Review: The Tell-Tale Heart

Book Title: The Tell-Tale Heart

Author: Edgar Allan Poe

Publisher: James Russell Rowell

Release Date: January 1843

Summary

The Tell-Tale Heart is the story of a man who, due to some unknown illness (presumably paranoid schizophrenia--at least that’s what it sounds like), stalks and eventually murders an innocent old man because he feels that this man’s cloudy, pale blue eye has caused him to go mad. You might think, okay, he’s killed him: end of story. However, this is Poe’s writing, nothing is ever as simple as it seems. After the murder, the narrator argues against his madness, yet he tries once again to disprove that argument by admitting to continue to be haunted by the old man’s heartbeat, which drives him to further acts of insanity in which he dismembers the old man and hides him beneath the floorboards.

Rating: 3/5 beating hearts

The Tell-Tale Heart is a very acceptable novel. I personally really liked how it started with the end and proceed to tell the actual story, however, I had some doubts about the story that stopped me from giving it more than 3 beating hearts even though I enjoyed the reading. First of all, it can be seen that the author has some kind of illness, presumably paranoid schizophrenia, and I really liked this unique type of narrator since most books today do not include characters with any type of disease or illness. However, despite my awe of the character, I realized the power the narrator had over the story and how he could omit some important details in the plot that could change my perception of the story.

The story also had very suspenseful and explicit scenes, such as the murder scene following the dismemberment of the old man. Furthermore, the story resembles a conversation, in this case, between the narrator and the reader, which created an intimacy between the protagonist and the reader that personally was very uncomfortable and disturbingly relatable. This, however attractive, was not very pleasant, that is why I rate this book 3 out of 5 beating hearts.

Edgar Allan Poe:

Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston, Massachusetts on January 19, 1809. Poe's parents died before he could turn three years old, he was raised by his foster family John and Frances Allan in Richmond, Virginia. He was sent to the University of Virginia, where Poe excelled academically, however, he had to drop out after Allan refused to pay Poe's gambling debts. Later on, he enlisted in the United States Army after he moved to Boston in 1827. That same year, he published his first collection of poems, Tamerlane and Other Poems. In 1829, he published his second collection titles AlAaraaf, Tamerlane, and Minor Poems. However, neither volume received any public attention. After being admitted to the United States Military Academy and forced to leave due to the lack of financial support, he began to sell short stories to magazines, and in 1835 he became the editor of the Southern Literary Messenger in Richmond. He established himself as a poet, a short story writer, and an editor, after editing various literary journals including the Burton’s Gentleman’s Magazine and Graham’s Magazine in Philadelphia and the Broadway Journal in New York City. It was in these years when he published his most recognized stories and poems such as “The Fall of the House of Usher," “The Tell-Tale Heart," “The Murders in the Rue Morgue," and “The Raven.” On October 3, 1849, Poe was found semi-conscious, he then died four days later of an "acute congestion of the brain." Edgar Allan Poe's work has had a profound impact in American literature as his stories mark him as one of the fathers of both horror and detective fiction.

Links:

"Edgar Allan Poe." Poets.org. Academy of American Poets, n.d. Web. 30 Oct. 2016. <http://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poet/edgar-allan-poe>.

"What Is the Main Plot of "The Tell-Tale Heart"? | ENotes." Enotes.com. Enotes.com, n.d. Web. 30 Oct. 2016. <http://www.enotes.com/homework-help/what-main-plot-quot-tell-tale-heart-5971>.