Edgar Allan Poe's "Fall of the House of Usher"

Because I spend most of my time reading novel or play, sometimes I find it difficult to write a short story. I constantly need to read short stories in order to be able to write them. The reason, I assume, is because different formats of writing work your brain in different ways; if I only use my brain to work with the novel and play formats, I will then have no ability to write in other format. So, whenever I run into problems while writing a story, such as not being able to structure it properly, or find a way to start or execute it, it always helps to find a few short stories to read.

A friend of mine suggested that I be Edgar Allan Poe for Halloween. I don't know why, but it did make me want to read Poe's work. Long ago I bought his complete tales and poems, but had spent very little time with it. I decided to read one of his short stories. I read "The Fall of the House of Usher", which is a story about a man reuniting with his dying friend in a house where creepy things happen. I'm not really a fan of gothic stories and wasn't quite taken by the plot. But what is really marvelous about Poe's writing is his descriptions. He is a beautiful prose writer, and he writes such lush descriptions that it is sometimes easy to get lost in his writing, but if you pay close attention, it's pretty much a big plate of assorted desserts made of words. Let's take a look at a passage from it:

The room in which I found myself was very large and lofty. The windows were long, narrow, and pointed, and at so vast a distance from the black oaken floor as to be altogether inaccessible from within. Feeble gleams of encrimsoned light made their way through the trellissed panes, and served to render sufficiently distinct the more prominent objects around; the eye, however, struggled in vain to reach the remoter angles of the chamber, or the recesses of the vaulted and fretted ceiling. Dark draperies hung upon the walls. The general furniture was profuse, comfortless, antique, and tattered. Many books and musical instruments lay scattered about, but failed to give any vitality to the scene. I felt that I breathed an atmosphere of sorrow. An air of stern, deep, and irredeemable gloom hung over and pervaded all.

The physical descriptions help us to see the place and the objects inside it vividly. At the same time they also convey the feelings that they spark in the narrator. The vastness of the room is repeatedly emphasized to the point that we feel small and lost in the room. The dark colors that he use ("black oaken floor", "gleam of encrimsoned light") emphasize the mystery and a sense of danger. The disorderly of the place conveys its state of abandonment and sadness. I just love the way he describes the furniture: "profuse, comfortless, antique, and tattered"--four adjectives that bring the picture and the emotion to life.

Sometimes you find the answers to all your problems in one story; most of the time, however, you need to read more than one. I feel like I gain a lot from reading this story, but not enough, so I will go on and read more stories. You do the same.