276 Edgar Allan Poe Invents the Detective Story | "The Purloined Letter"

The History of Literature

Jacke Wilson

History, Books, Arts

4.6 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 22 October 2020

⏱️ 77 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In 1965, the critic Joseph Wood Krutch studied the available evidence and came to a surprising conclusion. "Edgar Allan Poe," he wrote, "invented the detective story in order that he might not go mad." Arthur Conan Doyle, a man who knew a thing or two about detective stories, was quick to credit his boyhood hero with inspiring Sherlock Holmes and all the mysteries that came after. "Poe...was the father of the detective tale," he said, "and covered its limits so completely that I fail to see how his followers can find any fresh ground which they can confidently call their own...Where was the detective story until Poe breathed the breath of life into it?" In this episode, Jacke takes a look at Poe's detective M. Dupin, the structure of the Dupin stories, and considers the similarities between Dupin and Sherlock Holmes. Then Jacke reads "The Purloined Letter," the third and final (and perhaps best) of the Dupin stories. Help support the show at patreon.com/literature or historyofliterature.com/shop. (We appreciate it!) Find out more at historyofliterature.com, jackewilson.com, or by following Jacke and Mike on Twitter at @thejackewilson and @literatureSC. Or send an email to [email protected]. New!!! Looking for an easy to way to buy Jacke a coffee? Now you can at paypal.me/jackewilson. Your generosity is much appreciated! The History of Literature Podcast is a member of Lit Hub Radio and the Podglomerate Network. Learn more at www.thepodglomerate.com/historyofliterature. *** This show is a part of the Podglomerate network, a company that produces, distributes, and monetizes podcasts. We encourage you to visit the website and sign up for our newsletter for more information about our shows, launches, and events. For more information on how The Podglomerate treats data, please see our Privacy Policy. Since you're listening to The History of Literature, we'd like to suggest you also try other Podglomerate shows surrounding literature, history, and storytelling like Storybound, Micheaux Mission, and The History of Standup. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	The History of Literature Podcast is a member of the Podglamorate Network and LIT Hub Radio.
0:07.0	Hello. In 1965, a critic named Joseph Wood Crutch, studied the available evidence and came to a striking conclusion.
0:19.0	Edgar Alan Paul, he wrote, invented the detective story in order that he might not go mad.
0:26.7	Unfortunately it wasn't enough.
0:28.6	Madness would eventually overcome, Mr. Poe.
0:32.1	But perhaps it was forestalled by these tales of ratiocination, a word that
0:37.0	Poe invented. There is something sublimely spooky about the idea of this genius clinging to his acute mental
0:45.8	facilities aware of the dark shadows hovering over the bright candle of his
0:51.1	mind and using the best weapon he ever had, not the loyal support
0:56.0	of friends and family, not personal wealth or earthly powers, but the fleeting ephemeral power of his own ability to think.
1:06.3	How does one not go mad?
1:08.6	One looks for first principles, hard facts, logical truths. In order not to be insane, one shoots for hyper-sanity.
1:19.8	It's safe there. Kajito Ergo saying, I think logically and therefore I am saying.
1:27.0	Poe explored this theme of rational analysis for three intense years. He wrote three adventures of the
1:34.3	proto-Shirlockian-Perision detective, C Augusteupan. He wrote about a highly
1:40.0	rational search for buried treasure in the gold bug. Murders were solved in
1:45.4	thou art the man, even stories like a descent into the maelstrom and a tale of
1:50.4	the ragged mountains contained rational analysis. It was a phase Poe went through from
1:56.1	1841 to 1844, and it spawned a whole new genre of fiction. The classic tale of mystery, the detective story.
2:06.3	There's the reason why the mystery writers of America don't call their annual awards,
2:10.9	the best mystery or the best writer or the best mystery writer or the best mystery writer the best detective story
2:15.6	they call their awards simply the Edgers. The Du Pan stories are fascinating to
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