The Cask of Amontillado and Other Bits and Pieces

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Montresor coat of arms
All month I've been especially wanting to read Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado."  I don't know why that story popped into my head; I'm not a specially big fan of Poe or anything.  I do remember reading this story in 8th grade and hardly understanding a word of it, which was the case with all the Poe stories we read that year.  (No one explained, for example, what an MS. was, which made "MS. in a Bottle" kind of opaque, and I seem to have spent all of my school years under the impression that I couldn't ask questions.)

Anyway.  "The Cask of Amontillado" is the story of a perfect revenge-murder.  Very creepy and unsettling.  Montresor drops hints to Fortunato the whole time, but Fortunato does not heed the warning.  But everyone knows the story, so I don't have much to say about it.

I've also been reading a couple of other things; I'm most of the way through the story of the Caliph Vathek, though to be honest I'm skimming a bit.  It's nowhere near as good as The Italian.  I also started reading Isak Dinesen's Seven Gothic Tales, and wow, her writing really takes me back.  I am enjoying it a lot--the writing is gorgeous--but I seem to have misplaced the book for the moment.  I think I'd like to revisit all of Dinesen in the future.  

I would still quite like to take a look at Wieland, since it's a homegrown article.  But that won't fit into October.  And I really need to be reading Greek literature!  I've been working my way through Aristotle's Rhetoric, but my goodness it's dull.  I must get back to Herodotus.

Comments

  1. AmyOctober 29, 2012 at 10:07 AM

    I love Dinesen also--the Gothic Tales are very, very enjoyable, and if you like those you'd also like the Winter's Tales. I've got her Anecdotes of Destiny on my TBR list, too.

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  2. JeanOctober 29, 2012 at 11:02 AM

    You're right--I do like the Winter's Tales! I think I own pretty much all of Dinesen's books, because I took a course on her at college. We read everything AFAIK. But I remember little, so I'm thinking I should revisit her works--as well as the other Scandinavian lit I studied back then.

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