Reviews

The Lady of the Shroud by Bram Stoker

fantasythat's review against another edition

adventurous challenging mysterious slow-paced

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

3.75

Enjoyed the return of the epistolary form after The Jewel of the Seven Stars, did not enjoy Ernest being the first character we encountered. This seems like a running theme with Stoker but it was a weird book. Random aeroplanes in the last hundred pages or so, didn't really feel like Aunt Janet and her visions were properly reconciled with events in the third quarter of the novel and people really need to chill about the Lady of the Shroud's eyes. 

However it was a lot of fun to read and did make me laugh in a few places. Not quite giving it 4 stars because I got a bit lost with the military campaigns and aeroplanes and the federation stuff but it was very satisfying to see everything come together and to see some characters get their comeuppance. Would love to know how Rooke did get to the gangway so quickly when Aunt Janet was met by Rupert, but I suppose some mysteries will never be solved.

radbear76's review against another edition

1.0

When I read Dracula in the seventh grade it was long, ponderous and difficult to get through. In the intervening years I assumed I felt this way because I was young at the time. In reading the Lady of the Shroud I discovered that the reason I felt this way was because Bram Stoker has a tedious writing style that comes close to boring the reader to death. Aside from the writing style and pace the novel can't decide what it is. The story begins as a paranormal mystery, than suddenly transitions to an action adventure, and then meanders into a a sci-fi Utopian nation building scheme. It has hints of male chauvinism and "The White Man's Burden" of lifting up the savages for good measure. The change being that rather than people of color benefiting from the wise white guy's leadership, it is the people of a fictional Balkan nation. I'm going to attribute this to era in which it was written, but leaving the quaint discrimination aside it still isn't worth reading.

danidep's review against another edition

adventurous challenging mysterious slow-paced

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

2.0

rastislavwittko's review against another edition

challenging mysterious slow-paced

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

literally the worst book that i’ve ever finished

hotsake's review against another edition

2.0

A dry and dull read.

tclinrow's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

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

4.0

nwhyte's review against another edition

http://nhw.livejournal.com/694644.html[return][return]The book is set in the present day (ie 1907). It is about a Rupert St Leger, an Irishman who has become a citizen of the world, who unexpectedly finds himself a major landowner in a fictional Adriatic territory, the Land of the Blue Mountains, which should not be confused with any country named after mountains of some other colour with which I might be familiar. He gets entangled with a mysterious and chilly lady who appears wearing only a shroud (the exciting cover - wonder who the artist was? - shows her standing up in a water-borne coffin, in what is in fact the book's very first scene). The plot is complex and exciting, but is resolved with his rescuing her father from captivity using an aeroplane (which is pretty bloody advanced for 1907) and it turns out that the only element of the supernatural not otherwise explained away is Celtic rather than Balkan, in that Rupert's aged Scottish aunt has the Second Sight.[return][return]At least, that's where I thought the book ended. However, as I was checking out the on-line text on Project Gutenberg, I discovered that there was a whole chunk of the book missing - the Arrow edition of 1962, whose 1974 version was the one I had bought, had hacked off the last quarter of the text, without explanation! Extraordinary. I don't mind buying an abridged version if it's marked as such, but it was a shock to discover I had been cheated of such a substantial amount of the content. (Though since I only paid

tea_tamai's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious slow-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0

bookwomble's review against another edition

4.0

Less Gothic horror, more Gothic romance, with a dusting of Ruritanian adventure sprinkled on top. Personally, I would have preferred more of Stoker' take on Anthony Hope's Prisoner of Zenda scenario but this was a good story nonetheless.

The romance is atmospheric, creepy and intimate, if at times somewhat overwrought. The adventure is set in the milieu of pre-First World War Balkan politics and I would have enjoyed more of this and a little less of the "Bloofer Lady" wandering about the midnight garden.

Told in the epistolary style that Stoker used for Dracula.

lsneal's review against another edition

1.0

Really, really, REALLY bad. The story goes on and on and on and ON until you run out of ons, well past the point where one would rationally resolve it (i.e., where the mystery of The Lady is concluded). Most of the going on relates to Stoker gushing in embarrassing and tedious detail about the perfections of the hero of the story. He's so tall and manly, perfect in his form, which will be described for you over and over! He's so brave! Let me tell you how brave! He has never even known fear! And so smart! And noble! The only parts of the book that are tolerable are those written from the perspective of the hero's pompous cousin, who does not share the otherwise universal love for him. The "mystery" is of the sort that could have been solved in approximately 3 seconds if anyone had thought to ask a simple question or two. And once the drawn-out mystery is resolved, there is chapter upon chapter of unrelated imperialistic fantasy nonsense, and more (oh, so much more) talking about how awesome the hero is. I find that Stoker drags on a bit at the best of times, and this is definitely not Stoker at his best.