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3.57 AVERAGE
3.57 AVERAGE
Although I am familiar with short Gothic stories, this is the first novel I’ve read in the genre, and it didn’t disappoint. The dark mansions, the characters speaking in riddles, making a mystery of everything, the colourful villains (Madame de la Rougiere, for instance is as amazing as the Ténardier family in Les Misérables), the incredibly naive heroine (she is 19, but act pretty much like she is half that age), and the equally naive father (who might as well have believed in fairies, considering the contents of his will) are all there.
Thankfully, towards the end, the villains seem to be a little bit contaminated by the heroine’s blatant stupidity so the balance is restored, and all end well :) .
Obviously the limelight is on the titular character, Uncle Silas who, under the cover of religiosity will turn every situation to his advantage, having discovered that pretending to be an invalid gives him great power . However, it is Madame de la Rougiere who fascinated me. What an accomplished 'Lady' she is, with her weird Franco-English words (my dear Cheaile), her formidable addiction to brandy and silk, and her dancing abilities too ;p.
Thankfully, towards the end, the villains seem to be a little bit contaminated by the heroine’s blatant stupidity
Obviously the limelight is on the titular character, Uncle Silas who, under the cover of religiosity will turn every situation to his advantage,
This book was just so entertaining from beginning to the end. Dark and spooky, but realistic. It has everything you expect from a good gothic novel.
For the first sight, it was a simple life story of one rich girl.
On the other hand, it was powerful and scary story with a twisting plot. Reader never exactly knows what would happen. And that keeps us reading. Because stories telling us about life mysteries are always like that. Sometimes we find in them what we want in our lives or what we believe in. And sometimes they just encourage our beliefs and show us true values in life. That we should have friends we trust and most importantly we should be careful about people around us. Maybe trust no one just ourselves. Because sometimes our closest relatives are our biggest enemies.
For the first sight, it was a simple life story of one rich girl.
On the other hand, it was powerful and scary story with a twisting plot. Reader never exactly knows what would happen. And that keeps us reading. Because stories telling us about life mysteries are always like that. Sometimes we find in them what we want in our lives or what we believe in. And sometimes they just encourage our beliefs and show us true values in life. That we should have friends we trust and most importantly we should be careful about people around us. Maybe trust no one just ourselves. Because sometimes our closest relatives are our biggest enemies.
I'm torn how to rate Uncle Silas. I give it an A for atmosphere and writing but a B-/C+ for plot. Right from the beginning of Uncle Silas, the reader knows that the are reading a classic Gothic novel. The young protagonist, Maud, is naive and isolated from the world. She lives relatively alone, with only her distant father and a few servants. In order to remedy Maud's education, her father hires a governess, who turns out to be cruel and mad.
Shortly after convincing her father to fire Madame de la Rougierre, the governess, Maud's father dies. Maud then has to follow her father's last instructions, which include communicating with a seemingly-creepy man, and then following the instructions in his will. Maud's father instructs that Maud is to be under the care of his brother, Silas. Silas is a reclusive man with a rumored past... rumors which include murder.
It's during this time when the plot seems to falter. The middle of the book had very little action, and what did happen didn't really seem to build up to the conclusion at all. It may have let the suspense build up since the reader knows something bad will happen but doesn't know what or who will be the cause of it. Uncle Silas is full of seedy characters- some who turn out good and others not so good.
The conclusion is excellent. Most of the loose threads are tied up and the reader can finally breathe easily.
I recommend this book for those who like classic books with mystery and gothic aspects but also the patience to read through some tedious passages.
P.S. Isn't the picture on the cover creepy??! I did not like it sitting on my bedside table when I went to bed... it's too scary.
Shortly after convincing her father to fire Madame de la Rougierre, the governess, Maud's father dies. Maud then has to follow her father's last instructions, which include communicating with a seemingly-creepy man, and then following the instructions in his will. Maud's father instructs that Maud is to be under the care of his brother, Silas. Silas is a reclusive man with a rumored past... rumors which include murder.
It's during this time when the plot seems to falter. The middle of the book had very little action, and what did happen didn't really seem to build up to the conclusion at all. It may have let the suspense build up since the reader knows something bad will happen but doesn't know what or who will be the cause of it. Uncle Silas is full of seedy characters- some who turn out good and others not so good.
The conclusion is excellent. Most of the loose threads are tied up and the reader can finally breathe easily.
I recommend this book for those who like classic books with mystery and gothic aspects but also the patience to read through some tedious passages.
P.S. Isn't the picture on the cover creepy??! I did not like it sitting on my bedside table when I went to bed... it's too scary.
Wow, every mystery thriller crime book I have read follows from this book. Almost 150 years ago! A really good read. Story does not suffer at all from age. Of course, there will be some stilted language. BUT also some fantastic characters and literary devices.
Maybe I liked this book more than I really liked it because I was suprised how much I really liked it, y' know?
Highly recommended.
Maybe I liked this book more than I really liked it because I was suprised how much I really liked it, y' know?
Highly recommended.
