Customer Reviews

Madeline: After the Fall of Usher

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Fall of the House of Usher was one of several Poe short stories our local book club reviewed last month. In doing research on Poe and the story itself, this is one of the books found to be related to the original story. It has a very interesting twist, the most obvious one is having Poe as a character within the story. Yes, I had my doubts at first, also, but it works! If you liked Anne Rice's Witching Hour series, you should also enjoy Madeline. The storyline is similiar as far as having a "family involvement" is concerned. If you read Poe's Fall of Usher, I'm sure you have some questions you would like to ask Poe. Well, Madeline helps with these loose ends.

What was most surprising about this book was reading the amazon review. The only portion I agree with is that it was long-winded in many parts and rather overly descriptive. It should be considered that books aren't movies, though, and it helped to convey the authors imagery exactly as she wanted the reader to see it. I have read no other marie kiraly books and doubtfully will since most seem to be out of print on amazon. In addition, there appears to be only around 6.

The plot follows many different character points of view. The settings range from New York down to the Louisiana bayou with undertones of the conflicts between the north and south and the issue of slavery. Though the book is written as a sequel to Edgar Poe's masterpiece, he seems to almost play a secondary character. The book takes you on a journey that is quite enjoyable if you give the author the reigns. I would love to give a 5 star, but there were chunks of irrelevant story line that could have been scraped for a bit of a lighter read. The end of the story was certainly far from what I'd expected, which at first was a disappointment but given some time, I see that it was the best possible ending. I rather think Madeline should have been explored a bit more. The celtic aspect was most fascinating since the author took the time to educate herself on the subject and it was presented with in very realistic 18th century context.

It's a good read well worth the ride, should you ever come across a copy.

Since I am a Poe fan I thought this book would be good; my, was I surprised. This is one book to read about an event that could have happened before Poe's death and is excitingly eerie. Good read for a long, cold night!

This is the book of Kiraly's that I read the fastest. The insight into Edgar Allan Poe was temendous. He wasn't a person to me before, now he is. I identified with the non-conformist lifestyle of the Usher sister and brother...something struck a cord with me...definitely! It seems to be the way people think I live.