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Even at 200, Poe endures in pop culture (Bicentennial today)
Yahoo - AP ^ | 01/19/09 | BEN NUCKOLS

Posted on 01/19/2009 8:27:17 AM PST by Borges

"Lisa, that wasn't scary, even for a poem!" Bart Simpson complains after his sister reads Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven" in a classic Halloween episode.

"Well, it was written in 1845!" Lisa says. "Maybe people were easier to scare back then!"

Jaded cartoon kids aside, Poe still does scare people — even 200 years after his birth. His tales of gothic horror and grisly murder retain their grip on the imagination. His sad, short life and mysterious death feed his legend.

Even the daguerreotypes of a pallid, death-haunted Poe burnish his image as a master of the macabre, a man who endured more than his share of misery and squalor and whose suffering fueled a body of work that reverberates throughout popular culture to this day.

Poe endures in part because he had more in common with today's artists and entertainers than he did with his contemporaries, said Paul Lewis, an English professor at Boston College.

"He is a foundational figure in the development of popular culture," Lewis said. "He wanted readers to take away an immediate feeling, a deep response when they read a story or poem. That sense of art for art's sake becomes central to popular culture, which is trying to provide people with a very visceral experience, a very powerful effect."

Whether readers are introduced to Poe through English classes, comic books or filmed performances by the late actor Vincent Price (who did dramatic readings of Poe's work and starred in "House of Usher," "The Raven," and other movies), they tend never to forget him, and they find that his work offers more than cheap thrills.

(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...


TOPICS: Books/Literature
KEYWORDS: eapoe; edgarallanpoe; edgarallenpoe; godsgravesglyphs; poe

1 posted on 01/19/2009 8:27:17 AM PST by Borges
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To: Borges

Quoth the Baltimore Ravens, “Nevermore.”


2 posted on 01/19/2009 8:30:36 AM PST by 14erClimb
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To: Anoreth

ping


3 posted on 01/19/2009 8:32:08 AM PST by Tax-chick (To oppose the god of this world by lifting up Christ.)
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To: Borges
"Lisa, that wasn't scary, even for a poem!" Bart Simpson complains after his sister reads Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven" in a classic Halloween episode.

Quoth the Raven: "Eat my shorts!"


4 posted on 01/19/2009 8:33:34 AM PST by KarlInOhio (On 9/11 Israel mourned with us while the Palestinians danced in the streets. Who should we support?)
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To: 14erClimb

Yeah dat. GO STILLERS!

5 posted on 01/19/2009 8:46:38 AM PST by martin_fierro (< |:)~)
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To: Borges

Catch Glenn Beck’s rendition of “Tell Tale Heart” on Halloween. It’s great!


6 posted on 01/19/2009 9:01:29 AM PST by Domandred (Hope is the first step on the road to disappointment.)
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7 posted on 01/19/2009 3:16:51 PM PST by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/____________________ Profile updated Monday, January 12, 2009)
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· join list or digest · view topics · view or post blog · bookmark · post a topic ·

 
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Just adding to the catalog, not sending a general distribution.

To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list.
GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother, and Ernest_at_the_Beach
 

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8 posted on 01/19/2009 3:21:22 PM PST by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/____________________ Profile updated Monday, January 12, 2009)
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To: martin_fierro

Yes, it was my understanding that the Baltimore Ravens’ name is inspired by Edgar Allan Poe. I think the stadium club ought to serve up amontillado for the high dollar customers. The stadium itself is a pit, and maybe they could have a pendulum swinging at one end (maybe like an amusement park ride).


9 posted on 01/19/2009 5:39:41 PM PST by scrabblehack
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