Saturday, March 7, 2009

Poe Friday (on Saturday)


This week's Poe selection was The Angel of the Odd - An Extravaganza. In this story, we meet an unnamed narrator who is angry at the extreme gullibility of the world. He is proud of himself for knowing that sometimes, strange things happen. There is no mystery, they just occur. Then the narrator is visited by The Angel of the Odd, who takes issue with the narrator's beliefs, and proceeds to show him that those events are, in fact, not as random as they may seem.

I think this is an occasion where I just didn't get it. The accent of the Angel was strange, so I found it difficult to read those sections where he was speaking, which made the story feel jerky to me. I think Poe was trying to poke fun at people who take life too seriously, and don't ever allow for the unexplained, but I missed the humor that was (I think) supposed to be there. I'm finding I prefer Poe's guilt tales more - perhaps they are easier to relate to.

Next week we will be reading The Fall of the House of Usher - this is a good one. Poe Fridays is hosted by Kristen at WeBeReading.

2 comments:

Kristen M. said...

I almost had to read the Angel's text out loud to "get it". Poe was definitely a weird guy!

Lisa said...

Wow - I don't think I've ever read this one. I'll have to look it up. Thanks!