James Polk

A nice dissection on a well-known work. Genre is a knotted topic, and it’s interesting to see how different people see one tale through different lenses. It might be interesting to look at how different adaptations of Wuthering Heights highlight the different genre touches of its publication era. Having only recently watched a live TV staging of the story from the early 1950s, it seems common to cast the story as purely tragic, with impetus being given to Heathcliff’s quest for vengeance.
Kudos!

Much of the impression of Moomin evokes two American comic strips: Peanuts and Pogo Possum. Peanuts, among the most famous strips in the world, shares with Jansson’s creation a tone of measured cynicism. Both strips embrace humor than often deprecates one or more characters while offering both the promises and treacheries of life. Pogo Possum, like Moomin, has cutesy character designs that offset the political and social critique at their respective cores. Pogo had many plots that addressed the political issues of the 1950s and 60s (notably the Red Scare), while you’ve shown how, though in more subtle ways, Moomin encapsulates sentiments of being aware of one’s environment, a very pertinent issue in this era of accelerated climate change.
If make sense to me how Moomin never took off in the States the way it has in its native home and Japan. Aside from aesthetic differences in design, the American media landscape doesn’t embrace cartooning and animation that avoids superficialities and embraces a greyer tone. Thank you for your insightful article!

That’s awesome! It’s truly a testament, to both Poe’s appeal and young people’s palette for taste.

Yes, I have read Pym. It features as a big influence on modern cosmic and existential horror, as codified by Lovecraft. However, something I didn’t touch on is the novel’s possible influence on Melville’s “Moby Dick,” What with the question of human hubris and large, pale-white creatures. It’s a bit of a slog at times, and Poe himself often avoided longer prose after the ill-reception of an early poem “Al Aaraff,” but it’s a fascinating read.

Thanks for your kind words!

A very nice breakdown of how pernicious creators can be contextualized.

Applying death of the author can be difficult, not just regarding long-deceased authors from half a century ago. Many contemporary authors are respected beyond the aesthetic appeal of their works. Would Toni Morrison be as respected without knowledge of the insurmountable odds she and er works faced in publishing? Would the Harry Potter franchise (as a literary work) found success without Rowling’s life story accompanying? It’s hard to say, because many readers crave identifying with the creators of works they love.

Regardless, I appreciate your article.

Your aren’t off-mark on the mystery element of Poe’s Dupin tales. They fall more into a separate category from his horror tales—his detective works (the first in the English language) are more dedicated to confounding his audience’s deductive skills than evoking fear. Dupin is the first in a line of genius detectives, but, being the first, he is also among the more coarse in effect for modern eyes. Disdain isn’t unbelievable. In fact, Poe’s second Dupin work was not well-received in his day and isn’t well known today for that reason, I believe.

You make an excellent point! If since lost account of it, but one author wrote in forwarding a Poe anthology that most of his work has potential for comic satire. He argued how even the works regarded as peak horror (The Tell-Tale Heart) can be read as effective trolling of the high-brows or his day. Another case of how Poe’s choice of words and omissions allow a world of interpretive interest.

Poe’s poetry has a distinctive stylistic genome compared to his tales. That’s partly why I focus on his short stories—his poems were made with a different intent and style. That being said, I can take different poems over others. Poe wrote poetry like most people change socks: some almost seem written in “stream of consciousness.” If you want a textbook case of overlong and too opaque, read “Al Aaraaf,” which even Poe himself dismissed as amateurish later in his life.