The Black Cat - Couverture rigide

Poe, Edgar Allan

Couverture rigide

ISBN 10 : 1429096233 ISBN 13 : 9781429096232

Editeur : Applewood Books, 2016

Synopsis

Edgar Allan Poe's Frightening Tale of a Demonic Cat and a Tormented Murderer in an Elegant Hardback Gift Edition

This macabre short story from the father of American horror fiction was first published in 1843 in the Saturday Evening Post. The classic narratives features a murderer tormented by guilt over his terrible deeds and a cat who may be out for revenge. The narrator's admission that much of his bad behavior and deranged thinking is the result of alcohol is possibly autobiographical, as Poe himself struggled with alcoholism throughout his life.

This short work is part of Applewood's "American Roots," series, featuring tactile mementos of American passions by some of America's most famous writers and thinkers.

A propos du livre

Présentation de l'éditeur

"The Black Cat" is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe. It was first published in the August 19, 1843, edition of The Saturday Evening Post. It is a study of the psychology of guilt. A murderer carefully conceals his crime and believes himself unassailable, but eventually breaks down and reveals himself, impelled by a nagging reminder of his guilt. The story is presented as a first-person narrative using an unreliable narrator. He is a condemned man at the outset of the story. The narrator tells us that from an early age he has loved animals. He and his wife have many pets, including a large black cat named Pluto. This cat is especially fond of the narrator and vice versa. Their mutual friendship lasts for several years, until the narrator becomes an alcoholic. One night, after coming home intoxicated, he believes the cat is avoiding him. When he tries to seize it, the panicked cat bites the narrator, and in a fit of rage, he seizes the animal, pulls a pen-knife from his pocket, and deliberately gouges out the cat's eye. From that moment onward, the cat flees in terror at his master's approach. At first, the narrator is remorseful and regrets his cruelty. "But this feeling soon gave place to irritation. And then came, as if to my final and irrevocable overthrow, the spirit of perverseness." He takes the cat out in the garden one morning and hangs it from a tree, where it dies. That very night, his house mysteriously catches fire, forcing the narrator, his wife and their servant to flee. The next day, the narrator returns to the ruins of his home to find, imprinted on the single wall that survived the fire, the figure of a gigantic cat, hanging by its neck from a rope.

Biographie de l'auteur

"Author, poet, and literary critic, Edgar Allan Poe is considered the pioneer of the short story genre by inventing detective fiction, and contributing to the development of science fiction stories. He is most well known for his infamous titles such as The Raven, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Murders in the Rue Morgue, Lenore, and The Fall of the House of Usher. He was part of the American Romantic Movement, and he was one of the first writers to make his living solely through his writing, working for literary journals which led him to become a literary critic. Edgar Allan Poe died of a mysterious illness in 1849 at the age of 40."

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Applewood Books
• Date d'édition: 2016
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 1429096233
• ISBN 13: 9781429096232
• Reliure: Relié
• Nombre de pages: 40
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: non disponible