tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post3384904410491052804..comments2024-03-27T16:48:21.039-05:00Comments on Wuthering <br>Expectations: Edgar Allan Poe's annual short story productivity - many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten loreAmateur Reader (Tom)http://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-15744027943750015452009-09-25T15:55:21.716-05:002009-09-25T15:55:21.716-05:00Ah, Rebecca, a great reader must embrace her sense...Ah, Rebecca, a great reader must embrace her sense of the ridiculous. Cultivate it. Fertilize it with Edward Lear and Gilbert and Sullivan. The boundary between the ridiculous and the sublime is often negligible.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-68475886855989448302009-09-24T12:51:13.698-05:002009-09-24T12:51:13.698-05:00I am not a fan of Poe, but I've only read his ...I am not a fan of Poe, but I've only read his "horror." I have a hard time imagining a funny story that ends with a beheading. Hmm. But then again, I think I dislike Poe because his stories are just plain ridiculous. So I guess that's a kind of "funny".Rebecca Reidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06062252252301802298noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-85691486907752223072009-02-20T07:36:00.000-06:002009-02-20T07:36:00.000-06:00"A Predicament" -is- funny, even if you aren't fam..."A Predicament" -is- funny, even if you aren't familiar with the "Blackwood's" stories. It ends with the absolute funniest line Poe ever wrote - one which political correctness prevents me from writing here (which means everyone out there should rush out and take a look!).Rob Velellahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14284492589098267999noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-57063323365335025742009-02-19T10:03:00.000-06:002009-02-19T10:03:00.000-06:00The problem with writing about Poe's comedies, I n...The problem with writing about Poe's comedies, I now realize, is that although I do find some of them pretty funny, I have spent a lot of time in Poe-world, and thus feel that I have to restrain myself a bit. <BR/><BR/>That's why I'm happy that "<A HREF="http://poecalendar.blogspot.com/" REL="nofollow">Poe Calendar</A>" Rob stopped by to advocate these stories. Of course, Rob is more immersed in Poe-stuff than I am.<BR/><BR/>See, for example, "How to Write a Blackwood Article," in which the narrator is beheaded by the minute hand of a giant clock. That's a funny enough idea, but it's also embedded in a lot of parody of an English magazine. Accessible, or not? I have no idea.<BR/><BR/>As for the graphs - the data has to be adequate to the task. That's a nice feature of the completist Library of America editions. Gives me something to count. If you can count it, you can graph it.<BR/><BR/>SpSq - you've probably seen the <I>Freakonomics</I> chapter on trends in American baby names? If not, it's worth looking at, if you're interested. People are getting tenure for graphing baby names.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-51019681071158806412009-02-18T17:21:00.000-06:002009-02-18T17:21:00.000-06:00I love the graph! You have proven what true Poeist...I love the graph! You have proven what true Poeists have known for years: though Poe is today known as a horror writer, his horror stories make up only a small part of his writing. By the way, he was not a "hatchet" man but "The Tomahawk Man," as they said.<BR/><BR/>If you're looking for true 19th century comedy, one of my favorite is Poe's "X-ing a Paragrab," which never fails to get a chuckle out of me at the end. "The Business-Man" is also great and I don't think much of the humor has washed away after 150 years.<BR/><BR/>Great post!Rob Velellahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14284492589098267999noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-45572502990503698402009-02-18T12:33:00.000-06:002009-02-18T12:33:00.000-06:00As undergrads, a group of us "real scientists" (or...As undergrads, a group of us "real scientists" (or rather wanna-be scientists), used to make fun of social scientists because of the idea that, "if you can graph it, it's real" (or at least if you can make a Venn diagram of it) that was so pervasive in our "poli sci" and econ texts. Despite (because of?) this earlier mockery, I find myself constantly drawn to graphs (I recently graphed changes in name popularity [Lisa vs. Anna vs. Abigail] over the last century) and consequently love yours.Sparkling Squirrelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10899640164757220074noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-25137107727537650732009-02-18T11:29:00.000-06:002009-02-18T11:29:00.000-06:00Hey, hey, beheadings are hilarious.Hey, hey, beheadings are hilarious.Meytal Radzinskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15805413335735169073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-7881832822224693602009-02-18T06:15:00.000-06:002009-02-18T06:15:00.000-06:00I love the graph. I didn't know he wrote comedy. ...I love the graph. I didn't know he wrote comedy. Topical comedy is something that does not often pass the test of time. But that one on diddling sounds fun.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06906212382849291562noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-46200851167555537752009-02-17T23:27:00.000-06:002009-02-17T23:27:00.000-06:00More graphs! More graphs!I should also say I'm com...More graphs! More graphs!<BR/><BR/>I should also say I'm completely convinced that my 600-page volume of collected Poe will be more than sufficient. So you have saved at least one reader up to 2,200 pages of...comment dit-on...purplishness.<BR/><BR/>I would like to read some of the nonfiction, though, I think. Not that I have seen any yet. Love the reviews from your older post.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-49287991468564824232009-02-17T22:08:00.000-06:002009-02-17T22:08:00.000-06:00A rasher fo years back my sister bought me a gaudy...A rasher fo years back my sister bought me a gaudy leatherbound "collected" works of E.A. Poe which runs to some 1300 pages. I admit that I have only read The Gold Bug from such and that was concurrent a reading of Richrad Powers magnum opus. That established, your commentary has been rather electric and I may hoist the noted tome down our stairs in the a.m.<BR/>Thanksjon faithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04375593165985428533noreply@blogger.com