This single volume brings together all of Poe's stories and poems, and illuminates the diverse and multifaceted genius of one of the greatest and most influential figures in American literary history.

As correctly pointed out by other reviewers, Poe practically invented the mystery tale in which the detective is an amateur who solves the problem through reason and deduction alone ("The crimes of the Rue Morgue"). A wonderful cryptic and deductive tale is "The golden bug". "The cask of Amontillado" is a masterpiece of cruel vengeance. "The pit and the pendulum" is pure terror, like "The black cat".

The poems have even more variety. You know what the famous ones are: The Raven, The bells, Annabel Lee. Here, the most remarkable characteristics are music and rhythm. "Quoth the raven: nevermore!", and the ringing of the bells, the bells, bells, bells, etc. My personal favorite is Annabel Lee, but there are many other, less known, which are just excellent.

Poe was a troubled man, addicted to drugs and alcohol, who died in a miserable way (some thugs made him drink to use him in an electoral fraud; he died from drunkness on the streets of Baltimore). But his intellect and sensibility (hypersensibility) made him a true genius, a profound connoiseur of the human soul, up and down. His writing is superb and he will remain as a master of literature for centuries to come. In case you have never approached his work, do so now. Choose your favorite couch; wait until everybody is asleep, get yourself a good drink, and travel to the bottom of your own soul.

12 of 12 found the following review helpful:


Master of Darkness  Oct 26, 2000 By ardent_lover "ardent_lover"
In the annals of short story writing there is perhaps no greater master than Edgar Allan Poe. His tales of horror have sent chills up and down the spines of their readers for several generations. His better known stories are all masterpieces of the genre of the macabre. As for his lesser known tales, they too are complex masterpieces of pyschological horror. And I use the word pyschological because Poe was aware of the inner workings of the human mind before Freud or Jung. He loves to explore the dark side of the human psyche, and no one has or ever will do it with as much power and mastery as did Poe.

Also, Poe was a master of language and his ear was exquisitely tuned to the sounds of words. His poetry is perhaps the most tuneful in the English language. Listen to the music of the first sentence of The Fall Of The House Of Usher: "During the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year, when the clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens, I had been passing alone, on horseback, through a singularly dreary tract of country, and at length found myself, as the shades of evening drew on, within view of the melancholy House of Usher." You see, Poe understood both tone and atmosphere and how to weave these elements into his narrative; thereby creating a lasting effect in the minds of his readers.

I remember when first I read The Tell-Tale Heart how the opening paragraph pulled me into the strange intensity of Poe's madness. It begins thus: "True!-nervous-very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am! but why will you say that I am mad? The disease had sharpened my senses-not destroyed-not dulled them. Above all was the sense of hearing acute. I heard all things in the heaven and in the earth. I heard many things in hell. How, then, am I mad? Hearken! and observe how healthily-how calmly I can tell you the whole story." But it is the story of a madman and in the end will not prove him sane. In point of fact, it will draw its reader ever deeper into the infernal regions of Poe's pysche, where he will hear the few things of heaven and the many demonic things of hell.

I have always loved the intense way in which Poe uses language to attain his metaphysical revelations of the state of a brilliant mind that is on the verge of disintergration. For it is in the order that he brings to this nightmarish chaos that one begins to understand that Poe's dark genius is capable of the highest degree of intuition. And that he is an explorer of regions of the mind that others dare never to explore for fear of what they might find.

So I recommend reading Poe's stories and poems for the sheer thrill of it, but also for the complexities of his craftmanship and the subtle way in which he weaves upon the magic loom of his incredible imagination.

15 of 16 found the following review helpful:


The Horrors of Poe Make You Crave Them Some More  Mar 18, 2001 By unraveler "unraveler"
Macabre, enticing, and fantastic, Poe's stories reveal a first rate intellect and out of this world imagination. Poe was the first or one of the first authors of science fiction, when he wrote "Ligeia," which is a must read, underrated story of his. "The Devil in the Belfry" reveals Poe's comic talents, as does the delightful "X-ing a Paragrab." These two stories reveal the light, almost playful, side of Poe which is usually obscured by the dark side of his macabre horror stories and brooding poems. Speaking of which, his horror stories are some of the best ever written. I still feel the tension, reading them for the nth time in my life. Poe is also the originator of the detective story. Poe's intellect is evident in the story Mellonta Tauta, where he humorously explains the difference between the Aristotilean/deductive reasoning and Baconian (Hogian!)/ inductive reasoning. In his stories he also demonstrated some understanding of the theory of probability, foresaw the philosophical approach of perspectivalism, and raised the questions of sanity/normalcy that would become one of the major social questions of the 20th century, when power-hungry maniacal and clever madman came to power in some countries with the full intent of eventually ruling the world.

I consider Poe one of the most imaginative people who ever lived and one of the most insightful people of the 19th century. By today's standards, his life was short. But the legacy he left influenced and inspired so many people that he should be regarded as one of the greatest writers of short stories who ever lived, and as someone who belongs in the pantheon of many 19th century geniuses.

29 of 34 found the following review helpful:


IIlimitable Dominion of American Literature  Jun 15, 1999
Having never written a full novel, Poe is sometimes forgotten when the great fiction writers of American history are listed. The power of Poe's dark vision, though, is virtually unprecedented in world literature. The manifestation of such deep, intuitive symbols and archetypes, ones of such clarity, prophesy and terror that even his incredible craftsmanship in language becomes transparant, is a gift given to only the most blessed and tormented of writers. To read a story like the Masque of the Red Death is to be flung into an allegorical morality play which fits perfectly into the modern context. Poe's stories and poems travel through time and rap ceaselessy on the window of your conscious thoughts. An ominous pall of expectation and retribution permeates all of his work. To pick up Poe is really never to put it down.

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