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The Sphinx
"The Sphinx" is a short story written by Edgar Allan Poe about a man who decides to visit a relative living near the Hudson River north of New York City for two weeks during a cholera epidemic in the city. An outbreak occurred during the summer of 1832. One day during this visit, the man is reading a book near the window overlooking a scenic view of the Hudson River. His attention is focused upon the cholera epidemic nevertheless. When he glances up from the pages of his novel, the man sees a ghastly sight on a distant hill at the edge of the far side of the river--there is an enormous creature larger than any oceangoing ship climbing down the embankment!
Librarian's note: this entry is for the story, "The Sphinx." Collections of short stories by the author can be found elsewhere on Goodreads.
Librarian's note: this entry is for the story, "The Sphinx." Collections of short stories by the author can be found elsewhere on Goodreads.
6 pages
First published January 1, 1846
About the author
Edgar Allan Poe
9,663 books26.6k followersThe name Poe brings to mind images of murderers and madmen, premature burials, and mysterious women who return from the dead. His works have been in print since 1827 and include such literary classics as The Tell-Tale Heart, The Raven, and The Fall of the House of Usher. This versatile writer’s oeuvre includes short stories, poetry, a novel, a textbook, a book of scientific theory, and hundreds of essays and book reviews. He is widely acknowledged as the inventor of the modern detective story and an innovator in the science fiction genre, but he made his living as America’s first great literary critic and theoretician. Poe’s reputation today rests primarily on his tales of terror as well as on his haunting lyric poetry.
Just as the bizarre characters in Poe’s stories have captured the public imagination so too has Poe himself. He is seen as a morbid, mysterious figure lurking in the shadows of moonlit cemeteries or crumbling castles. This is the Poe of legend. But much of what we know about Poe is wrong, the product of a biography written by one of his enemies in an attempt to defame the author’s name.
The real Poe was born to traveling actors in Boston on January 19, 1809. Edgar was the second of three children. His other brother William Henry Leonard Poe would also become a poet before his early death, and Poe’s sister Rosalie Poe would grow up to teach penmanship at a Richmond girls’ school. Within three years of Poe’s birth both of his parents had died, and he was taken in by the wealthy tobacco merchant John Allan and his wife Frances Valentine Allan in Richmond, Virginia while Poe’s siblings went to live with other families. Mr. Allan would rear Poe to be a businessman and a Virginia gentleman, but Poe had dreams of being a writer in emulation of his childhood hero the British poet Lord Byron. Early poetic verses found written in a young Poe’s handwriting on the backs of Allan’s ledger sheets reveal how little interest Poe had in the tobacco business.
For more information, please see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_al...
Just as the bizarre characters in Poe’s stories have captured the public imagination so too has Poe himself. He is seen as a morbid, mysterious figure lurking in the shadows of moonlit cemeteries or crumbling castles. This is the Poe of legend. But much of what we know about Poe is wrong, the product of a biography written by one of his enemies in an attempt to defame the author’s name.
The real Poe was born to traveling actors in Boston on January 19, 1809. Edgar was the second of three children. His other brother William Henry Leonard Poe would also become a poet before his early death, and Poe’s sister Rosalie Poe would grow up to teach penmanship at a Richmond girls’ school. Within three years of Poe’s birth both of his parents had died, and he was taken in by the wealthy tobacco merchant John Allan and his wife Frances Valentine Allan in Richmond, Virginia while Poe’s siblings went to live with other families. Mr. Allan would rear Poe to be a businessman and a Virginia gentleman, but Poe had dreams of being a writer in emulation of his childhood hero the British poet Lord Byron. Early poetic verses found written in a young Poe’s handwriting on the backs of Allan’s ledger sheets reveal how little interest Poe had in the tobacco business.
For more information, please see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_al...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 158 reviews
February 13, 2022
أحدهم يختلق الاعذار ليبتعد و الاخر يختلق الوهم ليبقى
هناك ملايين يفضلون قراءة الطالع على:قراءة الكتب
فقوة الوهم كاسحة حتى أن هناك أناس سريعي التأثر قد يلقون حتفهم من مجرد :خيال
كو لكن لا ننسى ان ادجار يعشق"تجسيد الاوبئة"و في قصتنا نجد رجلين متناقضين هاربين الي بيت الغابة من وباء الكوليرا ؛أحدهما مثقف و الآخر :خفيف
و يظهر له فجأة مخلوق خرافي الهيئة يراه وحده
ولكن علينا دوما الا ننسى أنه لا يوجد حقيقة نتعامل معها كأنها الوهم بقدر :الموت
هناك ملايين يفضلون قراءة الطالع على:قراءة الكتب
فقوة الوهم كاسحة حتى أن هناك أناس سريعي التأثر قد يلقون حتفهم من مجرد :خيال
كو لكن لا ننسى ان ادجار يعشق"تجسيد الاوبئة"و في قصتنا نجد رجلين متناقضين هاربين الي بيت الغابة من وباء الكوليرا ؛أحدهما مثقف و الآخر :خفيف
و يظهر له فجأة مخلوق خرافي الهيئة يراه وحده
ولكن علينا دوما الا ننسى أنه لا يوجد حقيقة نتعامل معها كأنها الوهم بقدر :الموت
November 9, 2017
قصة اخرى للعبقري بو..
