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A review by slimikin
The Romance of the Forest by Ann Radcliffe
2.0
To me, the fun of a gothic romance lies in all the absurd and unlikely coincidences that arise in the course of the story. The Romance of the Forest does possess these, especially at the end, but I definitely wish there'd been less...Romanticism...along the way.
At final count, variations on the word "sublime"—because no other word will do when you're writing something Romantic!—number 31 throughout the novel. That's 31 instances of Radcliffe diving into the Romantic when maybe she didn't really need to.
And variations on the words "weep" or "tears"? 148! (Not counting that one time when a willow was doing the weeping.) Just think how much tighter the pacing of the book would have been if even half of these overwrought moments of horror and grief and despair and longing (etc., etc.) had been edited out.
Alas, as a modern day reader, I wanted a little more action. But if I'd read this when it came out? The lamentations might still have aggravated me, but I would've been penning the Georgian equivalent of fanfiction and sharing it with anyone who would read it.
At final count, variations on the word "sublime"—because no other word will do when you're writing something Romantic!—number 31 throughout the novel. That's 31 instances of Radcliffe diving into the Romantic when maybe she didn't really need to.
And variations on the words "weep" or "tears"? 148! (Not counting that one time when a willow was doing the weeping.) Just think how much tighter the pacing of the book would have been if even half of these overwrought moments of horror and grief and despair and longing (etc., etc.) had been edited out.
Alas, as a modern day reader, I wanted a little more action. But if I'd read this when it came out? The lamentations might still have aggravated me, but I would've been penning the Georgian equivalent of fanfiction and sharing it with anyone who would read it.