonably absorbing most of the time, and it was quite good to read the forerunners of modern detective fiction in the form of 'The Murders in the Rue Morgue', and 'The Mystery of Marie Roget', though both of them got a little tir More...
Anyway, to actually review the book: the Penguin edition of selected tales of Edgar Allan Poe is an interesting one. His writing is interesting, reasonably absorbing most of the time, and it was quite good to read the forerunners of modern detective fiction in the form of 'The Murders in the Rue Morgue', and 'The Mystery of Marie Roget', though both of them got a little tir More...
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Jan 29, 2012
Lucian
rated it: 
"L'homme est lui-même et ce qu'il se cache. Ce secret hanta Edgar Poe. Le descendant de la maison Usher qui croit sa sœur morte, l'assassin du chat noir et William Wilson sont victimes de leur double, le cousin Bérénice l'est de sa névrose, le peintre du portrait ovale, de son art.
Dans ces nouvelles fantastiques, prolongement des « Histoires extraordinaires », les cadavres se promènent, une sourire ironique aux lèvres, les femmes sont «belles comme un rêve de pierre», et la mort clôt More...
Dans ces nouvelles fantastiques, prolongement des « Histoires extraordinaires », les cadavres se promènent, une sourire ironique aux lèvres, les femmes sont «belles comme un rêve de pierre», et la mort clôt More...
Jan 07, 2012
Jenifer
rated it: 
I read; "The Fall of the House of Usher"
"The Murders in the Rue Morgue"
"The Mystery of Marie Roget"
"The Island of the Fay"
I read this one because it was one of the ones mentioned in "Your Heart Belongs to Me". More like a dream than anything else, it didn't really speak to me. I did find this helpful;
http://worldofpoe.blogspot.com/2010/12/i...
"The Tell-Tale Heart"
"A Tale o More...
"The Murders in the Rue Morgue"
"The Mystery of Marie Roget"
"The Island of the Fay"
I read this one because it was one of the ones mentioned in "Your Heart Belongs to Me". More like a dream than anything else, it didn't really speak to me. I did find this helpful;
http://worldofpoe.blogspot.com/2010/12/i...
"The Tell-Tale Heart"
"A Tale o More...
Jan 07, 2012
Luz
rated it: 
Claramente Poe es brillante y sus historias tienen un poder inmenso. El libro es básicamente 7 historias de terror y 2 detectivescas. Disfruté mucho leyendo las historias de terror, primero porque tienen este poder inmenso de sentir que estas de testigo junto al protagonista observando el evento sobrenatural, es algo difícil de explicar, pero las historias te atrapan (algunas un tanto bizarras). Pero siempre con ese terror gótico, tal vez? La historia que marcaría de favorita sería la del Pozo y
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Jan 07, 2012
Laura
rated it:
I know Edgar Allan Poe is credited with being a master of horror stories, pioneering the first real sci-fi tale, and inventing the detective genre; but does that really mean I have to like him?!
Firstly, good God he has an obsession with premature burial/entombment. A horror story isn't necessarily inventive if each one he writes involves some element of claustrophobic tomb and/or a question mark over death, madness, or the reliability of a narrator. Once or twice, then fine, wonderful, i More...
Firstly, good God he has an obsession with premature burial/entombment. A horror story isn't necessarily inventive if each one he writes involves some element of claustrophobic tomb and/or a question mark over death, madness, or the reliability of a narrator. Once or twice, then fine, wonderful, i More...
Jan 07, 2012
Rivka
rated it:
We're delving into the writings of Edgar Allan Poe for our October book club and I'm glad for the chance to clear the dust from this book. His writings are haunting and not thrillers and I love that!
We get to choose our own selections so I started with his poetry (not in this edition). For short stories I began with "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" and then had to follow with the other Dupin stories, "The Murder of Marie Roget" and "The Purloined Letter" More...
We get to choose our own selections so I started with his poetry (not in this edition). For short stories I began with "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" and then had to follow with the other Dupin stories, "The Murder of Marie Roget" and "The Purloined Letter" More...
