Iving over Poe

I am more inclined to side with Washington Irving over Edgar Allen Poe because of the sharp contrasts in writing style, because I think Irving writes a better story. Even though Poe has the name recognition and the more famous stories, I like Irving and how he writes. When neither one of them is really crisp and clear, I like how Irving uses action and values and subtle themes. Irving does a good job getting the gothic elements in, but it's not all gothic, there are deeper values and a good, positive ending. Wheras Poe is all dreary and helplessly stuck on punishing his characters and expressing his problems through his writing. Very little, if any, good happens with Poe, when Irving brought a little hope and promise of change, even if it is only a little.

The writing styles too, for me, favor Irving. Poe spends way too much time going through descriptions, which were often unpleasant, and the wording is cluttered and not precise. He has multiple pages of descriptions for very short periods of time. Irving wins on conciseness.