The Gold-Bug and Other Tales

With Edgar Allen Poe, the subjects of death and decay are never long for which to wait; not particularly pleasant topics. And yet, no one else (in my opinion), handles these topics so deliciously! The title of this collection is The Gold-Bug and Other Tales, and it's the 'other tales' which are my favorites. I've always viewed Masque of the Red Death as prescient of the Ebola virus; however what this story is truly about is the futile attempt of an unnamed noble, and his entourage to escape the inevitability of death. They hole themselves up in the noble's castle, surrounding themselves with their opulence, rich food and wine and other amusements. Their attempt is to shut themselves off from a plague which is ravaging the countryside. Ironically, Poe was critiqued in his early writings of not demonstrating a cognizance of what was happening in society and the politics of the time. Yet here is Poe, recognizing the futility of the upper classes, (of which he was a member), in trying to escape the horrors of life with which people of the lower classes (such as slaves of his time), had to cope. Held to have been a racist and pro-slavery, he clearly seems to have recognized the plague sweeping the US,(slavery),and the inevitable impact it would have on the white upper classes. Whether one chooses to view this story as a metaphor for slave uprisings and the threat to the white upper class, or as a spark of conscience illustrating the retribution due a society, when those in power attempt to separate themselves from, and propagate the sufferings of those who are subjugated, the story is an entertaining and haunting read. The subject of conscience for misdeeds is further explored in The Tell Tale Heart, in which the narrator can't escape the 'lub-dub' of the beating heart which the narrator hid under the floor boards, after a committed murder. In Cask of Amontillado, it is the jingling of the bells on the hat of the hapless wine trader as he is buried behind a wall. The description of guilt and its total consumption of the guilty has never been so aptly described! I would recommend this collection to anyone who is interested in descriptive writing, Literature classes, and those who love gothic macabre.

This is a good reading copy on a budget. I gave 4 stars rather than 5 because the print is small. I am comfortable reading this but for some it may be too small.

I thought this was a good selection of stories, it gives a good range of Poe’s talents. The edition, being a very affordable one, makes use of small type, and doesn’t employ footnotes or much in the way of supplementary material. This is understandable. I found the type readable, but, given that Poe is fond of foreign phrases and borrowed words, I do think the lack of footnotes made reading difficult at times. As for Poe himself, he is a master of tales and a very precise writer. I am always surprised that he is able to find such a perfect, particular word for a given idea or sentence. He is also a master of psychology, brilliantly expounding the thoughts and feelings of his characters, and also the progression of these thoughts and feelings. I rank him highly as an author.

It's Poe, a real classic author, perhaps a bit crazy or drugged up , but it was a different time and place. Excellent reading a hundred years ago, and still good today.

I really good classic, read this when I was a kid, now my kids have read it, and they loved the adventure. A good island adventure.

First of all, I think it goes without saying that the stories collected here are wonderful. "The Cask Of Amontillado", "The Tell-Tale Heart", "The Fall Of The House Of Usher" - it doesn't get much better (or more horrifying) than this. The price is also nice. A dollar fifty? What can you buy for a dollar fifty these days? My sole complaint regards the absence of footnotes. Take "Cask Of Amontillado", for example. It's hardly essential to know that "motley" is the garb of a jester or a clown (or that a "pipe" is a wine cask) in order to enjoy the story, but that information would have been nice to have nonetheless. In conclusion, this collection is a wonderful bargain, but if you have a little more money you may want to invest in an annotated collection of these tales.

Seller was good, book was typical Poe which is good!!

I thought that after reading a bunch of Charles Dickens I'd really enjoy Poe stories, but it just didn't measure up. I was reading a book by a local (Lowcountry, SC) author (_The Beach House_ by Mary Monroe) who referenced this story so I jumped on it! Instead I was not thrilled by the dogged methodology/reasoning process and as a result the whole story fell flat. Too bad it got tiresome. I love his poetry!

Really enjoyed reading all of Poe's work. It's sometimes hard to follow for a casual reader like myself but I found myself writing some of his words down as it describes things perfectly. Great read.

NOTE: this is a book written in English but with German footnotes on every page, so to be used as a tool to learn English from German . . . . which obviously isn’t stated in the description.

This includes four stories by Edgar Allan Poe, but not the gold bug!