A strange Poe novel might be just the right book for today's weird times
Rezek, who teaches at Boston University, says that when he first encountered 'Pym' while preparing for his doctoral exams he was 'confused and alarmed by the whole thing! I knew Poe, obviously, for his stories and poems, but as a novel, I just thought, 'Why did he write it? What was he thinking?'' The bafflement is part of the project, adds Wolff, an associate professor in the English department at Tufts. 'I think part of the idea of the series is that it's fun for people to encounter a text that causes some disequilibrium, kind of confuses you.'
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Poe was born in Boston and published his first poetry as simply 'a Bostonian,' forgoing even a pen name. But as both Rezek and Wolff point out, he was primarily a Southern writer, steeped in the racism of antebellum Richmond, where he was raised. 'Poe is one of those where you teach him, you have to reckon with that,' says Rezek. 'His politics don't make you feel good as a modern person.' And yet, Wolff adds, Poe's work in Pym is also 'a kind of window into the antebellum mindset and how much the nation was either grappling with or desperately trying to avoid the question of race and racial difference in slavery.'
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Both scholars point to Toni Morrison's '
19th century literature helps explain both the past and the present, Rezek says. 'And just understanding America more deeply is an urgent project now.'
'You can read it as really richly and interestingly and provocatively illustrative of some key anxieties and concerns of the Antebellum period,' Adds Wolff. 'But also, he's just a really fun writer who was a master of sensation and of horror and of suspense. I mean, it is a terrifying, gross, kind of funny, strange adventure tale.'
Nathan Wolff and Joseph Rezek will speak at 7 p.m. Monday, July 28, at
.
And now for some recommendations ...
'
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Another timely collection is Rax King's '
been human
— this book will speak to you.
'
them
.
Kate Tuttle edits the Globe's books section.
Kate Tuttle, a freelance writer and critic, can be reached at
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