It is difficult to believe that a man who died at 40-years-of-age could have had such a strong influence on literature today. I was surprised to see that Poe spent time in the military and even went to West Point. He had a tremendous number of reverses in his short life and that may have made him able to delve into the psychology of life unlike any author before him.
The book makes an excellent point about Poe creating the modern detective story with "The Murders in the Rue Morgue. However, I came away from reading this book wondering how Poe created such unique terror in his stories in the horror genre. I wish the book had offered some insight into that. The reason I gave the book a '4' rating is related to the repetitions in the story. Otherwise, the information offered was interesting and thought-provoking.
The book makes an excellent point about Poe creating the modern detective story with "The Murders in the Rue Morgue. However, I came away from reading this book wondering how Poe created such unique terror in his stories in the horror genre. I wish the book had offered some insight into that. The reason I gave the book a '4' rating is related to the repetitions in the story. Otherwise, the information offered was interesting and thought-provoking.
