Poe, Dickens and Shots of Shorts

Philadelphia...home of the liberty bell, independence hall, Philly cheesesteak and those famous steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art conquered by Rocky Balboa. All exciting to experience but I feel a little unpatriotic when I admit that the highlight of our recent day spent in the city of brotherly love was standing in the one surviving dwelling of five that Poe inhabited during his six years living in Philly. I am not Poe's number one fan and until the past month I hadn't read his work since high school but I have continued to be fascinated by the man, his talent and his legend. Couple my fascination with my daughter reading Poe in her language arts class, and this stop was a timely one. I ask you, who needs GPS? Just keep an eye out for Poe on the wall.

Poe lived in this semi-detached house with his wife, Virginia, and his mother-in-law as well as a cat named Catterina. It is assumed that The Black Cat was written while Poe lived here and the cellar recalls the spooky scenes from the short story.

The raven overlooks the gardens and seems to be guarding Poe's front door. There were a total of four stories including the cellar. All the rooms, hallways, closets and stairwells seemed so small. When I saw the room that was assumed to be the parlor for entertaining, all I thought was the number of guests would need to be kept to a minimum. The house was not furnished and the walls seemed to be crumbling giving an overall impression of decay.

The whole building is considered a national historical park, so part of the neighboring dwelling is a very well put together exhibit of Poe's life. There is also a small theatre that shows a short documentary.

There is a small exhibit that explains the influence Poe's work had on other writers within the mystery/detective story genre. Poe is credited with writing 'the first modern detective story'.

There were some interesting papers written on his death, the defamation of his character and how the city itself influenced Poe's writing. They certainly challenged some of my long held assumptions regarding Poe's rumored use of opium and the circumstances surrounding his death.

After Poe, we were off to see the only statue ever made in the likeness of Charles Dickens...or so I read. There is quite an interesting story behind this statue that went against Dickens' wishes expressed in his will. I had to see it but was saddened to see it being used as a jungle gym.

To go along with these literary spots, I read Poe's The Black Cat and Dicken's The Haunted House. I bought an illustrated edition of Poe and made the mistake of looking at some the illustrations before reading the pieces. One of the illustrations for The Black Cat included the last line of the story which gave all away. It was still a good read but what a bummer to know the end at the beginning. Dicken's The Haunted House was too strange for me as I followed the main character on his descent into madness...or was he mad from the beginning? I don't know. All I do know is that the last half was practically unreadable which was such a disappointment because the story started out so strong.

Two more short stories to mention: Charlotte Perkins Gilman's The Yellow Wallpaper and Robert Louis Stevenson's The Body-Snatcher. My daughter read The Yellow Wallpaper in class and the teacher was kind enough to pass on a copy of the story to me. Gilman tells the story of a woman who is driven mad by the wallpaper in a room of the house she and her family are renting as she seeks tonic for her nerves. I found the first half a little dull but, as this woman is gripped by an obsession with the wallpaper, I was gripped by the last couple of pages...creepy. Darlene at roses over a cottage door recently reviewed Stevenson's The Body-Snatcher which convinced me to pick up this story. After reading it I want to know more about the real-life case this story is based on. Stevenson did a fantastic job introducing the moral aspect behind such evil and desecration along with giving me the heebee-jeebees.