Peter Fairclough

This is a fantastic collection of 3 novels which greatly impacted (or created) the Gothic genre, but which are also important in their own rights.

Walpole's novel The Castle of Otranto is arguably the first Gothic novel. It is a parody of the Romance genre, written before "novel" became a common part of English vocabulary. It definitely sets a standard of conventions that later Gothic novels follow: a medieval Catholic setting, contrast of science and superstition, winding passages, confined show more female, &c.
Penguin attempted to present Otranto as accurately as possible, therefore there are no quotation marks to indicate dialogue, nor are there very many paragraph or line breaks. This makes it difficult for the modern reader at first, but it is worth working through to read the very funny story.

Because, yes, Otranto is a funny novel which parodies many elements of the romances popular in the 18th century, as well as containing humourous wordplay. The image of a giant helmet crashing out of the sky and killing a bridegroom on his way to the wedding is just one of many humourous incidents in the book.

Vathek is a translation from the French and an example of the combination of foreign horror with Walpole's British Gothic. It played a strong influence for Percy Bysshe Shelley's work, seen as early as the novel Zastrozzi.

Of course, nearly everyone is probably familiar with Frankenstein (itself heavily edited by Percy Shelley), which is probably one of the greatest Gothic novels. Its themes are numerous and I've found that each time I read it (and I've done so several times for different courses), there's always something new to discover, whether it's a philosophical thread echoing Rousseau, or a literary technique previously unappreciated.

This is a fantastic addition to my personal library and a great choice for those interested in the Gothic. The only better introduction I could think of would be Four Gothic Novels, and only then because it also includes Mathew Lewis's The Monk, my favorite of all Gothic novels. show less

The "Three Gothic Novels" in this collection are: The Castle of Otranto, Vathek, and Frankenstein. 2 out of the 3 are rereads. Vathek was new to me. I did not find it as interesting as other novels in this collection, but it does represent the exoticism and demonism that is also part of the Gothic (e.g. The Monk). Overall, it seemed overlong. Both the Castle of Otranto and Frankenstein were refreshing to reread. Though Otranto comes across as almost naive in its horror -- it had some funny show more scenes with the servants, and wonderful atmosphere. I don't remember when I last read Frankenstein, but this time around I had many more questions about Frankenstein's work. He travels to England and other places to do "research" for the creation of the monster's mate. As I understood it before, the monster was made of parts of corpses -- so is Frankenstein carrying parts of corpses all over Europe as he does his "research"? Or were these creatures actually mechanical creations endowed somehow with life? It's not entirely clear. I can't really pity Frankenstein as he brought much of the destruction on himself, both by abandoning the monster at birth, and then by ignoring the monster's warnings. show less

Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole

The accidental death of Manfred's, a tyrannt, son on his wedding day spirals into the dark family secrets. Putatively to be the first gothic novel, it is disappointing. The plot is just insane and doesn't and won't make sense.

Rating: 1.5 stars

Vathek by William Beckford

A better title would be Beckford on Drugs or Inversion of the Temptation of Satan. Goaded by his evil mother, Vathek, an Arabic king, makes a deal with the devil for riches despite the show more several warnings from God. (Like hello, you are the damn king and already have so much gold and you want more?!) There are no chapters so this book has a dreamlike, stream of consciousness quality to it. The writing is quite fine and in excess, which is the point of the story. (Oscar Wilde may probably have read this as I can see its influence on Picture of Dorian Gray.) I like how Beckford is rewriting an inversion of the temptation of Christ but like Otranto, the narrative is just silly.

Rating: 2.5 stars

Frankenstein

Rating: 4 stars

Average: 2.5 stars show less

Gothic novel. Comparisons with 19th century novels: the prose has a breathless, breathy precipitate feel to it, helped largely by the almost non-existence of paragraphs. Punctuation is different: semi colons have a different function, used to divide the narrative voice from speakers. There are no quotations for speech and no paragraphing here either: speakers merge in and out of each other and in and out of the narrative voice in an endlessly long paragraph, which sometimes extends for a show more whole chapter. The text is amazingly fractured, with remarks left hanging in mid air, interruptions, inconsistencies and infelicitous innuendoes. The plotting is extremely slapdash, with crucial details added as and when they are needed, with absolutely no self-consciousness about the artificiality of this technique: the whole theory of narrative is different. Instead of Barthes’s “seeds planted that will later grow into fruition”, the plot lurches unsteadily from one crisis to another, with details supplied in order to extricate characters from impossible situations....

Read the full review on The Lectern.

http://thelectern.blogspot.com/2006/08/castle-of-otranto-horace-walpole.html show less