sergek94 's review for:

Melmoth the Wanderer by Charles Robert Maturin

4.0

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I enjoyed reading this book. It was definitely very difficult to read, with its long winded descriptions and difficult vocabulary, so it took me a while to be done with it. The entire novel contains several nested stories, among which The Spaniard's Tale and The Tale Of The Indians were my favourites. The Spaniard's Tale in particular was really interesting, because even though it was extremely long with a very slow moving plot, it kept me interested the whole way through. Sometimes I wonder what the point was behind adding some other tales like The Lover's Tale etc. since they don't add much to the story, but they were mostly interesting to read nonetheless. I think this type of book needs a lot of patience and an appreciation for long descriptive paragraphs to be truly enjoyed. If you prefer plot driven stories that have a lot of action going on, this novel might not be for you. I prefer plot driven stories as well and I didn't spend much time appreciating the descriptiveness of the story, but I can say those elements are beautiful.

I would also like to add that Charles Robert Maturin is pretty funny and he gives a nice blend of gothic gloom and sarcasm/wit which really surprised me, since I wasn't expecting it. The comical moments aren't "in your face" but they definitely provide some subtle comedic undertones to the story!

Overall, if you have the patience to read hundreds of pages of an overly descriptive story which also spends a fair amount of time criticizing the Catholic church, you're in for a very immersive and captivating journey!