In October we decided to review stories, poems and any works by Edgar Allan Poe. We discussed such pieces as "The Tell Tale Heart", "The Fall of the House of Usher", "The Masque of the Red Death", "The Raven", "Annabel Lee" and others. We also spent quite a while discussing Poe's life and how that must have influenced both the topics and the style in which he wrote. Most of his tales are dark and often focus on death and dying, and Poe's real life losses seem to be reflected in his work. It was a perfect fit for a pre-Halloween book club.
We learned that Poe, an American poet and writer, lived between 1809 and 1849, and died relatively young at the age of 40-his death surrounded by mystery. His entire life was riddled with loss. His mother, a famous actress, died of tuberculosis when he was only two and his father had already abandoned his family. He was mostly raised by a merchant family, John and Francis Allan, which gave Poe his middle name. He had several women who influenced his life, from his mother, adoptive mother, friends of the family and his wife who all died of tuberculosis.
He had many works, but not much fame and fortune. "The Raven" was probably his most popular piece but he still only made a very small amount from it and was always struggling to make ends meet. He spent time working as an editor as well as author and was known to be a scathing critic. His pieces are fascinating reads, especially in a time where so little was known about mental illness. One can see in his descriptions of some of his characters, defining features of things we know today as various mental illnesses.
We read pieces from a few of his works and discussed how his difficult life must have impacted his choices in his writing. He was clearly a huge impact on writers all around the world, and much of his work is quite simply fascinating. It was an enjoyable evening and left us uplifted knowing more about this incredible talent and the works he left behind.
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