Pronunciation of Amontillado

How do you pronounce amontillado?  Turns out that it is, in fact, a Spanish word despite the fact that Poe uses Italian characters in his story.  So, if you want to remain true to the origins of the word you should pronounce it the way you would any Spanish word.

Short Story Reviews a Great Blogging Idea

If you like to read stories like "The Cask of Amontillado" then perhaps blogging about those stories would be a good idea.  Everyone has an opinion and sharing those opinions about popular topics is always a good source for blogging fodder.

Montresor in the Amontillado

Montresor is just plain evil.  Yes there are those who would argue that he had some other motive, but the bottom line is that Montresor is evil.  If he really had a beef with Fortunato he should have just talked out his problem and settled it according to the law.  There was no reason for him to go out and commit a cold-blooded murder.  They could have sat down and solved their problems over a cup of wine - perhaps even Amontillado and then nobody would have been dead and he wouldn't be sitting there fifty years later remembering the most horrible event in his life.

Fortunato in The Cask of Amontillado

Was there ever a more unlucky soul than Fortunato?  This poor devil ended up locked up in some catacombs for something he probably didn't even know that he did.  Montresor never showed that he was upset, so how on earth could he apologize?  Have you ever done something a little questionable and then thought to yourself, well if he looks upset then I will make it up to him only to have the person say it didn't really bother them.  What are you supposed to do?  Apologize for something that doesn't even bother them?

I am sure Fortunato would have made ammends but no - instead he is dead.

Suspense by Poe

Poe is internationally recognized as a master of suspense.  This article analyzes suspense in a way that is helpful to understand the mechanics used by the author.  So often we don't take the time to think about how things are done, though of course it is fun just to be entertained.

Suspense is one of those devices that can be easily messed up if it is done wrong, as we have all seen in so many low budget "B" movies or in second rate dime novels.  Poe, on the other hand did it very well and inspired many other great masters like Hitchcock.

Summary of the Cask of Amontillado

Short story summaries can be a great blogging idea if you do it correctly.  This summary of "The Cask of Amontillado" is a good example of what I am talking about.  The entire site is dedicated to just one story, which has its own risks and rewards.  If the story is popular enough then you are likely to see some traffic.  On the other hand, if it isn't a popular story you are stuck - so choose carefully.

If you choose to do multiple stories then you run the risk of google not being able to decide exactly what your site is about and ending up with multiple 0 rank pages.

Hats

Most all of us have a hat or two lying around the house, but I know that there are some of you out there who really, really like your hats.

You have hats the like of which most of us never imagine. You have hats for each day of the week. You have a hat for each holiday and a hat for each birthday. And if you don't have one of these hats you wish you did.

Maybe you know more about hats than anyone you know. Maybe you know how to make hats. Maybe you have lots of pictures of hats from different times.

Share what you know with the rest of us. Tell us about your hats. Tell us what you like and don't like. Where do you shop? How do you know if a hat is a good hat or a bad hat? How do you make a hat? What is the proper name for each kind of hat? Share a picture of your favorite hat with us.