قصة قصيرة تحكي عن شئ محير في حياة أي إنسان، أجا هو الوهم الذي يصيبنا في أوقات كثيرة، نعجز عن فهم أشياء ونغلو في بعضها، ترتبك حسابتنا في ظل أسود فتبعث في نفوسنا الشتات والحيرة، نرسم أشياء وهمية ونتخيل أخرى ونعجز عن فهم بعض الحقائق الدامغة، لا يتعلق الأمر بأهلية العقل لأستقبال الأشياء في موضعها الصحيح، بل هي عميلة مخادعة للنفس نتقبلها بكل يسر، الوهم يحدث حين يصاب المرء بفقدان قياس ومقارنة الاشياء مع بعضها البعض ، هكذا يخبرنا بو.. حيث لا يعرف الشئ إلا بضده، ولا يمكن تمييز شئ دون وجود ما يقف في ضده .. قد نجعل من حدث صغير تافه في حياتنا إلى مشكلة أسطورية تجثو على صدورنا، تشقينا لسنوات عدة دون أن ندرك السبب حتى، دون أن نعي حجم الوهم الذي وقعنا فيه، وتكتفي المخيلة هنا لتضخيمه أكثر وإيصاله لرتبة قد نعجز الخروج من دائرتها التي تضيق مع الزمن وتتحرك بأتجاهنا بلا مبالاة .. الوهم هو مأزق لا نهائي يمكن أن يبتلع كل شيء في لحضات يسيرة ...
الوهم الأكبر هو الذي يجعلنا نتصور أننا لا نتوهم.. خدعة مزدوجة للعقل تُعمي الكثير من البصائر وتبعد الحقيقة أحياناً لمسافات شاسعة جداً الأمر الذي لا يحتاج سوى لألتفاتة واحدة ندرك معها أصل ذلك الوهم...
قصة قصيرة جداً ،صياغتها ذكية وأجوائها رائعة جداً..
قصة قصيرة تحكي عن شئ محير في حياة أي إنسان، أجا هو الوهم الذي يصيبنا في أوقات كثيرة، نعجز عن فهم أشياء ونغلو في بعضها، ترتبك حسابتنا في ظل أسود فتبعث في نفوسنا الشتات والحيرة، نرسم أشياء وهمية ونتخيل أخرى ونعجز عن فهم بعض الحقائق الدامغة، لا يتعلق الأمر بأهلية العقل لأستقبال الأشياء في موضعها الصحيح، بل هي عميلة مخادعة للنفس نتقبلها بكل يسر، الوهم يحدث حين يصاب المرء بفقدان قياس ومقارنة الاشياء مع بعضها البعض ، هكذا يخبرنا بو.. حيث لا يعرف الشئ إلا بضده، ولا يمكن تمييز شئ دون وجود ما يقف في ضده .. قد نجعل من حدث صغير تافه في حياتنا إلى مشكلة أسطورية تجثو على صدورنا، تشقينا لسنوات عدة دون أن ندرك السبب حتى، دون أن نعي حجم الوهم الذي وقعنا فيه، وتكتفي المخيلة هنا لتضخيمه أكثر وإيصاله لرتبة قد نعجز الخروج من دائرتها التي تضيق مع الزمن وتتحرك بأتجاهنا بلا مبالاة .. الوهم هو مأزق لا نهائي يمكن أن يبتلع كل شيء في لحضات يسيرة ...
الوهم الأكبر هو الذي يجعلنا نتصور أننا لا نتوهم.. خدعة مزدوجة للعقل تُعمي الكثير من البصائر وتبعد الحقيقة أحياناً لمسافات شاسعة جداً الأمر الذي لا يحتاج سوى لألتفاتة واحدة ندرك معها أصل ذلك الوهم...
قصة قصيرة جداً ،صياغتها ذكية وأجوائها رائعة جداً..
July 3, 2023
Dos amigos se encuentran aislados en una villa mientras hay una epidemia de cólera en la ciudad.
