Reviews for Collected Works Of Poe, Volume V (Webster's Thesaurus Edition)

The average rating for Collected Works Of Poe, Volume V (Webster's Thesaurus Edition) based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2017-03-31 00:00:00 Perry Harney Once again with Poe, this is a really mixed bag. There's some excellent stories, but then others that were so horribly tedious that I ended up just skimming them. There's some great poems, but then some others that are so horrible they just made me cringe. Naming someone D'Elormie because you can't think of another phrase to rhyme with o're me, before me and bore me? Ridiculous. Or the one where he rhymed El Dorado with Shadow? That A is a different sound. They don't rhyme. At least not to the extent that Poe's poems normally do. He's either forcing the rhyme where it shouldn't be forced or mispronouncing El Dorado. But, regardless of how much a few of his lesser known poems made me cringe, there were others I hadn't heard of before that I really enjoyed. And even with the others that missed the mark, I found it really interesting how many of his themes, rhyming patterns, and even word choices repeated themselves over the years.

Review # 2 was written on 2019-10-17 00:00:00 Ralph Martins Stories *Philosophy of Furniture: Poe Does Interior Decorating. It Does Not End Well. While this might be of interest to a historian, to a casual reader it's nothing but tedious. *A Tale of Jerusalem: So, wait, the punchline is that Jews don't eat pork? *eye roll* What a fucking surprise. Tell us another one, Poe. ****The Sphinx: Some idiot sees a moth up close and mistakes it for a monster at a distance. ****Hop-Frog: A good story of well-deserved revenge. ***The Man of the Crowd: There's actually something about this that reads a lot like a Ray Bradbury story'unsurprising, given how much inspiration he took from Poe. I like that in the end we're left with more answers than questions'the exact nature and reasons of the man who either cannot or will not be alone remain a mystery. ***Never Bet the Devil Your Head: A cautionary tale... don't do stupid things? ***Thou Art the Man: Yeah, it was pretty easy to see where this was going right from the beginning. **Why the Little Frenchman Wears His Hand in a Sling: This looks like a variation on your old standard joke where two male characters are both pursuing the same woman and end up kissing each other instead. The dialogue was just so distorted that it was hard to follow. ***Bon-Bon: Like most of Poe's attempts at humor, this story is hit or miss. The beginning was mostly tedious, but that was a pretty good punchline right at the end. ****Some Words with a Mummy: It did drag in a few places, but there was also a lot in there that was legitimately funny, from the mummy sitting up and demanding that everybody stop zapping it to the ancients being superior to modern day societies in every way but then being shamed by their inferiority to modern fashion, of all things. This definitely made me shudder a bit, though: We then spoke of the great beauty and importance of Democracy, and were at much trouble in impressing the Count with a due sense of the advantages we enjoyed in living where there was suffrage ad libitum, and no king. He listened with marked interest, and in fact seemed not a little amused. When we had done, he said that, a great while ago, there had occurred something of a very similar sort. Thirteen Egyptian provinces determined all at once to be free, and to set a magnificent example to the rest of mankind. They assembled their wise men, and concocted the most ingenious constitution it is possible to conceive. For a while they managed remarkably well; only their habit of bragging was prodigious. The thing ended, however, in the consolidation of the thirteen states, with some fifteen or twenty others, in the most odious and insupportable despotism that was ever heard of upon the face of the Earth. That seems downright prophetic, reading it now. Essays ****The Poetic Principle: Not a story, but rather an essay on poetry from the master himself. His main points are 1) quality over quantity in terms of poem length, 2) poetry should be written for its own sake, not to reveal some deeper truth, and 3) the primary point of poetry is beauty, and to stir the soul. ***Old English Poetry: Good to know that the Nostalgia Filter was a concept that existed even in Poe's time. Poems of Later Life Ah, now we get to the good stuff. *****The Raven: Poe's best known poem, and for good reason. Haunting imagery and excellent use of language. ******The Bells: Still hands-down my favorite poem of all time. Poe's use of sound is so perfect that I still can't bear to hear it read aloud, because no human voice could hope to capture its real essence. The imagery is superb, from children driving sledges through the snow to a happy wedding celebration to the all-consuming fire to ghouls tolling out a funeral in an iron tower. A subject matter we all can relate to, where the bells represent the passage of time and each subsection is another stage of life. *****Ulalume ***To Helen ***To Helen: *****Annabel Lee ***A Valentine: Not particularly compelling, and many of the rhymes feel awkward and forced. ***An Enigma: Well, at the very least, the title is appropriate. ****To My Mother: The real-life context makes this one surprisingly touching. ****For Annie: I like the portrayal of death as a release from the suffering of life, and how it's left ambiguous whether the love is a metaphor for death, or death a metaphor for love. ***To F': My first reaction to the title was to assume that it was covering for an obscenity (you know the one) rather than a name. ***To Frances S. Osgood ****Eldorado: Yep, recently watched a vlog post on the origins of the myth of El Dorado and how by its very nature it's something completely unattainable. This sounds about right. ****Eulalie *****A Dream within a Dream: Compelling picture of an existential crisis. ***To Marie Louise (Shew) *****The City in the Sea *****The Sleeper *****Bridal Ballad: Okay, this one I like. Especially this line: And thus the words were spoken, And this the plighted vow, And, though my faith be broken, And, though my heart be broken, Behold the golden token That proves me happy now! Poems of Manhood ****Lenore ****To One in Paradise ****The Coliseum: Nice imagery of desolation where there had once been glory, and definitely one of Poe's better non-rhyming poems. ****The Haunted Palace: Let's face it, I'm a sucker for once-glorious empires that have fallen to ruin and decay. ****The Conquerer Worm ***Silence ****Dream-Land ***Hymn ***To Zante **Scenes from "Politian": If I wanted to read Shakespeare, I'd be reading Shakespeare. Poems of Youth **Sonnet'To Science: Getting really sick of this notion that scientists are closed-minded killjoys and science is responsible for sucking all the wonder out of the world. Anyone who thinks as much need only watch Cosmos to see differently. *Al Aaraaf: I've tried to read this poem several times and never yet managed to get all the way through it. Sure, the language is pretty enough, but I'd need to sit down with a notebook and a pen and a very thick dictionary just to figure out what it's even supposed to be about. ****Tamerlane ***To Helen: Seriously, how many poems named "To Helen" did Poe write??? ****The Valley of Unrest: Very nice picture of a valley that's deserted because it's been depopulated by war. ****Israfel ***To ' ***To ': ...why did Poe give so many of his poems identical names? ****To the River ' ***Song ****Spirits of the Dead ***A Dream ****Romance ***Fairy-Land ****The Lake ' to ' ****Evening Star ****"The Happiest Day" ***Imitation ***Hymn to Aristogeiton and Harmodius ****Dreams ****"In Youth I Have Known One" ***A Pæan Doubtful Poems ****Alone ****To Isadore ***The Village Street ****The Forest Reverie