Reviews

Los crímenes de la calle Morgue y otras historias by Edgar Allan Poe

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ungles's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

artistsallie's review against another edition

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4.0

Fascinating to see the beginning of the "Detective Story" as would be improved upon by Doyle, Chesterton, Sayers, Christie, etc... It definitely has rough edges and draws most of its appeal from Poe's prose rather than the actual intrigue of the mystery. However, it's themes and characters are clearly the source from which other authors drew inspiration (as admitted in many of their own stories) One quote in particular clearly demonstrates the influence that Poe's Dupin had on Sherlock Holmes: "Now, brought to this conclusion in so unequivocal a manner as we are, it is not our part, as reasoners, to reject it on account of apparent impossibilities. It is only left for us to prove that these apparent 'impossibilities' are, in reality, not such." Finding the precursor to the "whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth" made the story worth the read. As a whole, however, it is a clear case of the pupils outgrowing their master and creating a new and intriguing genre in the process.

zahra_'s review against another edition

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3.0

A short, easy read. Very interesting to see how it has inspired future detective novels.

dryasdust's review against another edition

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4.0

Apparently the first detective story, Poe’s tale featuring C. Auguste Dupin published in the 1840s was obviously a big influence on Conan Doyle’s much more famous Sherlock Holmes stories. Once you get used to the flowery language this turns out to be an interesting locked room mystery. The solution is a bit ‘off the wall’ but I suppose that’s the point, since Poe is far more interested in Dupin’s method than in the plausibility of the crime, and the message seems to be that human reason can reveal even the most unlikely truth.

jofgood's review against another edition

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3.0

First detective story ever...

I re-read this story after watching a movie with Poe as a character. Unrelated to this, it made me want to re-read some of Poe's stories.
Ignore the first few pages about chess players, really unnecessary in my view.
Overall, it is a short story about a closed room murder, with an unexpected solution.
Poe, since then, wrote a few more stories about this precursor of Sherlock Holmes