The Reason for the Darkness of the Night

The reason for the Darkness of the Night by John Tresch

https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R1YHOFT9J3V233?ref=pf_ov_at_pdctrvw_srp

I was surprised that I knew as little about Poe as it turned out. I knew some facts of Poe's life on a superficial level - the drinking, the underage wife, the drinking and general weirdness - but this book did a great job of putting the details in context, correcting some misimpressions, and adding some new details.

In theory, the book is framed around Poe's interest in science and technology. Tresch points out that Poe wrote several pieces involving scientific speculations of his time, including a hoax about a balloon flight across the Atlantic for his newspaper and articles about phrenology. Poe analyzed Maelzel's Turkish chess player hoax. The book starts with a discussion of Poe's 1848 lecture on Science and metaphysics.

Tresch explains that Poe had an early interest in astronomy. Poe also studied mathematics and engineering at West Point. He was at West Point for about a year before deciding that his interest were directed better toward literature. Prior to West Point, Poe had been in the army for a couple of years, making the rank of sergeant major - the highest rank for a non-commissioned officer. One of the frustrating things about Poe was how easily he achieved things and then threw them away out of indiscipline. This frustration grows when you realize that Poe would die at the age of 39 in 1848.

Poe's early life was filled with tragedy. His mother was an actress who died when Poe was an infant. He was adopted by a family that was a fan of Poe's mother, from whom he took the middle name of Allan. Poe was raised among wealth and high society, but he was the redheaded stepchild of the family and was never really treated as a son. Poe was often at odds with his adopted father, often about whether his father would pay his debts.

Despite the putative focus on Poe's scientific interests, this book offers a lot of interesting insights into Poe's writing and editing. Poe's genius spanned a range of genres. He may have invented mystery. He wrote horror. He was a genius as a poet with his “The Raven” (1844) recognized as a great work of poetry immediately. The Raven made Poe a household name from that time on.

Tresch also introduces the reader to the literary world of the first half of the nineteenth century. Unsurprisingly, the American literary scene was small and many writers knew each other. Like the blogging world, nothing drew readers like a grudge match. Poe was good at grudge matches, with a particularly nasty one that was directed at Henry Wordsworth Longfellow and the Boston writers as part of an effort to supplant Boston with New York. Poe seemed to come across in this episode, and in his other attacks on writers, as petty. On the other hand, it explains the interest that Poe had in pointing out examples of plagiarism in his review of other writers' books.

Another theme of the book involves the gradual professionalization of science. The hucksterism and hoaxes that were endemic during Poe's life - as seen in the newspaper articles that exploited the public's gullibility about trips to the moon or across the Atlantic by balloon. The small group of individuals with degrees and positions that allowed them to claim recognition and expertise formed groups, including the American Association for the Advancement of Science, with entrance rules that could vet papers and claims. From this humble beginning the mighty doctrine of “peer review” emerged to stifle non-PC science and permit the publication of woke nonsense (see the Sokal hoax), not to mention foster the problem of reproducibility that exists today.

But it was better than nothing.

Poe's marriage to his thirteen year old cousin when he was in his late twenties was considered odd at thet time but not entirely unheard of. Poe seemed to love her. Poe had other romantic interests in his life, but they were “age appropriate.” It is hard to not see Poe as a pedophile, but that doesn't seem to be the case. This is an area where we may have to accept that people in the past simply had different views than we do.

One thing that is the case is that Poe and his wife, and her mother, were often on the verge of starvation. Poe was able to find employment positions that would provide for his family, but he regularly screwed up his life by drinking. His employers would recognize his genius, but decide that life was too short to put up with Poe's undependability.

Poe's death is as mysterious as his best stories. In October 1848, Poe was traveling from Richmond to Philadelphia for a job. His ship stopped in Baltimore and he got off the ship. The next thing that is known is that Poe was found incoherent in a tavern/polling place - congressional elections were going on. Poe was able to identify himself and ask the pub to inform a friend. His clothes had been stolen. He was taken to a hospital where he died a few days later.

Poe may have died of rabies. He may have been the victim of a voting scam. He had not been drinking for months before his death.

This was an interesting book that illuminated the writer's life and his world.