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Title: The Gold Bug

Author: Edgar Allan Poe

Narrator: Mark F. Smith

Format: Unabridged

Length: 1 hr and 36 mins

Language: English

Release date: 03-19-13

Publisher: Spoken Realms

Genres: Classics, American Literature

Publisher's Summary:

A breathtaking piece of luck, coupled with an unlikely coincidence, secured by a piercing intellect and curious nature, lead three friends to believe they might possibly uncover pirate gold! With all the insight and reasoning of a Sherlock Holmes, Poe's William Legrand plucks faint clues seemingly from mid-air and carefully arrives at a conclusion of exactly where in the world to dig.Has he reasoned - and guessed - correctly? Or, will the only gold he sees be the color of his eponymous beetle?

Members Reviews:

The Gold-Bug and Other Tales

With Edgar Allen Poe, the subjects of death and decay are never long for which to wait; not particularly pleasant topics.

And yet, no one else (in my opinion), handles these topics so deliciously! The title of this collection is The Gold-Bug and Other Tales, and it's the 'other tales' which are my favorites.

I've always viewed Masque of the Red Death as prescient of the Ebola virus; however what this story is truly about is the futile attempt of an unnamed noble, and his entourage to escape the inevitability of death. They hole themselves up in the noble's castle, surrounding themselves with their opulence, rich food and wine and other amusements. Their attempt is to shut themselves off from a plague which is ravaging the countryside. Ironically, Poe was critiqued in his early writings of not demonstrating a cognizance of what was happening in society and the politics of the time. Yet here is Poe, recognizing the futility of the upper classes, (of which he was a member), in trying to escape the horrors of life with which people of the lower classes (such as slaves of his time), had to cope. Held to have been a racist and pro-slavery, he clearly seems to have recognized the plague sweeping the US,(slavery),and the inevitable impact it would have on the white upper classes. Whether one chooses to view this story as a metaphor for slave uprisings and the threat to the white upper class, or as a spark of conscience illustrating the retribution due a society, when those in power attempt to separate themselves from, and propagate the sufferings of those who are subjugated, the story is an entertaining and haunting read.

The subject of conscience for misdeeds is further explored in The Tell Tale Heart, in which the narrator can't escape the 'lub-dub' of the beating heart which the narrator hid under the floor boards, after a committed murder.

In Cask of Amontillado, it is the jingling of the bells on the hat of the hapless wine trader as he is buried behind a wall. The description of guilt and its total consumption of the guilty has never been so aptly described!

I would recommend this collection to anyone who is interested in descriptive writing, Literature classes, and those who love gothic macabre.

Great book at a great price

Great book at a great price! I am passing through Charleston, SC soon and remembered that one of my childhood favorites "The Gold Bug" takes place on nearby Sullivan's Island. I thought it would be neat to reread this story and visit Sullivan's Island, which has become somewhat of a monument to Edgar Allan Poe. I look forward to checking out Poe's Cafe.

Awesome for a little book

Ok ok I will say the N word is used in this book making it a little cringe worthy, however one must remember the era in which it was written. Fabulous story. I had never read a Poe story thinking they were lame.