Pioneering work
|
|
Edgar Allan Poe is rightly acknowledged as the granddaddy of detective fiction and collected here is the proof. In these stories he gave us the basic devices of an entire genre: the genius detective and his sidekick, the locked-room mystery, cyphers, royal spies, and the rigorous logic of arm-chair detection. However, the problem with pioneering an entire genre is that, for ever after, your pioneering efforts are going to look rather amateurish. And this, unfortunately, is the case with Poe: the Auguste Dupin stories may well have given birth to the modern detective story but today, when compared to the works they inspired, they are little more than historically interesting artefacts - and ultimately rather dull. It is simply not possible for us to experience these stories today with anything like the striking freshness they would have had for their original readers. So if you're looking for truly great detective stories, look elsewhere. But if you're seeking the historical origins of detective fiction, this book is just the ticket.
|
|
|
United States | 
United Kingdom | 
Canada