The Castle of Otranto and The Mysterious Mother (Broadview Literary Texts)

by Horace Walpole

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If you are a fan of the gothic novel you must read this. Written by Horace Walpole this is the first and original gothic novel in English. Walpole was obsessed with all things Gothic and even built/decorated his Strawberry Hill mansion in the gothic style. It might seem a bit hackneyed reading it now but try to approach it from the perspective of someone who'd never encountered the genre before. It's surprisingly frightening for a book written so long ago and it's dark macabre feeling is delicious. I found that the plot devices used by Walpole, though we've seen them all before in most gothic novels since, have a unique freshness that comes from the originality of the work for its time. Excellent read. Give it a go. (

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Wanderlust_Lost | Jun 23, 2007 |

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Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 155111304X, Paperback)

This Broadview edition pairs the first Gothic novel with the first Gothic drama, both by Horace Walpole. Published on Christmas Eve, 1764, on Walpole's private press at Strawberry Hill, his Gothicized country house, The Castle of Otranto became an instant and immediate classic of the Gothic genre as well as the prototype for Gothic fiction for the next two hundred years. Walpole's brooding and intense drama, The Mysterious Mother, focuses on the protagonist's angst over an act of incest with his mother, and includes the appearance of Father Benedict, Gothic literature's first evil monk. Appendices in this edition include selections from Walpole s letters, contemporary responses, and writings illustrating the aesthetic and intellectual climate of the period. Also included is Sir Walter Scott s introduction to the 1811 edition of The Castle of Otranto.

(retrieved from Amazon Sun, 13 Jan 2013 08:45:00 -0500)

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