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whimsicalmeerkat's review against another edition
3.0
[a:Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu|26930|Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1206504583p2/26930.jpg] does bone-chilling creepiness exceedingly well. This book made the hairs on my neck stand up at least twice; not the easiest thing to accomplish with fiction. The story contains several villains, with varying degrees of overt nastiness and subtlety. That being said, I found myself repeatedly grinding my teeth at or wanting to shake the heroine into using her brain at least once in a while. Admittedly, I am relatively unversed in the gothic horror sub-genre having only previously read the Bronte sisters, but I do not recall their heroines being quite so limp and hysterical. This definitely hurt my enjoyment of an otherwise excellent book. [b:Uncle Silas|49190|Uncle Silas|Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170357891s/49190.jpg|2847087] is yet another book that makes me wish I had the option to give 3.5 stars. As it is, being unable to accurately give it 4, I have to downgrade it to 3.
smokedbones's review against another edition
3.0
Esperaba algo más, tardé más de un mes en terminarme este libro y eso no es buena señal. Me pareció interesante el comienzo y estaba intrigada si realmente el tío Silas estuvo involucrado con el crimen o no, pero la acción o la trama empieza a tomar marcha hasta 3/4 del libro. Normalmente no me quejo de tramas que avanzan lentamente, porque a veces los autores aprovechan eso para mejorar o caracterizar a los personajes, desarrollar sus relaciones,o incluso explorar de la finca donde residía Maud con su tío, pero es que para este punto el tío Silas es un anciano que todo el tiempo se la pasa en la cama, ni siquiera hace comentarios doble sentido que pudieran dejar en la ambiguedad si cometió crímenes en el pasado o no. Se puede notar que es manipulativo, chantajista y se hace el cordero inocente pero fuera de eso no lo consideraba de mayor peligro, el que si se pasó de lanza fue el primo de Maud. En resumen, este libro tiene una trama muy tediosa, fácilmente pudieron quitarle 200 páginas a ese libro, si no es que más. No vale la pena por la ambientación, lo único destacable fue la personalidad de la protagonista pero hay mejores libros.
gia's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
johnwwyatt's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
sophietica's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars. Most of the book is good: chilling and sinister, but the ending is really good: fast-paced and terrifying. It does drag a bit in the middle (hence the star demotion) but partly that's how books were written at the time. Great example of Victorian gothic.
mpclemens's review against another edition
2.0
This is clearly a book for and of a different time. To say that it builds slowly is to understate its pace; to a modern reader, Uncle Silas moves nearly glacially, with the titular character not even making his appearance until midway through the book, and the actual "terror" confined to the final few chapters. Le Fanu is free with detailed descriptions of every setting, and strives to give every character a distinct (and sometimes inscrutable) voice. I'd call this book "quaint" at heart, but more of a reminder how far the genre has come.
dee9401's review against another edition
3.0
Started as a 2, bounced up to a 4, ended on a 3. Le Fanu is an excellent storyteller but at novel-length, he seems to falter, at least for me. I still say that 'In a Glass, Darkly' is his best work, a collection of five fantastic stories.
shncwn's review against another edition
4.0
a great gothic fiction book, really interesting antagonist and beautiful imagery and gloomy atmosphere. there is a big chunk of this book where nothing happens, which felt a little bit of slog to get through but the ending made it worth it.