Review: The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe

 

The expressions he uses are too dark and at times you even feel the fear that the character himself feels.

The story begins with a man arriving on horseback at the mysterious Usher house. The walls and windows alone, seen from the outside, make him tremble with fear. That structure gives off an evil energy causing the man to feel like going back to where he came from.

The owner of the house is not far behind, he looks so thin, pale, frail and sick that he could drop dead at any second. In that house also lives the owner's sister who is even worse off than he is.

The sister of this frail man dies and the owner of the house wants to keep her for a few days in a coffin under the house.

One night they hear heartbreaking noises and discover that the woman had been buried alive.

The ending is great, the story is wonderful. I highly recommend it.

Poe is a writer I've been following since I started reading. I loved his gothic style, the way he narrates and expresses situations that make your skin crawl. 

Another thing that really strikes me about this author and that has nothing to do with the story is what his personal life was like. An alcoholic man who married his 14 year old cousin, it is not known if the marriage was consummated, but what everyone is sure of is that he loved this "woman" very much, his affection for her was truly faithful. Even when she passed away was the moment when Poe could no longer stop drinking. Soon after he was found dead on a sidewalk in different clothes. It was rumored that Poe may have been the victim of a political fraud of that era where several homeless people were rounded up and given several changes of clothes so that they could vote more than once.

The story confused me a bit at first.

It's amazing how the way of writing changes from author to author, the era in which the text was created also stands out a lot. It's something that left me wondering what it will be like to be written 100 years from now... and I won't be there to see it :( 

Edgar Allan Poe's way of expressing himself leaves me with my mouth open, his combinations of words are just right and the ones that grab you the most.

The story is only 10 pages long and the small copy I own contains other stories such as: The Golden Beetle, The Black Cat and Tell-Tale Heart. Among others.

It is always nice in those idle moments to read a bit of Poe and get to know his most horrible thoughts.