Why oh why did I read this entire god awful book!? I have DNF'ed many that were much better. Started it long before Halloween as my spooky seasonal read. While innumerable things were described with "horror" and "terror", I saw neither. It was mostly mindnumbingly boring and sleep inducing, which is precisely what I used it for. Highly recommend for insomniacs!
Uncle Silas was my choice for the “Classic by an Author Who is New to You” for the Back to the Classics 2014 challenge hosted at http://karensbooksandchocolate.blogsp... .. This was also the first book I have read that was based solely on a goodreads algorithmic recommendation. Normally I would distrust a computer generated suggestion for something as diverse and personal as what to read, preferring to rely on human capabilities, but the cover of the Penguin Classic edition simply jumped out at me every time I looked it.
As you might have guessed, the story revolves around a character named Silas. Silas Ruthyn is the black sheep of the Ruthyn family and his niece Maud is strangely fascinated by him long before she ever meets him. She contemplates his portrait, mesmerized and imagines him a romantic hero unfairly accused of a crime he did not commit. The first 17 years of Maud’s life have been happy but sheltered. She lives alone with her eccentric, reclusive widowed father who is a convert to Swedenborgism (you would think this would be some crazy made up religious sect, but it is real) and a houseful of loyal servants. Despite her father’s beliefs, Maud is allowed to attend the local Church of England and has a few acquaintances with other upper class families in the neighborhood and the occasional visit from father’s vivacious Cousin Monica. Her bucolic life is interrupted, however, when her father decides to hire a dubious French governess to “finish” Maud’s education. Then things go from bad to worse when she is forced to live with Uncle Silas and his two grown children.
Is Silas a reformed rake, now devoted to equally to Christianity and his niece’s wellbeing? Or is he still a rake and cheat, out to get Maud’s inheritance for himself by whatever nefarious means possible? Well, you’ll just have to read the book to find that out.
I was hoping for something along the lines of Wilkie Collins’ The Women in White in Uncle Silas. There is, in fact, a mystery element to the story, but the novel’s focus is more on psychological manipulation than crime solving. I found it very entertaining, but not too hard to guess what would happen next. All in all, fun to read and there are in particular wonderfully engaging female characters in Milly and Cousin Monica. So much of the story seemed vaguely familiar to me and I think there are echoes, intentional or otherwise, of Uncle Silas in certain neo-Victorian books I have read: a remote, crumbling estate, haunted hallways, a suspect governess, false imprisonment, etc.
As you might have guessed, the story revolves around a character named Silas. Silas Ruthyn is the black sheep of the Ruthyn family and his niece Maud is strangely fascinated by him long before she ever meets him. She contemplates his portrait, mesmerized and imagines him a romantic hero unfairly accused of a crime he did not commit. The first 17 years of Maud’s life have been happy but sheltered. She lives alone with her eccentric, reclusive widowed father who is a convert to Swedenborgism (you would think this would be some crazy made up religious sect, but it is real) and a houseful of loyal servants. Despite her father’s beliefs, Maud is allowed to attend the local Church of England and has a few acquaintances with other upper class families in the neighborhood and the occasional visit from father’s vivacious Cousin Monica. Her bucolic life is interrupted, however, when her father decides to hire a dubious French governess to “finish” Maud’s education. Then things go from bad to worse when she is forced to live with Uncle Silas and his two grown children.
Is Silas a reformed rake, now devoted to equally to Christianity and his niece’s wellbeing? Or is he still a rake and cheat, out to get Maud’s inheritance for himself by whatever nefarious means possible? Well, you’ll just have to read the book to find that out.
I was hoping for something along the lines of Wilkie Collins’ The Women in White in Uncle Silas. There is, in fact, a mystery element to the story, but the novel’s focus is more on psychological manipulation than crime solving. I found it very entertaining, but not too hard to guess what would happen next. All in all, fun to read and there are in particular wonderfully engaging female characters in Milly and Cousin Monica. So much of the story seemed vaguely familiar to me and I think there are echoes, intentional or otherwise, of Uncle Silas in certain neo-Victorian books I have read: a remote, crumbling estate, haunted hallways, a suspect governess, false imprisonment, etc.
Uncle Silas was fairly enjoyable, but I probably won't read it again. It's good if you've already read a lot of Victorian Gothic novels and want another one, but I wouldn't rank it among the best of the genre. The story is gripping and Le Fanu's writing is pretty easy to read, but few of the characters struck me as being particularly memorable.
This is the very archetype of a classic Victorian gothic-horror-romance. Not a tale with contributes any new concepts to the genre, but all the expected ones present and well executed. The heroine of the story, Maud, has all the naivety, true religious virtues, long suffering and vulnerability required to put her up there in comparison with other gothic genre heroines. The book contains many villains but the tale unfolds so you don’t know for sure who is the most villainous until the end. The atmosphere of the story is that of a perpetually stormy night or a frosty winter morning.
I recommend this book for anyone who enjoys the classic gothic genre and isn’t put off by the slow but gradual build up of the tale and the endless praise and suspicions about the sublime qualities of nature.
I recommend this book for anyone who enjoys the classic gothic genre and isn’t put off by the slow but gradual build up of the tale and the endless praise and suspicions about the sublime qualities of nature.