Poe Fridays (on Saturday)

This week, we read the short story Diddling, or Diddling Considered as One of the Exact Sciences.

This was a delightful story. The narrator makes an attempt at defining diddling - better known as swindling - and then goes on to give several, very funny, examples of how diddlers are conning people out of their money.

This was so lighthearted and entertaining - I found myself laughing several times, which is not what I expect when I read a story by Poe. It's almost hard to imagine that he had a sense of humor, but this story clearly shows that he did. We think of Poe as steeped in misery, always dark and tragic, but this shows that he had moments of fun. He must have been in a relatively happy time in his life when he wrote this - things going well, money coming in. It's a great story to read along with his darker tales, because it shows a very different side of Poe. Great choice this week!

Next week, we will read another short story, The Island of the Fay. Poe Fridays is hosted by Kristen at WeBeReading.