Jekyll and Mr. Hyde_, (3) of pseudo-science,
like _A Descent into the Maelstrom_, (4) of analysis or ratiocination, like
_The Gold Bug_ and that wonderful analytical detective story, the first of
its kind, _The Murders in the Rue Morgue_, the predecessor of later
detective stories, like _The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes_, and (5) of
natural beauty, like _The Domain of Arnheim_.
This classification does not include all of his types, for his powerful
story, _The Pit and the Pendulum_, does not belong to any of these classes.
He shows remarkable versatility in passing from one type of story to
another. He could turn from a tale of the supernatural to write a model for
future authors of realistic detective stories. He could solve difficult
riddles with masterly analysis, and in his next story place a
conscience-stricken wretch on the rack and then turn away calmly to write a
tale of natural beauty. He specially liked to invest an impossible story
with scientific reality, and he employed Defoe's specific concrete method
of mingling fact with fiction. With all the seriousness of a teacher of
physics, Poe describes the lunar trip of one Hans Pfaall with his balloon,
air-condenser, and cat.
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