Raven’s Reviews > The Portable Edgar Allan Poe > Status Update

p. 71-79 "The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar" This tale explores similarities of death and trance and the horror of what might happen if one were to die durring hypnosis and still be subject to hypnotic suggestion at least as far as communication. Thus concludes the 'Predicaments' section of the 'Tales' section in this book.

p. 43-56. Again, a familiar tale. Upon re-reading I wonder that no mention of his supposed crimes are touched upon, save that they are of a spiritual, inquisition-related nature. Also, this time, I find the timing of the rescue harder to accept than I did in my youth.

p. 37-42. Many are familiar with this tale, as am I. I am curious about the period of about five months that it took for the pestilence to overcome the keep. I wonder how it got there and what the natural incubation period for this plague really was. The tale seemed to suggest that it was pretty quick. Also I wonder about the entertainers the Prince brought in. Were they checked as well as his guests?

p. 21-36. In that the ship is sucked into a vortex of doom, this tale is similar to the one which precedes it (MS Found in a Bottle). Also similar is some interest and speculation about what lies within. I ponder what it means that the person was so visibly changed and unrecognized by friends after his experience. For example his hair went from dark to all white. Is he the same person?

11-20 MS Found in a Bottle. A tale of a trip aboard what appears to be a ghost ship into the Arctic (or Antartic). Referenced is an idea that there exist whirlpools into the center of the Earth. (pg. 40 - attributed to Captain John Cleves Symmes who also thought the center of the Earth was both hollow and habitable). It is interesting to me that the ship is apparently called 'Discovery' and not doom.

ix-5 Even with a timeline and biographical information, Poe's inner life remains a mystery.

I am reading this in preparation for a class which starts next month (if memory serves). I am not exactly reading it in order but eh... *shrugs*