Reviews

Had to read this for class.... never again. Almost as much of a drag as "Mrs. Dalloway" to get through. There is so much unnecessary discourse, I actually screamed several times. There are so many irritating characters, I'll be honest, I skipped entire sections that they were in. There is nothing--I repeat, NOTHING--more infuriating than a bad storyteller, and given that this entire book is essentially hearsay from one character to another (concerning stupid plans, unnecessarily convoluted and yet sadly predictable plots, and the general inability to be honest which would literally just have solved everything from the start), there is a metric s**t ton of dialogue and there are only two characters than can speak in any way that can even loosely be called "coherent" and "concise".

I couldn't help but feel the majority of this book was like... pointless? Maybe I just don't get it. I adored "The Monk", and "The Italian" was supposed to be a response to it, so perhaps it's fitting that my adoration of the former is met with disdain in equal measure for the latter. This book took me a month to get through. I don't think I've ever taken this long to read a book... ever. I wanted to like it. Alas... nay. It's frivolous drama with an unfortunately awesome setting. My favourite parts were descriptions of the gloom. If the entire book had the people and plots removed and had only the aesthetic, it would have been a vast improvement.

evak's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

laby's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

This book could have easily been 100 pages shorter. The plot twists and the ending were predictable since page one. Having said that, this remains a great example of gothic literature, it presents so many elements that have now become a classic in the genre.

saralynnburnett's review against another edition

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5.0

A gothic romance: long, beautifully written and one of my favorite types of books to read. I am always sad when books this good have to end.

evthomo's review against another edition

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adventurous dark hopeful mysterious tense

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

roseice's review against another edition

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3.0

Ann Radcliffe is fantastic. Her descriptions are lush, detailed and full, albeit dense. Incredibly dense. I have to be in a certain mood to appreciate them, and rather than reading them in novel-sized sections (especially a novel of this length), I think they are better appreciated over a longer period of time. I had to go through this one more quickly than I would've liked, because I read it for school; the first two volumes were fabulous, but at times they dragged. So much was happening it was hard to reconcile it all once I finished.

A great story, but definitely more detailed in parts than it needed to be, and with an excess of unnecessary characters (except the guide. Arguably unnecessary, but he had me grinning, and I never tired of listening to Schedoni scold and yell at him). But Radcliffe's dialogue is one of my favourite things. So clever and fresh--especially Schedoni's. (By "fresh," I mean "archaic," yes, but it's so novel and beautiful and more people need to speak like that nowadays. We have lost something precious.)

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