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A review by stacialithub
Olalla by Robert Louis Stevenson
3.0
Olalla is sometimes seen as an early vampire story that pre-dates Bram Stoker's Dracula. (John Polidori wrote [b:The Vampyre: A Tale|472966|The Vampyre A Tale|John William Polidori|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1347792075s/472966.jpg|461235] in 1819 during the same summer trip when Mary Shelley wrote [b:Frankenstein|18490|Frankenstein|Mary Shelley|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1381512375s/18490.jpg|4836639]; RL Stevenson wrote Olalla in 1885; Stoker wrote [b:Dracula|17245|Dracula|Bram Stoker|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1387151694s/17245.jpg|3165724] in 1897.)
I enjoyed Stevenson's story but I'm not sure I would have thought of it as a vampire story unless I had been told that previously. Imo, the 'vampire' connection was pretty shaky. Instead, it's a gothic story that fits the spirit of my October reading. It is set in Spain & some of Stevenson's descriptions reminded me of descriptions of Spain in Washington Irving's [b:Tales of the Alhambra|403733|Tales of the Alhambra|Washington Irving|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348287270s/403733.jpg|1596541](written in 1828).
If you want to read Olalla, it is available through Project Gutenberg as part of a larger collection of Stevenson's stories.
The kindle version I have includes a few pages of biographical information on RL Stevenson. It was fun to read about his family's work in civil engineering & lighthouse design (which ties in quite a bit to [b:Lighthousekeeping|15052|Lighthousekeeping|Jeanette Winterson|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1328875027s/15052.jpg|2531716], a book I read earlier this month).
I enjoyed Stevenson's story but I'm not sure I would have thought of it as a vampire story unless I had been told that previously. Imo, the 'vampire' connection was pretty shaky. Instead, it's a gothic story that fits the spirit of my October reading. It is set in Spain & some of Stevenson's descriptions reminded me of descriptions of Spain in Washington Irving's [b:Tales of the Alhambra|403733|Tales of the Alhambra|Washington Irving|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348287270s/403733.jpg|1596541](written in 1828).
If you want to read Olalla, it is available through Project Gutenberg as part of a larger collection of Stevenson's stories.
The kindle version I have includes a few pages of biographical information on RL Stevenson. It was fun to read about his family's work in civil engineering & lighthouse design (which ties in quite a bit to [b:Lighthousekeeping|15052|Lighthousekeeping|Jeanette Winterson|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1328875027s/15052.jpg|2531716], a book I read earlier this month).