Jan 07, 2012
Hannah
rated it:
i wanted to die because i didn't like it but i mean maybe he's not my style or whatever i just didnt like it but here are a few faves i did like and read and loved because they made sense to me or that it was narrated well or whatever...
the fall of the house of usher
the black cat
ligeia
william wilson
the murders in rue morgue
the oval portrait
the masque of the red death
the tell tale heart
the facts in case of M. valdemar
and those are my fav More...
the fall of the house of usher
the black cat
ligeia
william wilson
the murders in rue morgue
the oval portrait
the masque of the red death
the tell tale heart
the facts in case of M. valdemar
and those are my fav More...
Jan 07, 2012
Amy
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the great basil rathbone lends his extraordinary voice to six classic poe tales as he brilliantly captures the slow building crescendo of paranoia and madness that make these tales great. a perfect match of voice to verse. hmmm,which is my favorite, is it the tale tell heart, the black cat, the fall of the house of usher, the cask of amontillado, the pit and the pendulum, or the masque of the red death? let me see- a beating bloody heart, a twisted sister, a black cat, a deadly ball, some bric
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Jan 07, 2012
Michael
rated it:
My review could be a little biased. Edgar Allan Poe is my favorite poet, ever since middle school. This book contains his most popular and famous poems and short stories. Poe works usually have the reoccurring theme of death and the beauty of death. His short stories all have some form of horror element to them, while his poems typically deals with lost. Poe's poems have some aspect to his life, such as the lost of loved women in his life. I recommend this to anyone that is a fan of Poe and peop
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Jan 07, 2012
Nayeli
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Spanish. This particular edition is beautiful, the cover and the paper. I read it very young and I particularly remember liking the order of the stories.
Feb 20, 2012
Melissa
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I had to read this for college. I love this collection and I even shared some with my students.
Jan 07, 2012
Blair
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I knew I would enjoy this, but even so I was surprised at how readable the stories were. I preferred the tales with a supernatural twist to the ones with more logical conclusions - 'William Wilson', 'The Fall of the House of Usher' and 'The Masque of the Red Death' (despite its brevity) were among my favourites, but I lost interest in 'The Murder of Marie Rôget' halfway through and was disappointed when 'The Gold-Bug' had a rational outcome rather than ending with a paranormal flourish. Great to
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Jan 07, 2012
Henry James said, "An enthusiasm for Poe is the mark of a decidedly primitive stage of reflection." I think it is the primitive nature of Poe's writing that captures readers. He reaches 'back to the basics' if you will. He realizes that the mind and the body are connected and man can never escape the animal instinct so many authors are trying to hide.
Poe's willingness to enter into the realm of the grotesque and the way in which he presents his characters make his works cr More...
Poe's willingness to enter into the realm of the grotesque and the way in which he presents his characters make his works cr More...
Jan 07, 2012
Mario
rated it:
Qué se puede esperar de un hombre que es considerado el padre del cuento policiaco y de la anticipación científica? Qué se puede esperar de alguien que escribió gran parte de sus cuentos entre el opio y el alcohol? Qué se puede esperar de alguien cuyo mayor miedo es el entierro prematuro?
Las respuestas a todas estas preguntas se encuentran esparcidas en todos los cuentos de Poe. Sus logros son sorprendentes, no encuentro palabras para recomendar más este libro, léalo por favor!
Las respuestas a todas estas preguntas se encuentran esparcidas en todos los cuentos de Poe. Sus logros son sorprendentes, no encuentro palabras para recomendar más este libro, léalo por favor!
Jan 07, 2012
Evan
rated it:
My grandfather gave me this book when i maybe 7 years old and the skeleton with the red eyes on the front cover scared me to death, so i hid it in my bookshelf. 20 years later I pulled it out of my bookshelf and read it cover to cover and loved it so much that i promptly bought another book with even more of Poe's short stories in it. Thanks grandpa! Sorry it took me so long to read it, but i'm sure i appreciated it more when i finally read it that i would have at seven years old.
