#RIP XIV The Afterlife of Edgar Allan Poe
- Author: Scott Peeples
- Title: The Afterlife of Edgar Allan Poe
- Published: 2003
- Genre: non-fiction
- List Challenges 2019
- Monthly planning
- #RIPXIV @ReadersImbibingInPeril
Structure:
The Man That Was Used Up: Poe’s Place in American Literature
- Reading time 1 hr 15 min
- Discussion: about Poe’s character by biographers in the the late 19th C
- his alcoholism, inability to sympathize, fickleness, ugly humor, ill- tempered
- Paradox: Poe was unappreciated, rejected….but
- …this aura of mystery was good for business (bookselling)
- Why is Poe considered the most characteristic American poet?
- — he was beaten down by American materialism
- — he did not copy the English literary tradition
- — he explored the pathological side of American temperament
- — he was curious, interest toward the most strange and odd mysteries
- Conclusion: Poe was torn to pieces by many biographers but in
- 20th C he has been rebuilt into an ever more fascinating public figure
A Dream Within a Dream: Poe and Psychoanalysis
- Reading time 1 hr 15 min
- Discussion: Psychoanalysis could inspire new,
- inventive ways of reading Poe.
- Helicopter view…
- of several writers who have psychoanalyzed
- Poe’s writing:
- L. Purette, D.H. Lawrence, Marie Bonaparte, J. Robertson, J. Krutch
- …J. Lacan and many more.
- …looking at the anatomy of Poe’s unconscious.
- Conclusion:
- Basically this essay is about ‘What made Poe tick?‘
- Some insights made by Bonaparte sounded a bit
- far-tetched “…when Poe was tempted by living women, drink
- cleared the way for ‘flight’ and kept him faithful to his dead mother.”
- Honestly, this essay was more about the analysts
- ….pages and pages about Lacan,
- …then Poe himself!
Out of Space, Out of Time: From Early Formalism to Deconstruction
- Reading time 1 hr 02 min
- Discussion: is about 1950s New Criticism
- ….the deficiencies and limitations of Poe’s work.
- Not every critic feel Poe’s works should
- allowed into the temple of high literary art.
- Critics Brooks and Warren state:
- “…when you learn to read more carefully you’ll see
- that he’s (Poe) only a little better than pulp fiction
- …you read for pleasure.”
- Emerson had famously called Poe “the Jingle Man”
- because his poems sounded jingly, gimmicky!
- Conclusion: The critics want to teach me how to
- read Poe….I wish they would just let me enjoy his
- writing instead of trying to dissect Poe with structuralism,
- Post structuralism, and Deconstructism mumbo jumbo.
- The essay was filled with themes and philosophical issues.
- #Challenge
The Man of the Crowd: The Socio-Historical Poe
- Reading time 1 hr
- Discussion: In 1980s placing Poe’s text
- in question to other texts in the
- same period with emphasis on
- representations of race, gender and class.
- Conclusion: Again critics who insinuate the
- The Black Cat is figure for the abused slave
- …seems far-fetched.
- #IAmNotBuyingIt
Lionizing: Poe as Cultural Signifier
- Reading time 50 min
- Discussion: The pop-culture Poe
- Why has Poe proved so resilient over
- …150 years after his death?
- Peeples reviews books, plays, films and comics
- …entertainment derived from
- …Poe and his works.
- Conclusion: readable
Conclusion:
- We all know the uses of research material is
- a vital component to writing.
- Scott Peeples has cited about 350 works to
- create these essays.
- That feels a bit excessive
- for 5 essays with reading times of 1 hour 15 min.
- Great thoughts yes, but there is much
- ….cutting an pasting of direct quotes throughout the essays.
- This results in a confusion of voices and disrupts
- the flow of information.
- The writer must do more than parrot information!
- I did cherry pick some good insights about Poe and
- his writing but it was a laborious task.
- #NotWorthMyReadingTime
- …but you may enjoy this book!
5 Comments
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Poe, like him or not, is a major figure, but this does sound a bit…academ-icky.
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..”a bit”…is an understatement!
I guess I am not considered Scott Peeples target audience! 🙂
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