Customer Reviews

The Complete Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe (Barnes & Noble Leather Classic)

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This edition of Poe's literary output is the latest incarnation of the original 'Complete Tales & Poems' which came out in 1938 issued by Vintage Press. It has served several generations of students and Poe lovers. Needless to say, it's longevity is proof of basic quality and integrity. For the record, it also includes Poe's two essays, 'The Poetic Principal' and 'The Rationale of Verse.' If you want a 'complete in one volume' approach. This is it.

Truth be told, there are a few technical drawbacks to this edition. The first is size. A thousand pages is a lot to deal with. I always feel clumsy reading it. The other big drawback is print size. I am well into the time of life when tiny print is getting difficult to read. Nor do I like narrow margins.

But really, I don't think one can argue about the sheer quantity of good literature for a reasonable price. It can be read, marked up, dragged around and have coffee spilled on it without ever making its owner feel the least bit guilty. Most of the Poe readers of the world will just love this book. Me, I'm a bit wierd. I would rather have a nice leather bound set of the complete works, rather than just the fiction and poetry, a bit slimmer to hand and easier to read. Considering that that would cost over 20 times the price of this paperback I intend to remain satisfied with this even if it kills me.

Edgar A. Poe (he never used Allan in print) has yet to be served by a collection worthy of a writer of his stature. This one certainly does a good job of collecting a great deal of material, including rarities as well as all the stories and poems you already know and love and even his only novel, "The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym." But the sequence of the works is random (not chronological, as I had hoped) and no notes are provided. Plus, the book's size makes it hard to read without some sort of physical support. Still, it's one of the more complete Poe collections around, and the price is reasonable for a book of this size.

For greater understanding of the short and tumultuous life that produced such astounding works of the imagination, I suggest reading "Edgar A. Poe: Mournful and Never-Ending Rememberance" by Kenneth Silverman in conjunction with this volume. I found it very enlightening to read a couple of chapters of Silverman's entertaining and informative biography, then read only the works produced during that particular period of Poe's life. Aside from the advantage of following his development as a writer and gaining a better understanding of the inspriration behind his work, you get a better cross-section of Poe's extraordinary range -- from comic satirist to journalist to detective fiction writer to, of course, the supreme creator of the horror and science fiction story.

I have no understanding for people who claim that this volume leaves out some of Poe's most important work; it does not do that at all! On the contrary, this is a complete collection of his short stories and poems, and also includes a biographical introduction, "The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket," and various critical writings of Poe. Every Poe-fan should have this comprehensive edition!

Thinking of buying "Tales of Mystery and Imagination"? Don't. Edgar Allan Poe still ranks as one of America's premiere literary figures. Unfortunately, many of the books you will find on your local bookshelf contain less than Poe's complete works. Or worse, revised and abridged versions of his writings.

In "The Complete Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe" you will be treated to Poe's creative genius in full measure. You can go beyond the Murders in the Rue Morgue and delve into the Mystery of Marie Roget. The Black Cat is here along with The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym. Everything you expect from Edgar Allan Poe is here; the horror, the suspense, the macabre.... But beyond this lies Poe's humor, deductive logic, and desciptive prose. You owe it to yourself to buy this book. If you have not taken the time to read everything Poe has to offer, do so now. It will be one of the best reading experiences you will ever have.

I bought a copy of this Vintage edition, with exactly the same cover art, new in 1975 - folks that's 29 years ago. It's a massive compendium of virtually all, if not all, of anything that Poe wrote of literary consequence, including short stories (a/k/a the "tales"), poetry, and his only novel (*The Narrative of A. Gordon Pym*). Although Poe's work in this edition is not organized in exactly the most scholarly order, and, yes, is a tad short on literary criticism -- who cares? If you're looking for criticism, biography or interpretation, there are dozens of books about Poe to satisfy that need. But if you're looking for a comprehensive "one-stop" source of Poe's works at a great price, this is it.