En un momento dado, uno de los dos tiene la visión de un enorme animal bajando de una colina.
Relato corto de Poe.
-------------------------
Two friends find themselves isolated in a village while there is a cholera epidemic in the city.
At one point, one of the two has a vision of a huge animal coming down a hill.
Short story by Poe.
En un momento dado, uno de los dos tiene la visión de un enorme animal bajando de una colina.
Relato corto de Poe.
-------------------------
Two friends find themselves isolated in a village while there is a cholera epidemic in the city.
At one point, one of the two has a vision of a huge animal coming down a hill.
Short story by Poe.
December 6, 2023
- قصة قصيرة جداً، تدور احداثها في بيت على ضفة نهر الهدسن. جو القصة كئيب مطعّم بالكوليرا والموت، روائح العزلة تنتشر في الشخصين الوحيدين في هذا الكوخ مما يؤدي الى الوهم، وهم تخيل حيوان كبير مفترض يعود "بو" لشرح ماهيته بطريقة فكاهية ومضحكة.
- قد تتعدى القصة الملموس منها وتكون رمزية، يمكن للسفينكس (وهو وحش اسطوري يوناني) ان يكون عبارة عن الوهم الكبير الذي يمكن ان يصيب الإنسان فيجثو على صدره واذا ما استفاق من وهمه وجده عنكبوت صغير.
- النهاية مبتورة بتراً، كانت تحتمل الإطالة قليلاً
- قد تتعدى القصة الملموس منها وتكون رمزية، يمكن للسفينكس (وهو وحش اسطوري يوناني) ان يكون عبارة عن الوهم الكبير الذي يمكن ان يصيب الإنسان فيجثو على صدره واذا ما استفاق من وهمه وجده عنكبوت صغير.
- النهاية مبتورة بتراً، كانت تحتمل الإطالة قليلاً
November 16, 2016
A threat of cholera, an atmosphere of gloom and a large hideous creature moving hurriedly from the summit to the dense forest below make for a very creepy and surprising read.
POE once again shows diversity with his writing in THE SPHINX.
October 14, 2021
A humorous story of one man’s overactive imagination, or perhaps even paranoia could be a better term.
June 23, 2021
#14/148
Are you kidding me, Poe?
How do you even manage to write so brilliantly in just 6 odd pages?
The times of cholera, depression and a ghastly view.
What can I say? I love depressing stuff and Poe wrote it wonderfully as always.
Are you kidding me, Poe?
How do you even manage to write so brilliantly in just 6 odd pages?
The times of cholera, depression and a ghastly view.
What can I say? I love depressing stuff and Poe wrote it wonderfully as always.
April 4, 2016
One of the few dependable comforts is snuggling into bed with my tome of Poe tales. While this is short, there is a a clever use of distraction to trick the reader as the horror unfolds. There was an uncanny feeling of having read this, but I think that is because the beginning reminded me so very much of "La Rue Morgue", albeit nineteenth century New York.
Not the best or most diverting, but enough to bring a moment of pleasure.
Not the best or most diverting, but enough to bring a moment of pleasure.
March 5, 2015
The story is something that you won't believe at all, but you will believe all the same that's the paradox of story.
APOCALYPSE!
APOCALYPSE!
October 3, 2021
Get ready for a surprise.
August 5, 2017
It's official: Edgar Allan Poe is one of my favorite writers, and from now on, I'm an ardent follower of the Edgar Awards.
I was reading and relishing in Poe's fast-paced build up towards what I expected to be scare and climax—the sphinx monster descending and ascending a nearby hill kept me anticipating a gruesome attack. In the end, however, there is only a sudden slump, deflation and defeat! It was only something else!
I like how the rational relative seems like a late Victorian version of Odysseus. He does solve the riddle in the end.
I was reading and relishing in Poe's fast-paced build up towards what I expected to be scare and climax—the sphinx monster descending and ascending a nearby hill kept me anticipating a gruesome attack. In the end, however, there is only a sudden slump, deflation and defeat! It was only something else!
I like how the rational relative seems like a late Victorian version of Odysseus. He does solve the riddle in the end.
