A review by likecymbeline
Bruges-La-Morte by Georges Rodenbach

2.0

This felt like the most 19th-century thing I've ever read. We've got a lot of melancholia, some pre-Raphaelite hair, a deep fetishism of Catholicism, and a melodramatic climax. It surprises me that this novel made people want to go to Bruges, which is described as being only varying shades of grey. But then again, the aforementioned melancholia pervading the novel is represented as artistic/intellectual/attractive, so perhaps it isn't such a surprise after all.

This book is ultimately conventional and underwhelming, though to be sure it is a more than fair glimpse into its period.