Classics Narrated

Anticipating the concept of "frenemy," Poe gives us vanity, self-righteousness, and terrible cruelty in revenge, as stone-hearted Montresor lures credulous Fortunato to his doom.

NOT recommended for children; Edgar Allan Poe's tale of increasing evil, alcoholism, and murder may haunt the listener as the cat haunted the protagonist.

Moving from Adventures of Tom Sawyer, to one of the more appalling stories of Edgar Allan Poe calls for some word of explanation. First, be assured I have little or nothing in common with the protagonist. I loved my little black cat, and stumbled over this story waiting for software to download. It was her memory that drew me to it. I would never raise my hand to my spouse, and am rigorously moderate about alcohol.

Why, then, offer this?

First, it moved me with the everyday quality of the protagonist's moral decay, and seemed to prefigure such characters as Highsmith's Ripley, or Lindsay's Dexter Morgan. Also, at least two of Poe's stories, The Tell-Tale Heart, and The Cask of Amontillado have been widely anthologized, but this was new to me, and very disturbing.

Also, I hope to keep listener interest by varying the type and tenor of these twice-told tales, to help keep them alive: some of them smiling in memory, and others scratching softly at a door we don't want to open.

 

Tom learns how Injun Joe died, he and Huck search for treasure, and adjust to "respectability."

 

Lost in gloom, almost without food, the only person Tom and Becky see after wandering many hours in the trackless cavern means death. Leaving the exhausted Becky, Tom at last sees sunlight through a passage to safety.

The Thatchers return, so Becky and Tom with a large group go on a picnic and cave exploration. Huck spies on dangerous men and averts an attack against an innocent woman. The day following the picnic, Tom and Becky are missing!

Tom & Huck set out to find treasure, first by digging, then looking into a haunted house, which holds danger and loot. What follows tests their courage still more...

Tom "reforms" for the sake of a gaudy uniform, falls ill for weeks, and returns to old habits with his chums. Muff Potter's trial approaches, Tom's testimony could keep him alive and free, but at risk of his own life from vengeful, violent Injun Joe.