The Fall of the House of Usher
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4.1 • 537 Ratings
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Publisher Description
An unnamed protagonist (the Narrator) is summoned to the remote mansion of his boyhood friend, Roderick Usher. Filled with a sense of dread by the sight of the house itself, the Narrator reunites with his old companion, who is suffering from a strange mental illness and whose sister, Madeline is near death due to a mysterious disease. The Narrator provides company to Usher while he paints and plays guitar, spending all his days inside, avoiding the sunlight and obsessing over the sentience of the non-living. When Madeline dies, Usher decides to bury her temporarily in one of his house's large vaults. A few days later, however, she emerges from her provisional tomb, killing her brother while the Narrator flees for his life.
Customer Reviews
Alive
Alive
Very interesting
Edgar Allen Poe is a very mysterious writer and i love the way he describes the setting and the personification of the characters.
Immersive and symbolic
Waiting to read Edgar Allan Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher" afforded me the opportunity to have a deeper understanding of the story. Okay, it's not that complex, but there are elements in his writing that stand out. On the surface, it’s a horror story about a sickly man in his time of need. The narrator, being a seemingly good man, is there for Roderick, despite the circumstances.
One of the coolest things about this story is the mirroring aspect of the title. The house literally crumbled, as did the Usher bloodline. There was the scene where Madeline was banging against a locked tomb while Roderick was reading the story of a herring knight. It showed Madeline's strength despite her condition, or perhaps she was a zombie with super strength, probably the latter considering she was sickly then buried. On the flip side, Roderick was losing control, becoming weaker until his ultimate demise.
Of course, there was the theme of friendship throughout, with the narrator trying his best to be a good friend to someone he had known since childhood, but admittedly hardly knew at all. The narrator was a 'ride or die' friend, luckily he didn’t die. We all should hope we have friends willing to come to our mental rescue in the most horrid conditions.
There was also a question I found myself asking: What the heck happened to everyone? Why did they all bite the dust? An entire bloodline ceased to exist in a horrid fashion where a twin sister literally scared her brother to death. So technically, you could say she killed him.
Poe's imagery was absolutely amazing. The description of the decrepit mansion and its suffocating nature, where the only reprieve came from glints of light and sorrowful air, was masterful.
“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 [Edgar Allan Poe].”
Yeah, not exactly a place you'd want to be. Not to mention the things that went bump in the night.
And then there was the story of two children, wide-eyed and happy about a new life full of green and hope, only to find misery and ghoulish terror. Things got so bad at one point that even the narrator decided sleep wasn't his friend. He did all he could for a friend destined to die. I imagine the way he died wasn't exactly how anyone saw it.