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Madeline: After the Fall of Usher
Returns to the infamous House of Usher, years after author Edgar Allen Poe meets the granddaughter of the real Madeline Usher, to uncover a dark secret as twisted as the cursed house itself. Reprint.
416 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1996
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
April 7, 2013
Ok, so I am still currently reading this book.....but I LOVE IT SO FAR!!!
First of all, one thing that you should know about me, is that I am a HUGE Edgar A. Poe fan. My students would tell you that I am obsessed with him. So, naturally I like to read anything associated with him. My review is obviously going to be biased :)
My favorite story that Poe has written happens to be The Fall of the House of Usher. For those of you who do not know the story....Madeline and Roderick Usher are the last of this ancient house. They are twins, and this family is known for their incestual relationships. Cousins marry cousins, 1/2 brothers marry 1/2 sisters....and so on. Due to the the children being born from incestual relationships, there are some unfortunate wierd illness being past down through the family. Everything about this family/house is creepy and wierd. Roderick ends up burying Madeline alive in the family crypt within the house. Whether it was intentional or not....that is up for debate and depends on the reader's perception. Madeline escapes her stone tomb only to fall upon Roderick, and the house comes tumbling down on top of them. Our perception is...they are both dead. Right? I mean "The Fall of the House Of Usher", not only did the gothic mansion collapse upon them, but the line ended with them. Such AMAZING gothic story.
Anywho..... so Marie Kiraly takes this masterpiece 0f Poe's and adds a twist. What if Madeline didn't die when the house collapsed? Interesting thought...right? I am LOVING this book. This author has taken one of my all time favorite stories and added a different perception. LOVE it!!! I will add to this later when I actually finish this book (100 pages left). Who knows? Maybe I'll be singing a different tune when I see how this ends :)
Ok, I finished the book. It wasvery good, but I felt the ending could have been better. So, I will have to change the rating from 5 stars to 4 stars. Still worth the read though ;)
First of all, one thing that you should know about me, is that I am a HUGE Edgar A. Poe fan. My students would tell you that I am obsessed with him. So, naturally I like to read anything associated with him. My review is obviously going to be biased :)
My favorite story that Poe has written happens to be The Fall of the House of Usher. For those of you who do not know the story....Madeline and Roderick Usher are the last of this ancient house. They are twins, and this family is known for their incestual relationships. Cousins marry cousins, 1/2 brothers marry 1/2 sisters....and so on. Due to the the children being born from incestual relationships, there are some unfortunate wierd illness being past down through the family. Everything about this family/house is creepy and wierd. Roderick ends up burying Madeline alive in the family crypt within the house. Whether it was intentional or not....that is up for debate and depends on the reader's perception. Madeline escapes her stone tomb only to fall upon Roderick, and the house comes tumbling down on top of them. Our perception is...they are both dead. Right? I mean "The Fall of the House Of Usher", not only did the gothic mansion collapse upon them, but the line ended with them. Such AMAZING gothic story.
Anywho..... so Marie Kiraly takes this masterpiece 0f Poe's and adds a twist. What if Madeline didn't die when the house collapsed? Interesting thought...right? I am LOVING this book. This author has taken one of my all time favorite stories and added a different perception. LOVE it!!! I will add to this later when I actually finish this book (100 pages left). Who knows? Maybe I'll be singing a different tune when I see how this ends :)
Ok, I finished the book. It wasvery good, but I felt the ending could have been better. So, I will have to change the rating from 5 stars to 4 stars. Still worth the read though ;)
February 29, 2016
This is pretty twisted, like Poe, and a must read for E.A. Poe fans!
February 14, 2012
I thought this book was great - moody, gothic, and insightful. One of the main characters was Poe, himself, and the novel provided a lot of insights into Poe’s tragic life. The atmosphere of the book invoked Poe’s tales – I need to reread “The Fall of the House of Usher” which this book expands upon. When I first started reading the book, it was a little hard to get into but as it continues, you are really drawn into the strange story of the Ushers and their extended family. The Celtic aspects of the Usher history were fascinating and the story presentation in the 19th century was well done. The book was a little overly descriptive and some parts of the storyline could have been eliminated but overall, I found this to be very entertaining.
March 10, 2008
Wow - quite a disturbing/disturbed book! (Not that that was a surprise.) Quite a story and quite some characters, but "heroine" rather too inconstant to appeal.
February 1, 2009
Ever wonder what happened to Madeline Usher? This tale by Kiraly weaves the life of Edgar Allan Poe into the life of his characters from The Fall of the House of Usher.
January 25, 2013
I really liked this book, if you admire Poe and liked "The Fall of the House of Usher"; you should find this an interesting read.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews