[SonOfDarkSkies]

Poe is certainly one of my favorites...read every story and poem over and over again. But I always thought of him as more of a short story writer than a novelist. On top of that, Poe's stuff was thematic and did not seek to capture the American experience (unless the American experience at that time could be summed up by melancholy mysteries;-)).

Regarding the difference between novels and shorter works, Maugham once asked his publisher (I paraphrase), "why write a long novel when you can say the same thing in a short story or a play?"

I think the answer had to do with market. Apparently, readers, using the metaphor of vacations and travels, were more desirous of leisurely week-long voyages than a hurried weekend visits.

[RJR_fan]

I suspect that some books were meant to be read aloud, week by week, or night after night, as a form of family entertainment. Dickens goes down well that way.