Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.28 AVERAGE
3.28 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Bella prosa
Scelta nell'ambito del progetto #sfidadeiclassici, ho scoperto un'autrice dalla prosa gradevole.
Scorre che è un piacere anche se la trama è un po' troppo "allungata" che in certe parti rallenta molto il ritmo, laddove si apprezza particolarmente nelle scene d'azione.
La versione audio molto piacevole da ascoltare, con una lettura ponderata e adatta al testo.
Scelta nell'ambito del progetto #sfidadeiclassici, ho scoperto un'autrice dalla prosa gradevole.
Scorre che è un piacere anche se la trama è un po' troppo "allungata" che in certe parti rallenta molto il ritmo, laddove si apprezza particolarmente nelle scene d'azione.
La versione audio molto piacevole da ascoltare, con una lettura ponderata e adatta al testo.
challenging
dark
inspiring
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
slow-paced
Pure gothic goodness, but as I knew to expect from reading The Italian, Ann Radcliffe can never get to a point quickly. Still, if you enjoy the journey, which I did, it’s good.
If you like looking at the intersection between aesthetics/settings/landscape and character morality this is the book for you. Even if you read the book with this in mind it might help you get through some of the... more detailed parts of the book.
Hearing so many people say that Radcliffe would have had a hell of a time publishing this now is quite funny although I can't say I disagree. Does not help that class discussion was kicked off with "does Emily have a character arc?"
Anyway, Annette is my favorite character and she is the only reason this book gets a four.
Hearing so many people say that Radcliffe would have had a hell of a time publishing this now is quite funny although I can't say I disagree. Does not help that class discussion was kicked off with "does Emily have a character arc?"
Anyway, Annette is my favorite character and she is the only reason this book gets a four.
emotional
mysterious
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:
Yes
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
It was good writing and had good moments but I found myself bored a lot of the time and struggled to finish it.
funny
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This is a classic that I had not heard much about but the promise of a gothic mystery in a castle drew me in when I decided to buddy read this with a group of friends. I'm glad I did because even though it is very very descriptive as is standard for most books in this genre and hence really long,I did enjoy the story.
Set in the 16th century, the narrative follows a young woman,Emily St Aubert, as she struggles to gain control of her own life and destiny after losing her father and becoming the ward of her aunt and the unscrupulous man she is married to.
Separated from the man she loves and forced to stay in the eponymous castle of the title that has a dark history and a foreboding look about it, Emily fights for her freedom and against the plans of her aunt's new husband Signor Montoni who wants a marriage for her that will be advantageous for him.
While staying in the castle, Emily is troubled by some supernatural noises and sights she encounters. The descriptions of the gloomy rooms and turrets of the castle and the hints about what could have happened there are very mysterious. This book is peopled with a lot of dramatic personalities and situations and beautiful verses that are composed spontaneously mostly by Emily, to express her feelings. I marvelled at the elaborate way in which nature, places and events are written about so many years ago even if they are a little too wordy at times!
I liked how it all came together in the end. After such a long journey to get there, the resolution was very satisfactory.
Set in the 16th century, the narrative follows a young woman,Emily St Aubert, as she struggles to gain control of her own life and destiny after losing her father and becoming the ward of her aunt and the unscrupulous man she is married to.
Separated from the man she loves and forced to stay in the eponymous castle of the title that has a dark history and a foreboding look about it, Emily fights for her freedom and against the plans of her aunt's new husband Signor Montoni who wants a marriage for her that will be advantageous for him.
While staying in the castle, Emily is troubled by some supernatural noises and sights she encounters. The descriptions of the gloomy rooms and turrets of the castle and the hints about what could have happened there are very mysterious. This book is peopled with a lot of dramatic personalities and situations and beautiful verses that are composed spontaneously mostly by Emily, to express her feelings. I marvelled at the elaborate way in which nature, places and events are written about so many years ago even if they are a little too wordy at times!
I liked how it all came together in the end. After such a long journey to get there, the resolution was very satisfactory.
