About halfway through and I only have two real observations.

1. Marianne and her mother are complete idiots.

2. Elinor is the bees-knees.

That is all.

The people who find this journal probably know who I am already and can decide for themselves whether or not we can be congenial. If you came here by accident, I suggest backing away slowly. You don't want any of this kind of crazy. This is the kind that Mr. Poe specialized in writing in somewhat overly-dramatic, ironic prose. Don't know his stuff? Check it out.

http://www.online-literature.com/poe/

It occurred to me the other day that I have a rather long history with macabre, disturbing and somewhat over-dramatic specifically as it relates to a Mr. Edgar Allan Poe. I won't try to delve into the murky waters of nature vs. nurture with this piece. I'm not interested in the "where" and "why fors". This is merely intended as a small anecdote before I move on to read the last Vampire Hunter D novel that I plan on buying. (I will explain if you're curious to know why.)

I first became intrigued with Edgar Allan Poe back in the fourth grade. Why so young? I can't really say. I just remember being enthralled with his image, his writing, his everything. Naturally the first thing I studied by him was his poem The Raven though I think that came along later. My memories get hazier by the year and trying to hold on to my childhood is too much like trying to squeeze hold of quicksilver with oily palms. I imagine it's much the same for everyone else.

Back to the point, I loved The Raven and I tried to read some of his other writing on my own. Needless to say I was terrified and simply chickened out. I didn't become "brave" enough to really indulge my urge for horror until I got to highschool and was finally allowed to watch "scary movies", but that's another story entirely. We studied more and more Poe as we continued through junior high and highschool and I loved every minute of it. By the time we studied his full works in college, I had read most every short story he'd written simply because of the standard curriculum. I was introduced to the different opinions and views of Poe, finally including the dissenting views that he was a drug-addict and a drunk, and was educated on the plot of character assasination by his supposed closest friend. The more I learned about Poe as man and a writer, the more I felt a personal connection. We had similar virtues and vices and views on life and while the weight we give to a writer should technically be based solely on their literary merits, it was this sense of similar nature that really clenched my love for Poe.

My professor once made a statement in regards to Poe that has stuck with me in everything I write. "One who is truly insane could not possibly write such great works as this because it would come out as lunatic psycho-babble. Only the incredibly intelligent and thoughtful could make something come out so perfectly mad."