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Edgar Allan Poe's life was a mess. But his work was in his command

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Re: Edgar Allan Poe's life was a mess. But his work was in his command

#61

Post by DevDesmond »

ndsipa_pomu wrote: post #7

Although Edgar Allan Poe is well known, I think his influence is under appreciated. He pretty much invented the detective story genre with "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" and his "Eureka: A Prose Poem" was early sci-fi that more or less invented the idea of the Big Bang.

There is a Sci-Fi Noir TV show "Altered Carbon" (based on a book) featuring an AI using Edgar Allan Poe as their persona.

That Edgar Allan Poe is seminal in both genres makes me appreciate an already amazing character that much more! I would 10/10 recommend anyone watch season one of the series.

This thread now has me tempted to finally get into reading Poe himself, (among Lovecraft and the Altered Carbon books for more Poe influenced writing).

Re: Edgar Allan Poe's life was a mess. But his work was in his command

#62

Post by muzani »

card_zero wrote: post #13
echelon wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"long life" is geologically just wishful thinking. We all have the same quality of life outcome when compared against the vastness of time. What is a billionaire's lavish life to the toil of an artist, inventor, or revolutionary? We all wind up rotting in the blink of an eye. Luxury, pleasure, and dopamine are as fleeting as youth. It's better to do something of note.

If you lived twice as long, you could do two things of note. Twice as better.

A lot of masterpieces are done by 30, whether it's founding FAANG, the theory of relativity, Bohemian Rhapsody, etc. I've always found it interesting that these people do so much with so few resources, then when people like Einstein had the freedom to do what they like, they couldn't outdo what they did in their earlier years. You'd think that with more experience, money, and connections, they'd be besting themselves again and again.

Re: Edgar Allan Poe's life was a mess. But his work was in his command

#63

Post by defrost »

DevDesmond wrote: post #61
ndsipa_pomu wrote: post #7

Although Edgar Allan Poe is well known, I think his influence is under appreciated. He pretty much invented the detective story genre with "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" and his "Eureka: A Prose Poem" was early sci-fi that more or less invented the idea of the Big Bang.

There is a Sci-Fi Noir TV show "Altered Carbon" (based on a book) featuring an AI using Edgar Allan Poe as their persona. That Edgar Allan Poe is seminal in both genres makes me appreciate an already amazing character that much more! I would 10/10 recommend anyone watch season one of the series. This thread now has me tempted to finally get into reading Poe himself, (among Lovecraft and the Altered Carbon books for m…

You might also enjoy Flow Like Poe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8Z0VynTR84

Re: Edgar Allan Poe's life was a mess. But his work was in his command

#64

Post by ssake »

I've discovered that Edgar Allan Poe's claim to "The Raven" was a scam. He actually had nothing to do with either writing it, or with its premiere publication. He merely scooped it by three days, replacing the real author's pseudonym with his own name. The real author had been Mathew Franklin Whittier, younger brother of the Quaker poet John Greenleaf Whittier, who wrote it based on real-life circumstances. You can find my evidence and argument at this URL: https://www.academia.edu/49095038/Evidence_that_Edgar_Allan_...

Re: Edgar Allan Poe's life was a mess. But his work was in his command

#65

Post by gabriel666smith »

DeathArrow wrote: post #57

Many lives of talented poets and artists were a mess. Many died young. I still don't know whether living a life of misery leads to artistic mastery or not.

I think that a vocation - artistic or otherwise - creates a place of safety in any kind of chaos. Life can be as bad as it is, but so long as you believe: “on the page, things are good”, you can always go to work.

I’m not sure if suffering leads to vocation, or if vocation induces neglect of the world that sits outside of that vocation, causing suffering.

From my experience (certainly not Poe-tier) the causality is complicated - a cycle, probably starting with a little of both.

Re: Edgar Allan Poe's life was a mess. But his work was in his command

#66

Post by triceratops »

Mistletoe wrote: post #6
codr7 wrote: post #5

Alternatively, his life was exactly what it had to be for him to do what he was supposed to.

I wonder what he would choose if he knew? A comfortable long life and happiness or to be remembered forever?

He may not actually be remembered forever. It hasn't even been 150 years since he died.

EDIT: He died in 1849 so it hasn't even been 200 years.

Re: Edgar Allan Poe's life was a mess. But his work was in his command

#67

Post by shreyshnaccount »

It's a good article, but the headline feels a bit off considering the source. The idea of personal responsibility has been co-opted by corporations in the past to deflect from systemic issues, so seeing it framed this way- especially given the ownership and agenda of WP- feels a little manipulative. Though, to be fair, I am almost certainly over-analyzing it.

Re: Edgar Allan Poe's life was a mess. But his work was in his command

#68

Post by iaaan »

shreyshnaccount wrote: post #67

It's a good article, but the headline feels a bit off considering the source. The idea of personal responsibility has been co-opted by corporations in the past to deflect from systemic issues, so seeing it framed this way- especially given the ownership and agenda of WP- feels a little manipulative. Though, to be fair, I am almost certainly over-analyzing it.

Not at all, I think it's certainly worth pointing out. Regular people (like the author of this article, presumably) often end up inadvertently parroting the agendas that have been instilled into them, consciously or not.

Re: Edgar Allan Poe's life was a mess. But his work was in his command

#69

Post by bmm6o »

DevDesmond wrote: post #61
ndsipa_pomu wrote: post #7

Although Edgar Allan Poe is well known, I think his influence is under appreciated. He pretty much invented the detective story genre with "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" and his "Eureka: A Prose Poem" was early sci-fi that more or less invented the idea of the Big Bang.

There is a Sci-Fi Noir TV show "Altered Carbon" (based on a book) featuring an AI using Edgar Allan Poe as their persona. That Edgar Allan Poe is seminal in both genres makes me appreciate an already amazing character that much more! I would 10/10 recommend anyone watch season one of the series. This thread now has me tempted to finally get into reading Poe himself, (among Lovecraft and the Altered Carbon books for m…

What's interesting is that Poe is not in the Altered Carbon book. The hotel was called the Hendrix and its avatar was Jimi the guitarist. They couldn't get image rights for the film, so had to change it. But i agree that atmospherically and thematically Poe is a better fit.

Re: Edgar Allan Poe's life was a mess. But his work was in his command

#70

Post by Exoristos »

card_zero wrote: post #24
katzgrau wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Eh, I’ll go ahead and trust that life is about as long as it needs to be. Any “things of note” apart from genuinely helping someone else out on their journey when you had a shot is totally irrelevant from the broader perspective.

The part where "you have a shot" is crucially important. Otherwise, if all people do is help others to help others, you have a circular system where nothing is done.

If all everyone does is help others, you have a circular system where everything is done.
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