This book was like a trainwreck, terribly on every account but I somehow found myself reading on, just to see how much worse it can get. Two stars only because it made me appreciate Jane Austen's work all the more.
My first introduction to this book, and Ann Radcliffe in general, came through Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey, as she frequently mentioned it throughout that novel. I’ve been eager to read Udolpho ever since and I am patting myself on the back at having finished this unwieldy and lugubrious tome.
The Mysteries of Udolpho is Radcliffe’s longest novel, coming in at 700 pages and divided into four volumes. Now after becoming an Anthony Trollope fan, long books don’t intimidate me much anymore, but… whereas Trollope’s novels focus more on character development, this book spends a good bit of its pages on landscape descriptions. It’s almost as if the landscapes and nature itself are characters.
"The spiral summits of the mountains, touched with a purple tint, broken and steep above, but shelving gradually to their base; the open valley, marked by no formal lines of art; and the tall groves of cypress, pine and poplar, sometimes embellished by a ruined villa, whose broken columns appeared between the branches of a pine, that seemed to droop over their fall."
You see? Beautiful yes, but (the MC) Emily’s story is a long build-up. In the beginning I wasn’t sure that I would stick this one out, but I’m oh so glad that I did!
Like all Gothic novels, The Mysteries of Udolpho contains ruined castles, a beautiful countryside, a virtuous heroine, and a dastardly villain. It’s set in 16th century France, with a shift to Italy, and tells the tale of an isolated young woman, imprisoned in a castle by an older, domineering man.
Also, I must insert here that the plot really picks up at the point when the setting shifts to Udolpho. Things begin to feel more mysterious and there is a feeling of danger, of foreboding—a crumbling castle with cold, damp walls, secret passageways and a torture chamber, unusual noises, haunting music and phantom figures—everything that you expect from a gothic horror novel. We begin to wonder if Emily’s fears are the result of an overactive imagination, or if there is some truth to the accounts she’s heard of murder and ghostly spirits within the walls of her prison. Filled with gloom as I was, I found that I couldn’t put the book down; I had to keep turning the pages to know what would happen next!
And those last 100 or so pages—that denouement? What I expected to happen did not, and what did happen was certainly not expected. Magnificent, I tell you!
The Mysteries of Udolpho is Radcliffe’s longest novel, coming in at 700 pages and divided into four volumes. Now after becoming an Anthony Trollope fan, long books don’t intimidate me much anymore, but… whereas Trollope’s novels focus more on character development, this book spends a good bit of its pages on landscape descriptions. It’s almost as if the landscapes and nature itself are characters.
"The spiral summits of the mountains, touched with a purple tint, broken and steep above, but shelving gradually to their base; the open valley, marked by no formal lines of art; and the tall groves of cypress, pine and poplar, sometimes embellished by a ruined villa, whose broken columns appeared between the branches of a pine, that seemed to droop over their fall."
You see? Beautiful yes, but (the MC) Emily’s story is a long build-up. In the beginning I wasn’t sure that I would stick this one out, but I’m oh so glad that I did!
Like all Gothic novels, The Mysteries of Udolpho contains ruined castles, a beautiful countryside, a virtuous heroine, and a dastardly villain. It’s set in 16th century France, with a shift to Italy, and tells the tale of an isolated young woman, imprisoned in a castle by an older, domineering man.
Also, I must insert here that the plot really picks up at the point when the setting shifts to Udolpho. Things begin to feel more mysterious and there is a feeling of danger, of foreboding—a crumbling castle with cold, damp walls, secret passageways and a torture chamber, unusual noises, haunting music and phantom figures—everything that you expect from a gothic horror novel. We begin to wonder if Emily’s fears are the result of an overactive imagination, or if there is some truth to the accounts she’s heard of murder and ghostly spirits within the walls of her prison. Filled with gloom as I was, I found that I couldn’t put the book down; I had to keep turning the pages to know what would happen next!
And those last 100 or so pages—that denouement? What I expected to happen did not, and what did happen was certainly not expected. Magnificent, I tell you!