Define Books Conducive To The Pit and the Pendulum
| Original Title: | The Pit and the Pendulum |
| ISBN: | 0146000110 (ISBN13: 9780146000119) |
| Edition Language: | English |
Edgar Allan Poe
Paperback | Pages: 56 pages Rating: 4.16 | 56758 Users | 870 Reviews
Narration In Favor Of Books The Pit and the Pendulum
”The entire surface of this metallic enclosure was rudely daubed in all the hideous and repulsive devices to which the charnel superstition of the monks has given rise. The figures of fiends in aspects of menace, with skeleton forms, and other more really fearful images, overspread and disfigured the walls.”
Simply superb illustration by Harry Clarke.
Our nameless narrator has been condemned by a panel of black robed, white lipped, stern faced judges. His crime is unknown, but then this is the Inquisition so his offense could be that he is not a Catholic or not religious enough or he might have been accused of one of the many offences against God that require such a low level of proof. The Inquisition was not only about condemning and punishing, but also these thunderously righteous monks seemed inordinately fascinated with eliciting the most psychological and physical pain inspired terror as possible.
The judges pass judgement but do not tell him how he is to die. If I knew I was going to be beheaded or hanged or drawn and quartered, at least I could mentally prepare myself for my death. Visualizing it would somewhat help me come to peace with it. Not to say I still wouldn’t void my bladder at the first sight of the gallows or the executioner’s blade or the bristling rows of rifles all pointed at my heart. Our narrator finds himself in a cell nay more a vault, with hideous pictures on the walls, damp stone enclosing him all sides, bundles of writhing rats, and a deep pit that seems to be an abyss into hell.
The pit is supposed to be his death, but he discovers it just before plunging to his demise. "’Death,’ I said, ‘any death but that of the pit’!" Hold that thought!
He swoons out of fear or from some mild intoxicant that they lace his food and drink with (pure speculation on my part), and each time he comes to his senses there is food and drink at his side. He is grateful for the sustenance, but this ratchets up the fear that he is so helpless that someone came and went without his knowledge.
Whenever I read an Edgar Allan Poe, I’m always struck by the way he puts a sliver of fear in the reader and, then in progressive paragraphs, continues to rend that sliver of uneasiness wider. He lets loose spiders of dread that run amuck in the mind, leaving tendrils of webbing behind that vibrate, jangling the nerves and firing synapses until they burn out like collapsing stars. I need a nap after reading a Poe story, but who wants to sleep with all those fresh nightmares crowding the mind, waiting to pluck the boundaries of your sanity like petals on a flower?
The pit may not have worked, but these resourceful monks have more tricks up their voluminous sleeves. Our plucky narrator wakes from another swoon to find himself strapped to a wooden framed bed, and something truly insidious is descending from the ceiling.
”The sweep of the pendulum had increased in extent by nearly a yard. As a natural consequence, its velocity was also much greater. But what mainly disturbed me was the idea that had perceptibly descended. I now observed--with what horror it is needless to say--that its nether extremity was formed of a crescent of glittering steel, about a foot in length from horn to horn; the horns upward, and the under edge evidently as keen as that of a razor. Like a razor also, it seemed massy and heavy, tapering from the edge into a solid and broad structure above. It was appended to a weighty rod of brass, and the whole hissed as it swung through the air.”
My office was feeling a bit stuffy as I was reading this story, which might have been induced by feelings of being trapped, inspired quite possibly by Poe. I turned on the overhead fan, and as Poe describes the descent of the blade on the pendulum, I could feel my anxiety levels increasing exponentially. It took me a moment to realize that the hum generated by the fan was adding to my agitation. I stood to go turn the fan off, but then realized that, since I am probably healthy enough to sustain the higher terror levels, I should continue to allow the hum from the fan to enhance my reading experience.
***SHIVER***
To add to the narrator’s already high level of horror is something that is part of his nature, as it is of mine,...hope. It is difficult to believe, as dire as a circumstance can be, that this is truly our...final extinction. Something or someone will save us. Maybe even the God we have offended, according to the self-righteous monks, will intercede. As long as there is hope, there is the possibility of inducing more and more fear in the prisoner. Once a person has given up, accepted their death, adding more and more creative aspects of torture are futile and, dare I say, no longer entertaining.
Edgar Allan Poe
I often think of the nightmares of Poe. The demons that stalked the graveyards of his memories. The screams that must have emanated from his bedroom when a fresh horror had him by the throat. I can see him reaching with trembling hands for pen and paper with the beginnings of a smile turning up the corners of his mouth.
There are only about 6600 words in this story, but I was pleasantly surprised to have notated so many great, quotable lines. There are way too many for one review, but it gives you an idea of the power of Poe’s writing. I’ve read this story at least three times over my lifetime, and still every time I read it, I feel the chills racing up and down my spine. Now I need a nap, or better yet a double espresso.
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Mention About Books The Pit and the Pendulum
| Title | : | The Pit and the Pendulum |
| Author | : | Edgar Allan Poe |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Penguin 60s Classics |
| Pages | : | Pages: 56 pages |
| Published | : | September 1995 by Penguin (first published 1842) |
| Categories | : | Classics. Horror. Short Stories. Fiction. Gothic |
Rating About Books The Pit and the Pendulum
Ratings: 4.16 From 56758 Users | 870 ReviewsCommentary About Books The Pit and the Pendulum
A man sentenced to death is put in a dungeon to meet the destiny set to him by his torturers. Doomed. Tic toc, tic toc. As a helpless spectator of the horrifying sight, the tumult of feelings kept unreeling before my eyes. all sensations appeared swallowed up in a mad rushing descent as of the soul into Hades. Then silence, and stillness, night were the universe. Torn between Fear and Hope (though the latter only seemed to emphasize the dreadfulness of the situation) the agony is palpable. After
...the agony of my soul found vent in one loud, long and final scream of despair.
3.5 stars In Masque of the Red Death, Poe excelled at dread through a pronounced description of setting. Here, setting is present but it's mainly dread through the creative viewpoint of the man's internal monologue and desperation.I call to mind flatness and dampness; and then all is madness - the madness of a memory which busies itself among forbidden things. Emotion is high and strong throughout during the terrible ordeal - The Inquisition has taken place, the man has been sentenced, and he
If you see Poe's pit and pendulum as metaphors for the psychological state of being trapped between two bad choices, it makes sense in much less dramatic situations than the one he chose. Should I stay in an environment that is toxic, or jump into the unknown pit?Should I sell the rotten stocks or should I keep them?Should I speak up or stay quiet?Should I work for another hour or open a bottle of wine?Should I buy the book or save the money (though that is not really a choice!)?Should I let
Nobody Expects the Spanish Inquisition!At least not as late as in the Napoleonic Wars, when it was technically still operating until Napoleon put a stop to it but when it would be highly improbable that so much pain would have been taken by the Dominicans to inflict so much pain on one prisoner, especially when nobody was there to witness the plight. Nevertheless, these were thoughts that hardly occurred to me when I read Poes tale The Pit and the Pendulum for the first time. I must have been
The sentence of death with torturous fear....... "I panted! I gasped for breath! Oh most unrelenting! Oh most demoniac of men! Oh horror! Oh! Any horror, but this!" This short POE horror classic, THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM is a first time read for me and it did not disappoint! The ending truly surprised me. Loved it!
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