![]() “Philosophy of Furniture” is exactly as boring as it sounds, “The Sphinx” and “Never Bet The Devil Your Head” return to the almost slapstick, unfunny humor of some of the previous stories. The second half have little in common with each other. Then there are a couple of weird parables that seem like they should have a moral or a lesson, only I have no idea what it is (“Silence–A Fable”, “Shadow–A Parable”, “A Tale of Jerusalem”). Poe gets oddly philosophical in these first stories, with a couple consisting of conversations that take place in the afterlife and obliquely mention the end of the world (“The Power of Words”, “The Conversation of Eiros and Charmion”, “The Colloquy of Monos and Una”). ![]() My checklist of stories I’ve actually enjoyed is a tragic 5/48. I stand by the opinion I’ve had all year, which is to read his horror stories for pleasure and, possibly, his detective stories for genre purposes, and to skip the rest. As it is, I’ve taken to quickly skimming most of the stories for what’s happening (assuming anything is happening), which is easy to do because Poe has a way of lingering on pointless descriptions and belaboring a point to its absolute death. ![]() ![]() If not for the fact that I’m reading it with my dad, I’m not sure I would continue. Without contest, this is turning out to be my most arduous and least enjoyed year-long read so far. ![]()
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