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may_kasahara's review against another edition
3.0
Muy bien escrito, con una historia intrigante, pero con un protagonista con tan poca sangre, que me acaba poniendo de los nervios.
maireadreads's review against another edition
4.0
One of the most accessible classics I’ve ever read. Really enjoyed the story and Collins’ writing!
mirandacactusreads's review against another edition
2.0
If Basil would've just chilled out and not demanded a secret marriage with the first girl he saw who struck his fancy, he wouldn't have had any problems (nor a story, I guess). Basil is so naive and entitled throughout the entire story that it was hard for me to have any sympathy for him. Some weird incestual undertones in his love for his sister also were uncomfortable, in addition to the way other female characters were characterized. The only redeeming thing about this book is Ralph, the older brother who kind of saves the day, but is introduced as an unreliable mischief-maker and degrader of the family name--which is apparently all Basil thinks his father cares about. I appreciated this book as a progressive (in theme) Victorian novel, but the application of it just didn't satisfy me.
kailey_luminouslibro's review against another edition
4.0
I do adore Wilkie Collins' writing, but this sad Gothic tale was seriously depressing from start to finish. In this story, the main character Basil sees a young woman in the street, and instantly falls in love with her. He meets her briefly, and learns that her name is Margaret. Later he approaches her father, and the two are married within a couple of weeks with the proviso that Margaret remain living with her family until her 18th birthday. So Basil is married in name only and can only visit Margaret with her mother as a chaperone. During this time, Basil meets Mr. Mannion, a family friend of his in-laws, but the man is so strange and mysterious that Basil can't decide if Mannion is friend or foe.
There's horror and betrayal and violence, insanity and disease and death; Gothic literature at its finest! The plot is rather obvious, but told with such energy that it still holds the reader's interest. The atmosphere in the book is very shocking and lurid for a classic. Every character is always half-insane or on their way there, because of the mental and emotional strain they are under all the time. This tension creates a feeling of suspense, even though the plot is not especially suspenseful.
As always, I love that Collins' main character has a high sense of honor and duty, a sensitive nature, and a compassionate and self-sacrificing heart. The heroes in his books are just my kind of fellas! But this one, Basil, got on my nerves. He has all those qualities that I love, but he has no common sense, no street smarts, no wisdom about human nature. He is taken advantage of by nearly everybody because of his kind nature, and he has no circumspect vision to see when people are plotting against him or lying to him.
Then again, I hate those qualities in Basil's character, because that is EXACTLY my own personality. I'm always getting walked on because I'm kind and generous to everyone, and I am very gullible. I never imagine that people would and are going behind my back, lying to me, and generally making trouble, because I imagine everyone to be as truthful and good-hearted as I am myself. Basil is just like that. He can't imagine why anyone would want to lie or seek revenge or steal from him, and so he sails headlong into disaster with his eyes shut. Oh, Basil, you stupid fool. You're too good and sweet to live in a dark world like this one.
The villains are particularly villainous in this book, and they come in all shapes and sizes: The selfish girl without a heart, the greedy businessman with a tendency towards blackmail, the disturbed monomaniac utterly focused on revenge.
There are also some more complex characters who walk the line between good and bad, and some unexpected heroes who surprised me by popping in at the end.
All in all, a deliciously passionate and wild classic with Collins' wonderful writing style that I have come to know and love!
There's horror and betrayal and violence, insanity and disease and death; Gothic literature at its finest! The plot is rather obvious, but told with such energy that it still holds the reader's interest. The atmosphere in the book is very shocking and lurid for a classic. Every character is always half-insane or on their way there, because of the mental and emotional strain they are under all the time. This tension creates a feeling of suspense, even though the plot is not especially suspenseful.
As always, I love that Collins' main character has a high sense of honor and duty, a sensitive nature, and a compassionate and self-sacrificing heart. The heroes in his books are just my kind of fellas! But this one, Basil, got on my nerves. He has all those qualities that I love, but he has no common sense, no street smarts, no wisdom about human nature. He is taken advantage of by nearly everybody because of his kind nature, and he has no circumspect vision to see when people are plotting against him or lying to him.
Then again, I hate those qualities in Basil's character, because that is EXACTLY my own personality. I'm always getting walked on because I'm kind and generous to everyone, and I am very gullible. I never imagine that people would and are going behind my back, lying to me, and generally making trouble, because I imagine everyone to be as truthful and good-hearted as I am myself. Basil is just like that. He can't imagine why anyone would want to lie or seek revenge or steal from him, and so he sails headlong into disaster with his eyes shut. Oh, Basil, you stupid fool. You're too good and sweet to live in a dark world like this one.
The villains are particularly villainous in this book, and they come in all shapes and sizes: The selfish girl without a heart, the greedy businessman with a tendency towards blackmail, the disturbed monomaniac utterly focused on revenge.
There are also some more complex characters who walk the line between good and bad, and some unexpected heroes who surprised me by popping in at the end.
All in all, a deliciously passionate and wild classic with Collins' wonderful writing style that I have come to know and love!
mlindner's review against another edition
4.0
Am reading the ebook on my Touch.
Quite a decent story, all in all.
http://www.feedbooks.com/book/4471
Quite a decent story, all in all.
http://www.feedbooks.com/book/4471
frances_ab's review against another edition
2.0
When the new star system comes along I will upgrade to 2.5 stars. This was a melodramatic Victorian tale of love, deception, class conflict, revenge, illness, death and was full of storms, tossing seas, cliffside walks, coincidences, misunderstandings, letters, broken promises-the full gothic spectrum. It didn't quite work for me, but still an enjoyable read.
ktgriffiths1's review against another edition
2.0
"I am now about to relate the story of an error, innocent in its beginning, guilty in its progress, fatal in its results . . ."