I have acquired and tossed hundreds of books in the past 29 years, but I have hung onto this volume. The inclusion of the complete *Narrative of A. Gordon Pym* alone is worth the price of the book. In addition to the more commonly anthologized stories like "The Murders in the Rue Morgue," "The Pit and the Pendulum," "The Black Cat," "The Tell-tale Heart," and "The Cask of Amontillado," you'll find lesser known gems like the nightmarish "William Wilson," one of the best "doppelganger" stories ever written. If you've never read Poe before, his style is distinctly 19th century and may pose an impediment to some readers. Old fashioned or not, he remains the master of this genre. This particular edition offers all the proof you'll ever need and many hours of reading pleasure.

There is only one flaw with this book, and it goes precisely against what Poe himself stated, which as that he found it inexcusable to print a person's work other than how he/she intended it. Mark Twain's writings are a prime example of publisher's not honoring his wishes. Poe is another victim. This particular volume designates where the publisher has chosen to remove text because THEY felt it unnecessarily elongated the story.

There is a volume that does not do this, but I cannot recall the name. If you don't mind the publisher deciding for you what of Poe's art you need to read, this volume is fine. For me, I always want the author's work, not the publisher's.

Complete Tales And Poems
Edgar Allen Poe
This book holds some of the most brilliant, descriptive and interesting writing I have ever read. I think Edgar Allen Poe has some great skills and though his stories are quite hard to understand, they are really fun and exiting to read. A few of the stories have math in them, like one of the ones in the beginning, Adventure Of Hans Pfaall. Though I did not enjoy this one much, because it was very hard to follow, I thought it was written with great talent. My favorite stories that Edgar Allen Poe has written, are The Gold-Bug and The Black Cat. Though I have only read The Black Cat once and about two years ago, I really enjoyed the horror of the story and how everything flowed together. I am not really into horror but I thought that The Black Cat was so interesting that I couldn't stop reading it. I liked The Gold-Bug Because of the Adventure and the puzzle that you had to figure out in the story.
In this book, there are some great poems. My favorite one for example, is To The River. I like this poem because it is hard to figure out what it is about. Actually, all of Edgar Allen Poe's poems are puzzles because they cause you to actually think about them. There are a few sonnets in the book and even poems from in his youth!
This book is really long so if you are up for a tough read and a long one too then I think this book is a great choice. I liked this book but it isn't my favorite because I get really confused in a lot of the stories because I try to figure out what's going on but I end up not getting it. In case you were wondering, this book has 1026 pages and incredibly small font. But don't judge a book by its cover, `cause you never know what kind of magic it could hold in its pages.

I am so happy to finally get my own copy of these tales!

I love the stories of Edgar Allen Poe!

Only problem with this book, which is very minor, the print is too small.

I must admit, I am a Poe fanatic. I have read this book twice already. I do not know what it is about Poes' stories that just suck you in. I find Poes' mindset to be extremely fascinating. I do not think that anyone would be able to decipher what went about in that mans mentality.

Reading Poe is beyond a mere thriller. His stories are not only mysterious with intrigue and drama, they also make you think. You sit and ponder 'why?', why did the character do this or say that. Like in my favorite tale "Black Cat", you sit and wonder what made the character behave the way he did. Was it caused by drink or was it caused by 'bad luck'? Or with the ever famous "Cask of Amontidallo", what was the grave insult that Montresor suffered?

Such questions will never be directly answered, as all the conclusions will inevitably be suppositions made by people, such as you and I. All in all, reading Poes' stories is mesmerizing in itself, and this book is as complete as it gets. It is a pretty large paperback (not like the mass market) and the font is actually much better than that in the hardback book. This is a worthwhile read at an excellent price.

This edition does not feature Poe's complete works, but his complete tales and samples of his other writings. This is not a scholarly edition: among other things, the dates of composition are not included, and the tales aren't presented chronologically. But at least they're all here. I don't have a problem with the overall presentation - most 'collected works' books carry small writing, and this one is very readable. Typos are few and far between. What more can be said about this book's tales? They benefit at least as much from re-reading as any fiction writing around, and all offer multiple levels of interpretation for those interested in crypted messages (the religious dimension of the works remains underrated to this day). From 'William Wilson' to 'The Man of the Crowd', from 'The Power of Words' to 'Hop-Frog', there's something for everybody here. This collection is a great starting point for those intrigued by this misunderstood genius.