July 8, 2023
3 Stars. It's a time of cholera. The disease, now easily treated, is bacterial in nature and causes uncontrollable diarrhea. It spreads through contaminated water and food. In the summer of 1832 over 3,000 people died of it in New York City. The narrator in "The Sphinx" was one of over 100,000, close to half of the population, who fled to safer surroundings in the country. He descended on his relative's summer home along the Hudson River in upstate New York for two weeks. Poe's story surfaced in "Arthur's Ladies Magazine" in 1846; I read its 4 pages in "The Penguin Complete Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe" of 1982 and reissued in 2011. At first the narrator's stay is idyllic - boating, fishing, swimming, reading and enjoyable conversations with family. One day something happened which appalled him, and bewildered him too. Late in the afternoon, he glanced up from his book towards a hill across the river. A landslide had occurred, and he saw a beast of immense proportions clambering down the naked face of the hill toward the immense river. He describes it meticulously. His relative doesn't seem as concerned. It's a time of horror. (February 2021)
February 16, 2016
من الاخر كده
متاخدش بالمظاهر :)
متاخدش بالمظاهر :)
April 10, 2016
Oh, Poe! What a fun little story!
January 31, 2021
Puanım 4/5 (%76/100)
Tek oturuşta bitirebilecek oldukça akıcı bir kitap. İsmi Sfenks olsa da onun dışında 4 hikaye daha var. Genel olarak hepsini beğenmiş olsam da ilk okuduğumdan beri favorim olan Kızıl Ölümün Maskesi'ni seçmeden edemeyeceğim. Farklı bir tane seç derseniz de Kara Kedi diyebilirim. Size kısa çok spoiler vermeden hikayelerden bahsedeyim.
1)Oval Portre: Kitaptaki en kısa hikaye olmasına rağmen sonu en güzel olan olabilir. Okurken bana Dorian Gray'in Portresi ve Browning'in "Son Düşesim" şiirini hatırlattı. Hikaye içinde hikaye anlatılıyor.
2)Kızıl Ölümün Maskesi: Herkesin bildiğini düşündüğüm bir hikaye. Bir ülke Kızıl Ölüm adlı bir vebadan kasıp kavrulur fakat bir lord maskeli balo yapmaya karar verir. Fakat bu sıradan bir balo olmayacaktır.
3)Kara Kedi: En rahatsız edici ve gerilim dolu hikayeydi bence. Hikayeyi anlatan kişi Gammaz Yürek'teki anlatıcıya çok benziyor. Çok güzeldi.
4)Kuyu ve Sarkaç: Tarihi özellikler taşıyan ilginç bir hikayeydi. Güzel fakat diğerleri kadar beğenmedim. İspanyol Engizisyonu ve Fransa ile alakalı.
5)Sfenks: Kitaba ismini veren hikaye olmasına rağmen bunu da diğerleri kadar beğenmedim. Yine de mitolojik bir karakteri bir korku hikayesinde görmek güzeldi.
Tek oturuşta bitirebilecek oldukça akıcı bir kitap. İsmi Sfenks olsa da onun dışında 4 hikaye daha var. Genel olarak hepsini beğenmiş olsam da ilk okuduğumdan beri favorim olan Kızıl Ölümün Maskesi'ni seçmeden edemeyeceğim. Farklı bir tane seç derseniz de Kara Kedi diyebilirim. Size kısa çok spoiler vermeden hikayelerden bahsedeyim.
1)Oval Portre: Kitaptaki en kısa hikaye olmasına rağmen sonu en güzel olan olabilir. Okurken bana Dorian Gray'in Portresi ve Browning'in "Son Düşesim" şiirini hatırlattı. Hikaye içinde hikaye anlatılıyor.
2)Kızıl Ölümün Maskesi: Herkesin bildiğini düşündüğüm bir hikaye. Bir ülke Kızıl Ölüm adlı bir vebadan kasıp kavrulur fakat bir lord maskeli balo yapmaya karar verir. Fakat bu sıradan bir balo olmayacaktır.
3)Kara Kedi: En rahatsız edici ve gerilim dolu hikayeydi bence. Hikayeyi anlatan kişi Gammaz Yürek'teki anlatıcıya çok benziyor. Çok güzeldi.
4)Kuyu ve Sarkaç: Tarihi özellikler taşıyan ilginç bir hikayeydi. Güzel fakat diğerleri kadar beğenmedim. İspanyol Engizisyonu ve Fransa ile alakalı.
5)Sfenks: Kitaba ismini veren hikaye olmasına rağmen bunu da diğerleri kadar beğenmedim. Yine de mitolojik bir karakteri bir korku hikayesinde görmek güzeldi.
December 21, 2015
Dacă scopul prozei a fost umorul, Poe a eşuat...
November 24, 2018
Espeluznante relato corto que describe uno de mis mayores miedos: insectos gigantes,...
Increíble Poe. Tiene una gran capacidad de escribir relatos de miedo sin repetir temas.
Increíble Poe. Tiene una gran capacidad de escribir relatos de miedo sin repetir temas.
July 24, 2016
This is an okay short read, but it isn’t anything overly wonderful.
