Scan barcode
A review by dee9401
The Italian by E.J. Clery, Frederick Garber, Ann Radcliffe
5.0
I thoroughly enjoyed Ann Radcliffe’s The Italian. While it wasn’t a very deep story, it was well-told and kept me turning pages. At times, the plot twists were a tad melodramatic but she always kept the suspense high throughout three volumes, moved the plot swiftly and tied many threads together by the end. She didn’t explain everything, but I enjoy not having everything neatly tied up. It lets the reader enjoy and continue the story through their own mind.
I was impressed that Radcliffe, writing in 1797, suggests that torture is never a valid method for eliciting truth. Innocents will create false confessions just to stop the pain (vol. 2, p. 199, original text). Today, 217 years later, some still don’t realize that torture is both wrong and useless. She goes further by having one of her lead characters, Vivaldi, comment on the torturer: “that any human being should willingly afflict a fellow being who had never injured, or even offended him; that unswayed by passion, he should deliberately become the means of torturing him, appeared to Vivaldi nearly incredible” (vol. 3, p 312 Oxford World Classics complete edition).
Some might have problems with Ann Radcliffe’s verbose and descriptive language, but this should be savored not feared or dismissed. She was at the cusp of the Romantic movement that explored natural beauty and description of everyday experiences, and her prose is expansive in describing scenery and emotions. Sure, one could probably compress these three volumes into one, or maybe even a novella, but I believe such an effort would diminish the beauty of the journey.
It was a joy to hold these books, both old and new. The leather-bound editions with their old style script and spelling methods were scrumptious. The new Oxford World Classics edition had a wonderful introduction and useful reference materials. Finally, on a personal level, it was fun that one some of the characters were from an area at the base of the Tyrolean Alps. Some of my family is from this area!
I was impressed that Radcliffe, writing in 1797, suggests that torture is never a valid method for eliciting truth. Innocents will create false confessions just to stop the pain (vol. 2, p. 199, original text). Today, 217 years later, some still don’t realize that torture is both wrong and useless. She goes further by having one of her lead characters, Vivaldi, comment on the torturer: “that any human being should willingly afflict a fellow being who had never injured, or even offended him; that unswayed by passion, he should deliberately become the means of torturing him, appeared to Vivaldi nearly incredible” (vol. 3, p 312 Oxford World Classics complete edition).
Some might have problems with Ann Radcliffe’s verbose and descriptive language, but this should be savored not feared or dismissed. She was at the cusp of the Romantic movement that explored natural beauty and description of everyday experiences, and her prose is expansive in describing scenery and emotions. Sure, one could probably compress these three volumes into one, or maybe even a novella, but I believe such an effort would diminish the beauty of the journey.
It was a joy to hold these books, both old and new. The leather-bound editions with their old style script and spelling methods were scrumptious. The new Oxford World Classics edition had a wonderful introduction and useful reference materials. Finally, on a personal level, it was fun that one some of the characters were from an area at the base of the Tyrolean Alps. Some of my family is from this area!