Edgar Allan Poe

[AE35Unit]

Yes Poe's works have a certain irony about them. Its like in certain horror tales the narrator is sniggering at the victim in the tale. As if to say,well you're in trouble now,should have stayed at home shouldn't you but no you got curious.

[j. d. worthington]

I wasn't particularly thinking about his horror tales in this instance -- which are actually only a small portion of his output -- but his genuine humorous tales, such as "Some Words with a Mummy", "The Thousand and Second Tale of Scheherazade", "How to Write a Blackwood Article" and "A Predicament", or (one of my personal favorites because of its very perverse sense of humor) "Bon-Bon"....

However, yes, he did include such ironies as you mention in several of his horror tales; "Metzengerstein" itself being as much a parody as a straight example of the horror tale; while "Berenice" relies almost entirely on the grotesque humor of the central idea for its horrific impact....

[Lobolover]

I meant things like "the man who was used up"-where he piles up unknown names by half a dozen in a paragraph,numerous times,etc.

I mean,what was so funny about the story where they guy is famous for his NOSE?

[j. d. worthington]

Many such stories -- such as the two you name here -- would have been much more humorous, and the points of their satire much more obvious, to Poe's contemporaries. For the first, he was satirizing much of the idealized image of the War of 1812, as well as a particular figure of that war -- one to whom Poe was somewhat related:

The Man That Was Used Up - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

On "Lionizing"... again, Poe is satirizing several different things, most especially, it would seem, the fickleness of public acclaim and the ridiculously misproportioned things upon which it based.

[Lobolover]

I know but-does the second story deserve to be in a horror anthology with "MS. found in a bottle" ,as it happened here?

[j. d. worthington]

This was included in a horror anthology? Or a collection of Poe's tales? What were the other contents? I can't see it as being a horror tale, no... but this is entirely new information; a completely different context than I had gathered from your original question....

[Lobolover]

The other stories were Malestorm,and-some other horror,"Imp of the perverse",besides "Angel of the odd",It was mostly horror,it has only 2 of those lighter storis and boy were they misplaced.

I mean,they put Irving's "the dead bridegroom" in a colection with Hawthorne.

[j. d. worthington]

Sounds more like a general collection of his tales rather than a horror anthology or collection as such. If this were an older book (even one with a recent reprint), this would be by no means uncommon, as it was long felt that a balance between different aspects of a writer's output was better than concentrating on a single facet....

[Lobolover]

Actualy,there were only two such-but youll find this kinda stuff even in serious horror anthologies-though there arent any REAL serious ones around, considering every one I ever read was labeled "for children".

[No One]

I suppose this would be the place to put the question out there for now (and apologies if it's been asked before, but it's late right now and I'll dig deeper in days to come), but how on earth is there not a Sub-forum dedicated to Poe and his works?

I've been told (thanks go to Hoopy) that five or so ongoing threads are required for an author to qualify, but there are more than a few currently listed who are not so active.

I'm sure I can't be the only one who'd like to see Poe acknowledged on the Chrons in this way (Lovecraft himself would be most displeased, I imagine, to see himself listed while Poe is left behind ).

[j. d. worthington]

Originally Posted by No One

I've been told (thanks go to Hoopy) that five or so ongoing threads are required for an author to qualify, but there are more than a few currently listed who are not so active.

The difference is that the threads devote to them were active (usually very much so) when the subforums were established. Once they are in place, they don't tend to get removed, even when they become moribund. Poe, on the other hand, has never had that sort of activity here (or much of anywhere else I can think of save a site specifically devoted to him, or to nineteenty-century literature); hence no subforum having been established. There just isn't enough general interest to warrant the trouble of setting up such, not to mention adding to the clutter on the index page. (Too many subforums makes it harder for the interested party to find the one they are looking for, or easier for it to be overlooked.)

I'm sure I can't be the only one who'd like to see Poe acknowledged on the Chrons in this way (Lovecraft himself would be most displeased, I imagine, to see himself listed while Poe is left behind ).

He probably wouldn't be, though he would be realistic enough to understand the reasoning behind it (see his discussions of the fluctuations in Poe's critical and popular acceptance in both Supernatural Horror in Literature and his letters).

However... one thing you might do, if you wish. I set up that thread on online sources for the materials mentioned in SHiL not only to make a lot of material more easily available to people on the forums (including places where some of these materials are very difficult to come across), but also as an opener for the possibility of discussion threads on the various writers and/or works discussed there (as well as discussing that essay itself). So... you may want to go to that thread, make a post or two on the subject of Poe; or alternatively begin threads on Poe and perhaps link to some of the things posted there on Poe, just to get discussions going....

EDIT: To facilitate matters, here is the post from that thread concerning Poe:

"Supernatural Horror in Literature" -- Online Sources for Works Referenced

[Connavar]

Poe is taken for granted in these forums like many classic writers people know from school. There are many fans here including me,JD others. Only way to make a subforum is come up with new talks to get us going.

Personally he is one of my,literary heroes. I read him many times without talking about him in chrons.

[dask]

I was working my way through one of the zillion complete works of Poe one tends to trip over in the book stores a number of years ago and was surprised how much non-horror fiction he wrote. I was under the impression back then, except for poetry and criticism, that was all he wrote. I need to read more Poe, no doubt about it.

[No One]

Thanks J.D - as it happens I was looking through that thread just last night (Lovecraft's essay was an early guide for me into the subject and I was meaning to congratulate you on a brilliant collection of material).

I'll be sure to check it out more thoroughly in the coming days as well as go through the threads, to get a better view on the material already here on Poe.

[J Riff]

Probably a lot of people still assume Poe was a horror writer and not much else. The stories based on mesmerism, ballon voyages or other scientific forays of the day are a bit of a longish read these days... but his humour is brilliant as ever. Diddling, The Business Man... I wonder how many people would guess Poe if they read these stories anonymously.