Edgar Poe's short story The Fall of the Asher House, a summary of the chapters of which we will consider, was written in 1839. The work of this universal writer includes short stories, poems, a novel, a textbook, a book of scientific theory, as well as hundreds of articles and reviews. Now he is widely recognized as the creator of a modern detective story and an innovator in the genre of science fiction, but he earned his living as the first great literary critic and theorist in America.
Unbearable melancholy
A childhood friend on a dull autumn day, at the invitation of Roderick Asher, drives up to the master’s birth castle. He rode on a gloomy desert area. When the narrator approached the castle, he saw a desolate lonely house with gloomy walls and broken windows. On one of the walls there was a barely visible crack from the roof along the entire wall of the building. The house and the surrounding landscape for unknown reasons caused a feeling of horror. In the atmosphere of mysterious fear, the story “The Fall of the Asher House” begins, a brief summary of which we begin to expound.
Friends meeting
Through the gothic entrance, the guest entered the building. He was led along the dark winding corridors to Roderick's room. A gloomy hopelessness shrouded everything in her: dilapidated, uncomfortable antique furniture, scattered books and musical instruments, light that did not fall into the corners of the room.
Everything was sad. Asher, exhausted to the last degree, got up from the sofa, and the narrator was shocked by the changes that had happened to his friend. Roderick was ghostly pale, and his eyes gleamed moistly. Silky, long-cropped hair framed the face with light strands. The movements were impulsive and convulsive. He quickly moved from excitement to despondency. His
voice was trembling. Roderick was expecting him to die soon from a hereditary disease. He was depressed by the very expectation. He told a friend that his sister Magdalene was about to die. It is unlikely that she will live for several days. She refuses to go to bed and walks around the castle. Then a very thin, translucent lady Magdalene entered the room like a ghost and, without even noticing the guest, silently went about her business. Brother, covering his face with thin hands, cried. In the atmosphere of woeful longing, from which the heart was contracting, the first meeting of friends took place. The story of the difficult spiritual condition of Roderick is the essence of the story "The Fall of the House of Asher." The summary cannot reflect the fullness of the experiences of the last representative of the House.
Classes of Roderick and his guest
Cheering Roderick was impossible. Friends often read together, sometimes Asher improvised on the guitar, making gloomy mournful sounds. It was in these classes that days passed. They did not go anywhere outside the house. From the story it is clear that the fall of the house of Asher will be natural. The summary leads to the conclusion that brother and sister are not viable. They are both doomed.
Death of Lady Magdalene
Roderick was very fond of reading the ancient book Vigil on the Dead. Her joyless and gloomy rites evoked deep sadness. Late in the evening, Roderick brought his friend the news that Lady Magdalene had died, and he wanted to temporarily put her body in a crypt in the basement of the house for two weeks. The body of the deceased was laid in a coffin and carried by friends deep into the basement. The heavy crypt doors closed behind her. Such a continuation is the novel "The Fall of the House of Asher." The summary below will show the tragic outcome that Lady Magdalene's burial will have.
Monstrous storm
Throughout a week filled with sadness and fear, Roderick could not do his usual business. He wandered from room to room. Horror was constantly heard in his voice. His face became even more earthy, and he seemed to be expecting something terrible. The nightmare “The Fall of the House of Asher”, the content of which is approaching a heartbreaking, catastrophic end, will be a nightmare.
At night, a storm that instilled fear in friends broke out. They could not sleep and began to read a chivalry story. But every time a sound was described in the novel, it immediately echoed in the room with a quiet ominous echo. The blood froze in Roderick's veins, and he seemed to be stiff. Finally, he managed to say a few words: “We buried her alive. I knew about this more than one day. " At that moment, the ancient door swung open. On the threshold of the shroud stood Lady Magdalene.
She fell on her brother’s chest, and they instantly died. Our narrator rushed from the hellish house. Looking back at him for the last time, he saw that the thin crack had widened, and the powerful walls rattled into ruins. Over them shone a full blood-red moon. This concludes the story "The Fall of the House of Asher." Summary - briefs, read in 3 minutes. The feeling of intense fear, which comes to depression, causes the full version of this short, 4-sheet short story.
What do readers think
The book “The Fall of the Asher House” causes a storm of emotions. The content and reader reviews are almost unanimous - this is a modern, classic piece that meets our time. The content of the story is exciting fear. In the work, everything is immersed in mysticism. The gloomy charms of this story, dark thoughts, subtle psychologism cannot be resisted. The short story is read in one breath. From the very beginning, anxiety is felt, which intensifies as the plot develops. Many note the abundance of various epithets that the author uses to describe the house and its surroundings. Some readers after this story sleep with light all night. Others experience the effect of a split personality. A premonition of a tragic denouement makes the story scary.
Readers Delight
A magnificent plot, according to other readers, whose intrigue captures from the very beginning. Edgar Allan Poe created an atmosphere of fear that keeps you tense while reading. The situation is brought to destructive insane horror. The finale leaves no one indifferent. The end of the story is simply stunning. There is not a single negative review, although the book was written more than 70 years ago. The words “horror” and “fear” are repeated by every reader. Everyone recommends that you familiarize yourself with its full content, to imbue its atmosphere, to experience all the emotions that the author conveyed.