Jan 07, 2012
Mary
rated it:
I loved the stories and some of them I read in school. I had a hard time with the language and had to stop to re read it in sections. In fact to take a break from thinking I read another book and then went back to Poe's writings. I did find them quite a marvel of his time. I can imagine how people of his time saw those writings as bewitching and scary. And mostly likely called him crazy for writing them.
Thumbs up.
Thumbs up.
Jan 07, 2012
patxi
rated it:
Si hay un autor en el que el relato breve, el "cuento" pasa a ser una obra maestra, es con Poe. Narraciones plenas de misterio, de desasosiego, que nos hacen sufrir, retorcernos de angustia y mirar desconfiados al extremo oscuro de la habitación... y además, literariamente hablando, todo un catálogo de recursos brillantemente utilizados. Imprescindibles.
Jan 07, 2012
Eric
rated it:
While I previously thought Poe only did randomly rhyming poems in story form, this was a pleasant read. Granted the 'horror' wasn't exactly horrifying, but that was part of Poe's charm. I particularly enjoyed the length to which Poe went to describe things, like the scenery and the characters, leading to an altogether interesting narrative.
Jan 07, 2012
Abhranil
rated it:
If you are fond of literature and you want to read a classic, you should definately read this..!! :)
Edgar Allan Poe was one of the classic example of the authors who wrote in gothic style..!!
This book is a collection of stories by Edgar Allan Poe. The stories constitutes of sarcasm, dark characters and fear of death..!
Edgar Allan Poe was one of the classic example of the authors who wrote in gothic style..!!
This book is a collection of stories by Edgar Allan Poe. The stories constitutes of sarcasm, dark characters and fear of death..!
Jan 07, 2012
Jenny
rated it:
I read in, rather than through, but the edition was fairly well-produced, the introduction useful, and Poe himself turned out to be far more engaging than I originally anticipated. This book is going on my "perpetually reading" shelf—I like collections of short stories like this because you can return to them repeatedly.
Jan 07, 2012
Antoinette
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Back in 1990 something I saved up my allowance $ to be able to buy this book. I was So excited when mom took me to Walden Books. And $20 later it was mine!
I have always liked Poe and I liked him even more when I found out I was born on his birthday.
This is easily one of my most cherished books.
I have always liked Poe and I liked him even more when I found out I was born on his birthday.
This is easily one of my most cherished books.
Jan 07, 2012
Andrew
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When I first saw this book on the shelf at the store i just had to get it. The first time I ever reas Poe was in middle school. I was hooked on the way he uses his words to describe the mood of the story. The words he uses just fit so well.
The darkness in his stories just bliows me away.
The darkness in his stories just bliows me away.
Jan 07, 2012
Alessandro
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It doesn't get any better than this, folks. Edgar Allan Poe is the unchallenged master of horror and what got me into reading books. His short stories always deliver and are imbued with a unique horror aura. The stuff of legends, ladies and gentlemens.
Jan 07, 2012
Jennifer
rated it:
All the stories are surprisingly good, but BON-BON was kind of unexpected. Pierre is a metaphysical restauranter with a thing for bargains who receives a visit from the Devil. The whole scene reminded me of the Devil in Karamazov's masterpiece, but it was considerably funnier.
Jan 07, 2012
Damon
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This book is decent ... I read the English edition... They only thing lacking is his amazing collection of poems... this was a poet who was very deep and dark at times but the short stories only show his lighter side.. But great work to say the least..
Jan 07, 2012
Trish
rated it:
So many books I've read lately referred to Poe that I felt I ought to re-read some of the short stories. In the end, I've opted for three stars, as the good ones are really good, and for the most part balance out the stories which grabbed me less.
Jan 07, 2012
Cyndie
rated it:
Maître du macabre par excellence ! Les histoires ont presque toutes un lien direct ou non avec la mort, la punition morale, le remord... Des nouvelles bien écrites qui sont réalisées pour faire frissonner le lecteur. Vraiment très bien.
