The Pit and the Pendulum by Edgar Allan Poe

 Synopsis:

This book contains five different stories so, taking that into account, I will be talking about all of them. THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM:

The main character in this story behaves in an axpected way, as he is in a prison on the edge of death and has no option to scape. If Iwere him, I would also be so terrified and scream. On the other hand, a passage from the reading where the author does an effective job describing the setting is the following one: " I can feel and see nothing (...), until my fingers touch a wall. It is wet and cold. (...). My feet often slip on the wet floor". THE CASK OF AMONTILLADO: In this story, I consider that the main character behaves in an unexpected way, since he makes the decision of locking down to someone who was suppossed to be his friend. He decides to solve their differences through revenge. In this case, a passage from the reading where the author does an effective job describing the setting is the following one: "We went on, and down, and came into the deepest vault. Around three walls, from floor to ceiling, were the bones of the dead. Many more bones lay on the floor. Cut into the fourth wall was a smaller vault". THE PREMATURE BURIAL: I think the character behaves in an expected way, as he talks about premature burial, something could happen to him because of the illness he has. This situation is petrifying as, who wants to wake up in a coffin? A passage from the reading where the author does an effective job describing the setting is the following one: " Think of the terror of it - the smelll of cold dump ground... the blacness of the night inside the narrow coffin... the long, long silence". THE MEETING: The storyteller in this story behaves in an expected way, since the story is quite strange. The Marchesa and boy, both from Venice, take poison and sie together. It was planned but anyone knew it, so when the storyteller discovered it (after they both were death) he was a bit confussed. " I was in Venice, that city of dark secrest and silent waters. It was midnight, and the midsummer air was hot and still, the canals silent and empty" This is the passage where the author does an effective job descibing the setting. THE OVAL PORTRAIT: The character behaves in an expected way in this last story, he doesn't feel safe at all where he is, something abvious taking into account that he is in a strange house where a lady died while she was being painted by his painter husband. " It was a fine old building, very big, but dark and empty. (...) There were a great many modern paintings on the walls, and more in the dark corners of the room" This is the passage from the reading where the author does an effective job describing the setting. Howerver, if I could interview the author of the reading, I would ask him what pushed him to write about death by telling different stories. Sibcerely, I have no idea what the author would answer to my question but I assume it could be because the topic hits home maybe because a of a traumatic loss. On the one hand, what I liked the most about the reding is that it is an easy going reading, as it entertains you by telling different stories. On the other hand, what I liked the least is the topic. Personally, I do not really like horror books or books that talk about death, since they make me overthink about it and usually feel bad when I do it. Finally, the main characteristic that will continue to be relevant or important in the future is the writer's thoughts. I pressume that death is quite a dark topic and in order for the writer to continue writing about this topic, his thoughts need to be really focused on this subject which I think is a bit complicated.

Review by Ekiñe Carrion Azkunaga.