DATo wrote:I remember the first time I read Amontillado as a teen. The vicarious sense of impending doom with the laying of each brick raised goosebumps on my arms. The only other story to affect me that way was the 1937 short story Christ In Concrete by Pietro de Donato which was later expanded into a novel. The short story version also dealt with a slow and gruesome (accidental) death.
Have an i.L.L. copy on the way. Thanks for the tip
“The real cycle you're working on is a cycle called yourself.”
― Robert M. Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
I read it a very long time ago but still remember that it was quite disturbing. Let me know what you think of it.
Will do. They haven't contacted me yet. Found myself doing a slow re-read of Life of Pi...just after I finished it. Did you re-read it afterwards...or is it just me?
“The real cycle you're working on is a cycle called yourself.”
― Robert M. Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
I read it a very long time ago but still remember that it was quite disturbing. Let me know what you think of it.
Will do. They haven't contacted me yet. Found myself doing a slow re-read of Life of Pi...just after I finished it. Did you re-read it afterwards...or is it just me?
Sorry Carla, I'm not sure I understood you. I've never read Life Of Pi; or, were you referring to Christ In Concrete? I only read 'C in C' once, but I've never forgotten it.
“I just got out of the hospital. I was in a speed reading accident. I hit a book mark and flew across the room.”
― Steven Wright
In middle school I had to read a lot of Edgar allen Poe and this was one of my favorite stories by him. I love how dark and strong this story is like most of Poe's works. I also like how simple yet intriguing the plot is. I will continue to read it again and again.
The story's unreliable narrator, Montresor, tells the story of the day that he took his revenge on Fortunato, a fellow nobleman, to an unspecified person who knows him very well. Angry over some unspecified insult, he plots to murder his friend during Carnival when the man is drunk, dizzy, and wearing a jester's motley.
He baits Fortunato by telling him he has obtained what he believes to be a pipe (about 130 gallons,[1] 492 litres) of a rare vintage of Amontillado. He claims he wants his friend's expert opinion on the subject. Fortunato goes with Montresor to the wine cellars of the latter's palazzo, where they wander in the catacombs. Montresor offers wine (first Medoc, then De Grave) to Fortunato. At one point, Fortunato makes an elaborate, grotesque gesture with an upraised wine bottle. When Montresor appears not to recognize the gesture, Fortunato asks, "You are not of the masons?" Montresor says he is, and when Fortunato, disbelieving, requests a sign, Montresor displays a trowel he had been hiding.
This one wasn't my favourite Poe story, although it certainly was interesting. I liked The Black Cat better, I think.
"I could not be sure she was sane; and, in fact, there was a certain restless brilliancy about her eyes that half led me to imagine she was not." -Edgar Allan Poe
I can't choose a favorite Poe story. There are so many great ones. His writing has a mysticism and a power to it that's hard to pin down. The Cask is a great story--definitely a classic.