Opening my fourth year course in ‘Madness and Sexuality in Victorian Literature’, the first book I encountered was Wilkie Collins’ Basil. Though better known for his classic works The Moonstone and The Woman in White, his 1852 novel Basil was in fact the breeding ground for his development of what came to be known as ‘the sensation novel’. Contemporary reviews were appalled by its frankness and described it as ‘a tale of criminality, almost revolting from its domestic horrors. The vicious atmosphere in which the drama of the tale is enveloped, weighs on us like a nightmare’ (D. O. Maddyn).
Basil tells the story of a secret and unconsummated marriage, between the aristocratic Basil and Margaret Sherwin, the daughter of a linen draper, kept secret for one year. Basil struggles between the social pressures of his class, embodied in the character of his proud and honourable father, and his passion for Margaret. But as the year unwinds his family is ripped apart by the silent presence of his secret life and Basil becomes increasingly daunted by the Sherwin’s business employee, Mannion. A man whose ‘voice was as void of expression as his face’, Mannion still holds a mysterious force over the family. Mr. Sherwin is entirely dependant on him, Mrs. Sherwin seems to fear his very presence but remains silent, and even Margaret refuses to discuss his character. As the climax of the year draws near Basil suffers the shocks and horrors of betrayal, insanity and death.
" . . . each laid a talon on my shoulder – each raised a veil which was one hideous net-work of twining worms. I saw through the ghastly corruption of their faces the look that told me who they were – the monstrous iniquities incarnate in monstrous forms; the fiend-souls made visible in fiend-shapes"
Throughout the narrative Collins explores notions of sexuality, social class and madness through one of the most unconventional male protagonists of the Victorian age: a rich, young man characterised by traditionally feminine gentleness and disgust of physical sexuality: ‘Men may not understand this; women, I believe will’. Furthermore, Basil is constantly set up for comparison with other models of masculinity within the text such as the boisterous playboy, embodied in his brother Ralph, and the firm and immovable Mannion. Indeed, Basil is a novel of literary doubles: the passive Basil and the active Ralph; his angelic sister Clara and the dark temptress of Margaret; Basil’s dead mother and the ailing and repressed Mrs. Sherwin.
Basil is both revolutionary and a book of its time. Its slightly reductive depictions of women, the angel in the house and the fallen woman, are characteristic for the period if somewhat tiring to the modern reader. However, its treatment of adultery, its sub-textual sexual imagery, and its exploration of Victorian masculinity are truly fascinating. One of its strongest features is Collins’ use of atmosphere through language that lends a psychological horror to its reading. Basil, as the forefather of the sensation novel, which in turn led to the birth of detective fiction, acts as an intriguing historical piece that not only reveals contemporary perceptions of sexuality and madness, but also helps to trace the birth of a genre.
Opening my fourth year course in ‘Madness and Sexuality in Victorian Literature’, the first book I encountered was Wilkie Collins’ Basil. Though better known for his classic works The Moonstone and The Woman in White, his 1852 novel Basil was in fact the breeding ground for his development of what came to be known as ‘the sensation novel’. Contemporary reviews were appalled by its frankness and described it as ‘a tale of criminality, almost revolting from its domestic horrors. The vicious atmosphere in which the drama of the tale is enveloped, weighs on us like a nightmare’ (D. O. Maddyn).
Basil tells the story of a secret and unconsummated marriage, between the aristocratic Basil and Margaret Sherwin, the daughter of a linen draper, kept secret for one year. Basil struggles between the social pressures of his class, embodied in the character of his proud and honourable father, and his passion for Margaret. But as the year unwinds his family is ripped apart by the silent presence of his secret life and Basil becomes increasingly daunted by the Sherwin’s business employee, Mannion. A man whose ‘voice was as void of expression as his face’, Mannion still holds a mysterious force over the family. Mr. Sherwin is entirely dependant on him, Mrs. Sherwin seems to fear his very presence but remains silent, and even Margaret refuses to discuss his character. As the climax of the year draws near Basil suffers the shocks and horrors of betrayal, insanity and death.
" . . . each laid a talon on my shoulder – each raised a veil which was one hideous net-work of twining worms. I saw through the ghastly corruption of their faces the look that told me who they were – the monstrous iniquities incarnate in monstrous forms; the fiend-souls made visible in fiend-shapes"
Throughout the narrative Collins explores notions of sexuality, social class and madness through one of the most unconventional male protagonists of the Victorian age: a rich, young man characterised by traditionally feminine gentleness and disgust of physical sexuality: ‘Men may not understand this; women, I believe will’. Furthermore, Basil is constantly set up for comparison with other models of masculinity within the text such as the boisterous playboy, embodied in his brother Ralph, and the firm and immovable Mannion. Indeed, Basil is a novel of literary doubles: the passive Basil and the active Ralph; his angelic sister Clara and the dark temptress of Margaret; Basil’s dead mother and the ailing and repressed Mrs. Sherwin.
Basil is both revolutionary and a book of its time. Its slightly reductive depictions of women, the angel in the house and the fallen woman, are characteristic for the period if somewhat tiring to the modern reader. However, its treatment of adultery, its sub-textual sexual imagery, and its exploration of Victorian masculinity are truly fascinating. One of its strongest features is Collins’ use of atmosphere through language that lends a psychological horror to its reading. Basil, as the forefather of the sensation novel, which in turn led to the birth of detective fiction, acts as an intriguing historical piece that not only reveals contemporary perceptions of sexuality and madness, but also helps to trace the birth of a genre.
kitty20's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
rebleejen's review against another edition
4.0
This was a real page-turner, up until the denouement, which seemed to go on forever to not much purpose.