The purloined letter

No cover — Edgar Allan Poe: The purloined letter (1931, Ulysses bookshop)

27 pages

English language

Published Nov. 11, 1931 by Ulysses bookshop.

OCLC Number:: 2872259

(2 reviews)

"The Purloined Letter" is a short story by American author Edgar Allan Poe. It is the third of his three detective stories featuring the fictional C. Auguste Dupin, the other two being "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" and "The Mystery of Marie Rogêt". These stories are considered to be important early forerunners of the modern detective story. It first appeared in the literary annual The Gift for 1845 (1844) and soon was reprinted in numerous journals and newspapers.

11 editions

LeRoy Miller reviewed The purloined letter by Edgar Allan Poe

Good story, I see a lot of Sherlock here.

4 stars

This was easier to read then I was expecting given it's age. Thou at times I did lose track of who was speaking. I think I've heard this story before, and if not - it reminded me a lot of how Sherlock works. If I didn't know that Poe wrote this, I would have thought it was a proto-Sherlock Holmes story. I was "forced" in high school to read a couple of Poe's short stories, and I never liked them. I'm sorry to say that experience turned me off reading any thing he wrote. Truly this was an error on my part, while I still find him hard to read, This story wasn't all that hard. I had a pretty good idea of where the letter was (or was going to be) - but perhaps that is because I think I have heard the story before (mistaking it for a …

This was easier to read then I was expecting given it's age. Thou at times I did lose track of who was speaking. I think I've heard this story before, and if not - it reminded me a lot of how Sherlock works. If I didn't know that Poe wrote this, I would have thought it was a proto-Sherlock Holmes story. I was "forced" in high school to read a couple of Poe's short stories, and I never liked them. I'm sorry to say that experience turned me off reading any thing he wrote. Truly this was an error on my part, while I still find him hard to read, This story wasn't all that hard. I had a pretty good idea of where the letter was (or was going to be) - but perhaps that is because I think I have heard the story before (mistaking it for a Sherlock story), or perhaps it is because I'm a fan of Sherlock and could just puzzle it out. Either way, this is a good proto-Sherlock story. (Without being a Sherlock Holmes story)

With all that - sometimes I did lose focus as to who was speaking. But for the most part this was better then I expected (as far as readability goes). And a story that I can see had a lot of influence for a number of others that followed.

LeRoy Miller reviewed The purloined letter by Edgar Allan Poe

Good story, I see a lot of Sherlock here.

4 stars

This was easier to read then I was expecting given it's age. Thou at times I did lose track of who was speaking. I think I've heard this story before, and if not - it reminded me a lot of how Sherlock works. If I didn't know that Poe wrote this, I would have thought it was a proto-Sherlock Holmes story. I was "forced" in high school to read a couple of Poe's short stories, and I never liked them. I'm sorry to say that experience turned me off reading any thing he wrote. Truly this was an error on my part, while I still find him hard to read, This story wasn't all that hard. I had a pretty good idea of where the letter was (or was going to be) - but perhaps that is because I think I have heard the story before (mistaking it for a …

This was easier to read then I was expecting given it's age. Thou at times I did lose track of who was speaking. I think I've heard this story before, and if not - it reminded me a lot of how Sherlock works. If I didn't know that Poe wrote this, I would have thought it was a proto-Sherlock Holmes story. I was "forced" in high school to read a couple of Poe's short stories, and I never liked them. I'm sorry to say that experience turned me off reading any thing he wrote. Truly this was an error on my part, while I still find him hard to read, This story wasn't all that hard. I had a pretty good idea of where the letter was (or was going to be) - but perhaps that is because I think I have heard the story before (mistaking it for a Sherlock story), or perhaps it is because I'm a fan of Sherlock and could just puzzle it out. Either way, this is a good proto-Sherlock story. (Without being a Sherlock Holmes story)

With all that - sometimes I did lose focus as to who was speaking. But for the most part this was better then I expected (as far as readability goes). And a story that I can see had a lot of influence for a number of others that followed.