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viktoriya's review against another edition
3.0
Not the typical Jules Verne that I remember from my childhood, but a good read still.
pinkelefant_78's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.0
kolymaarasto's review against another edition
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? It's complicated
3.5
milchbaer's review against another edition
3.0
Listened to it as a German audiobook, which made the story nice listening to while you’re doing smth else. Probably I would have never read the story … or given up after the first few pages.
It’s a cozy story, in a way … not man things happen, you get introduced to the villagers of a small village, their relationships, beliefs and so on. However the real plot of the whole book, the story behind the castle happens in the last 5-8 chapters of the book. Even though it was nice listening to the narrator the story could’ve been much, much shorter if the focus was on the story of the two lords and the singer.
It’s a cozy story, in a way … not man things happen, you get introduced to the villagers of a small village, their relationships, beliefs and so on. However the real plot of the whole book, the story behind the castle happens in the last 5-8 chapters of the book. Even though it was nice listening to the narrator the story could’ve been much, much shorter if the focus was on the story of the two lords and the singer.
abrilgkarera's review against another edition
4.0
En los terrenos de Drácula (Transilvania) se alza el castillo de los cárpatos. En torno a él giran leyendas de lo más espeluznantes. Pronto la aldea más cercana al castillo se sume en el terror, pues comienzan a suceder eventos extraños que están relacionados con los nuevos habitantes del castillo que al parecer son... ¡Demonios!
Una historia completamente distinta a lo que había leído de Verne, hay magia, creencias populares y ¡amor! A ratos me recordó a Conan Doyle. Lo amé.
Una historia completamente distinta a lo que había leído de Verne, hay magia, creencias populares y ¡amor! A ratos me recordó a Conan Doyle. Lo amé.
macati's review against another edition
4.0
loved it when I was a teen and I think that I'm going to read it again
octavia_cade's review against another edition
3.0
This is the most enjoyable of Verne's novels I've read so far! (Granted, I've only read a handful but this surpasses The Survivors of the Chancellor for sheer trash entertainment value.) It's also, for about 95% of it, a genre that I would never have expected of Verne. I'm used to him writing science fiction or even general fiction with various levels of pedantry - sorry, but you know it's true. Give the man a screw or a valve to write about and he could bore for France. But this is sheer gothic romance all the way through... except it isn't romance, because there's a scientific twist near the end which sucks the romance right out of it, and I say that with love, because the twist was pretty damn great.
I do enjoy books that cause me to stop and think about the shelves I'll end up putting them on, if only because my biologist self has an unreasonable love for classification. And when I read gothic romance I shelve it under "horror" and "romance" because to me that's gothic romance cut down to its constituent parts and it is redundancy to have a "gothic romance" shelf on top of that. But, as I said... the romance here is subject to twistiness, and it's not a real romance at all. It's just this fake-out gothic horror and I am delighted. Hence the shelving, for a gothic romance that is not.
I do enjoy books that cause me to stop and think about the shelves I'll end up putting them on, if only because my biologist self has an unreasonable love for classification. And when I read gothic romance I shelve it under "horror" and "romance" because to me that's gothic romance cut down to its constituent parts and it is redundancy to have a "gothic romance" shelf on top of that. But, as I said... the romance here is subject to twistiness, and it's not a real romance at all. It's just this fake-out gothic horror and I am delighted. Hence the shelving, for a gothic romance that is not.
maria_ionela's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.25
baechus's review against another edition
3.0
Es la primer obra de Verne que he leído y debo decir que no decepciona, aunque el ritmo es muy pausado, la historia es interesante, de la forma en que lo veo esta es la manera que tiene Verne de burlarse de lo supersticiosos que eran algunos pueblos y demostrar lo difícil que era la movilización y expansión del avance en ese entonces, en toda la obra se ve recalcado el peligro de la ignorancia, mostrando un pueblo montañoso y apartado que poco -o nada- saben sobre la era en la que viven.
La creación del terreno donde se desenvuelve la historia está muy bien hecha, pero, llegan a ser aburridas y redundantes las constantes descripciones sobre todo, y me refiero a todo, cosa que pausaba aún más el ritmo calmo del libro.
La creación del terreno donde se desenvuelve la historia está muy bien hecha, pero, llegan a ser aburridas y redundantes las constantes descripciones sobre todo, y me refiero a todo, cosa que pausaba aún más el ritmo calmo del libro.
rramona's review against another edition
3.0
It was ok, but I had some issues with the way Verne dealt with the geography. As an actual Romanian, living near the mountain he mentions (Retezat) I got really annoyed at how much he made up when it comes to the placement of the towns. I just could not suspend my disbelief when dealing with these inaccuracies and I couldn't lose myself in the story, since I kept wanting to edit his writing.
Also, the plot seemed a bit simplistic and predictable, at least to me.
Also, the plot seemed a bit simplistic and predictable, at least to me.