Poe Response

Edgar Allen Poe is hands down my favorite traditional author. It is something about his life, novels, and the mysterious way that he died that fascinates me. He is such a mystery and his works of literature reflect that. The load of my Poe readings actually came in college. I was not exposed to Poe much, other than “The Raven,” in high school and that really bewilders me. I feel that Poe could have really influenced my love for reading. In high school, I hated reading, I was the epitome of a reluctant reader. I just feel that pre-college students should be exposed to Poe early and often. He is one of those writers that can grab any reader and his pieces of work seem to entice any generation. Out of all of the classic authors, I feel that Poe is one of those guys can fit any genre. I mean just the way that the guy was found dead is a mystery in itself. He was found face down in a ditch and there are numerous stories to which he got there, but none of them have been proven and the mystery is still unsolved to this day.

My favorite story of his would have to be “The Fall of the House of Usher.” This story has all of the workings of a great mystery thriller. The story is set up by Rodrick Usher calling up his good friend to come visit him. The friend comes to his very creepy him on a dark and stormy night. The narrator finds that Rodrick’s twin sister had died, (or did she) and was entombed downstairs. The climax comes one night when the house was being extra weird and the sister burst through the door. The narrator guns it outside and finds that the house collapsed. This tale gets me every time I read it.