The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe

Hello, hello!  Welcome back to another day and another post here at Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers!  It's February already.....(WOW!) the year is just getting started and yet flying by at the same time (funny how it can do that).  With all the new releases coming out this year, some tales from days gone by tend to fall by the wayside.  Well....not on my watch!  (Just kidding....well, at least a little....many of you actually revel in the classics and I definitely commend your commitment to showcasing a variety of reading options!)  It being the month of love and flowers and candy (okay, I know...some of you are gagging right now, but I promise it gets better...) and......hearts....today's post fits right in.  Without further adieu, the book of the day is....

The Tell-Tale Heart

by

Edgar Allan Poe

"I swung the chair upon which I had been sitting, and grated it upon the boards, but the noise arose over all and continually increased.  It grew louder–louder –louder! And still the men chatted pleasantly, and smiled. Was it possible they heard not?"

So rants the villian of our said tale...but IS he a villian in the true sense of the word....or merely a victim of circumstance?  What brought about this bout of madness?  Dare you ask?  As curious as it might seem, the gentleman narrator in question was not taken as a man weak of mind nor senses.  It is perhaps his strength in the later that spelled out his doom.  (dun dun dun....)  For how COULD one really stand the mocking vulture-like eye of a charge....STARING at you.....JUDGING you.....DAY IN and DAY OUT......why, it's enough to drive a person mad...wouldn't you say?

I must tell you....as many times as I've heard the tale, it was always in bits and pieces or generalities.  Never had I read the short story in its complete form.  Short story is really an understatement as it truly is a short work at under ten pages, but the strength in feeling, the connection to the character, the ability to place you in the room with that ill-fated man and his Evil Eye....genius.  I mean it is common knowledge that Poe was one of the greats, whether you are a card-carrying fan or not; it simply can't be denied.  However, it is one thing to KNOW this and another altogether to EXPERIENCE it. 

Originally published in 1843 (WOW!), it's popularity has not wained.  Generation after generation continue to explore the creative if not dark genius behind his works, and many are now available for your viewing pleasure online.  My own copy (at present) happens to be an online edition....which shall sit safely in my files for a future re-read when the timing is right.  Classic novels are meant to be savored in my own humble opinion as often times the language used was of the time period it was from and thus can be hard on the tongue....but given the time to enjoy the "flavor" if you will, you get an experience unlike some of the more popular reads of today, while still allowing your new favorites room to reside.  What about you, fair reader?  (Did someone say...comment creator?  I think someone did.....here it comes.....)

COMMENT CREATOR

Do you read classic books?  If so, what are some of your favorite authors, novels, or short stories?  Share one....share all.....just share!  (Me, I have re-read a dozen times the Charles Dickens novel, A Christmas Carol, and Jack London's, The Call of the Wild, as well as White Fang.  I'm sure there's a few more I could list, but I'm curious to see YOUR answers.)

Review copy from the public domain courtesy of Feedbooks!  (Check 'em out!)

Until next time....happy reading!

**Oh, and the cover art was just my own handiwork with some clipart and interesting font.  Since my copy didn't have anything beyond a "wordy" cover.  Enjoy!