Reading Poe was like a near-death experience, the kind that makes you feel fragile and free in its wake. I felt almost as though I'd scared myself alive.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
When I was a teenager, I read a lot of Poe.
Poe was such a tragic and brilliant figure; he's somebody whom I've been somewhat obsessed with my whole life. I first read 'The Tell-Tale Heart' at age four.
Poe was plagued and haunted most of all by something pretty banal: poverty. Probably the most eccentric decision in life was to become a writer in an age when making a living at it was nearly impossible.
I guess one of the reasons I'm doing the Poe piece is that I think Poe demonstrates that no matter how difficult things are, if you continue to move forward in life, you can eventually become victorious, even if it's later in life.
I don't think I've ever frightened myself before when writing, but there were areas where there was terror, as though I was looking into somewhere that I didn't know existed before, and it frightened me.
I have turned away from the thought of writing fiction in the past through what I suppose is, actually, fear. The direct, raw invitation for the reader to come in and explore my imagination is fairly scary for me so I have busied myself with so much else.
I think Poe had a mission to tell us what it's all about. To answer some of the great questions of life.
When I write, I try to think back to what I was afraid of or what was scary to me, and try to put those feelings into books.
I loved reading when I grew up but did feel totally invisible because I couldn't see myself and my life reflected in the books I was reading.
Poe was a student of many things, and among those things he read and referred to in his work was the Bible.
No opposing quotes found.