With a little bit of creepiness, followed by humour, you’re given much more in this story than my two stars would have you believing. Truthfully, the two stars comes from the fact I felt it should have been slightly longer. The story was told in the few pages, but I feel as though it could have been better told had a little bit more gone into it.
Nevertheless, it was a fun quick read.
With a little bit of creepiness, followed by humour, you’re given much more in this story than my two stars would have you believing. Truthfully, the two stars comes from the fact I felt it should have been slightly longer. The story was told in the few pages, but I feel as though it could have been better told had a little bit more gone into it.
Nevertheless, it was a fun quick read.
December 10, 2020
An excellent story that depicts the effects of how one's fear of impending death can effect their psyche and mental perceptions. Poe's themes in the story of death by disease and the narrator's belief in superstitious omens adds a lurking aura of gloomy suspense.
December 15, 2014
I actually googled the sphinx in the book before i finished it and thought to myself hmm poe you need to get your facts straight but then I was the one who was wrong
October 9, 2020
Confesiones de un tomador de opio.
Un típico caso de lo que el consumo excesivo de opio puede generar en las personas. Y Poe sabía mucho de esto. La Esfinge demuestra el paroxismo que generan sus efectos ya que era adicto al opio y a otras sustancias.
El famoso daguerrotipo de Poe de 1848 está tomado después de su intento de suicidio, ingiriendo 30 gramos de láudano que por suerte vomito y le permitió seguir con vida.
Un típico caso de lo que el consumo excesivo de opio puede generar en las personas. Y Poe sabía mucho de esto. La Esfinge demuestra el paroxismo que generan sus efectos ya que era adicto al opio y a otras sustancias.
El famoso daguerrotipo de Poe de 1848 está tomado después de su intento de suicidio, ingiriendo 30 gramos de láudano que por suerte vomito y le permitió seguir con vida.
January 7, 2014
After reading so many works by Poe,this one seems a bit dull. We feel something big is going to happen next second,he keeps on building,and in the end we find that it's all for nothing. The description of sphinx was good but then we find that it's the narrator's imagination that assumes a sphinx out of an insect. It wasn't an enjoyable read.
October 17, 2017
Clever bait and switch.
January 6, 2016
Creo que a mi querido señor Poe le encanta confundir a los lectores un poco, antes de soltar la bomba y boomm llega tan fuerte que te sorprende muchísimo, hay veces en las que no logro comprenderlo del todo puesto que tiene pensamientos super profundos, pero me encanta la forma en la que usa cosas un tanto extrañas que pueden resultar hasta terroríficas para expresar sus ideas, es algo único. <3
September 22, 2012
THE SPHINX!!
One has to admit, . This book also shows me just more proof as to how good a story-teller in the way of description Poe was. Not even I with my best cynicism could predict the ending to this one!!
One has to admit, . This book also shows me just more proof as to how good a story-teller in the way of description Poe was. Not even I with my best cynicism could predict the ending to this one!!
April 4, 2017
This is a very well done short story about a man afraid of death, and how his fear is palpably manifested until he's not really living at all.
June 5, 2019
I have arranged my takeaway thoughts on this short story into a haiku:
"One tends to forget
How their perception is skewed
By their obsessions."
"One tends to forget
How their perception is skewed
By their obsessions."
November 20, 2021
Bütün Hikâyeleri'ni okurken de sevdiklerim arasında olan Oval Portre ve Kara Kedi hikayelerini de bünyesinde barındıran, bir solukta okunan nefis eser.
İçerikteki hikaye listesi şöyle: Oval Portre, Kızıl Ölümün Maskesi, Kara Kedi, Kuyu ve Sarkaç, Sfenks
Bu kitapta Kuyu ve Sarkaç'ın derinliğine daldım. Zındanı ve ölümü iliklerime kadar hissettim diyebilirim. O yüzdne 5 yıldız!
İçerikteki hikaye listesi şöyle: Oval Portre, Kızıl Ölümün Maskesi, Kara Kedi, Kuyu ve Sarkaç, Sfenks
Bu kitapta Kuyu ve Sarkaç'ın derinliğine daldım. Zındanı ve ölümü iliklerime kadar hissettim diyebilirim. O yüzdne 5 yıldız!
August 19, 2022
احداث القصه تدور عند نهر الهدسن الرياح تحمل الموت والكوليرا
مترجمه تحت عنوان الحيوان الغريب
مترجمه تحت عنوان الحيوان الغريب
May 28, 2022
If I read another fanboy's review calling Poe's passages "Lovecraftian" or even "proto-Lovecraftian", I SWEAR TO GOD! All due respect, etc but the former is inaccurate chronologically and the latter indicates a perspective that is askew.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 158 reviews