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1puckers
Our May group read is The Monk by Matthew Lewis. Please join in the read and post any comments and thoughts on this thread.
3annamorphic
One chapter in, and so far a very satisfyingly Gothic novel with a definite edge of humor (although in a mocking way). I gather that the author was a very young man and it shows. But pretty enjoyable so far!
4BentleyMay
I have started reading The Monk, and so far I am enjoying the story - I'm only roughly 20% in.
5Helenliz
I'm beginning to wonder if there is any plot idea that is not going to be thrown into the mix here. Finished vol. 1. It's not what I expected.
6lilisin
I've already read this but I'm looking forward to reading everyone's comments as I loved this book.
7Helenliz
Quick Question, if I skim the poetry, will I miss much? I read the Gypsy song, but now I have 4 pages of whatever it is Theodore wrote. Do I need to read it?
8lilisin
>6 lilisin:
Usually I skip poetry and songs in books and whatnot but this was one of the few books where they are worth it as they foreshadow the rest of the book.
Usually I skip poetry and songs in books and whatnot but this was one of the few books where they are worth it as they foreshadow the rest of the book.
9MartinBodek
I have already read this book, so I'm not sure what the rules are in this forum, particularly concerning "spoilers." However, my review, in short, is that in the same manner that Dangerous Liaisons saved an entire genre (the epistolary novel) from never having a proper representative book written well, so too does this book rescue one (goth) from such a fate, in my humble opinion.
10annamorphic
I'm almost 100 pages in and so far the high point, definitely, is that Matilda had her portrait painted in the guise of the Virgin Mary (here called Madona sic, which is also hysterical) so that our hero The Monk would worship her. ONLY an Englishman could have come up with this device as the kind of thing the idolatrous Spanish Papists would do. Truly priceless.
11Helenliz
I'm currently reading Georgette Heyer's Regency Buck, in which our book and the author get a name check.
" ... Do not on any account look to the right, Miss Taverner! Monk Lewis is eagerly awaiting his opportunity to approach you, and once he succeeds in engaging your attentionyou will not be rid of him under half an hour, I never knew a man to talk so much!".
Mr Lewis, however, the author of that celebrated novel Ambrosio, or the Monk, was not one to be easily baulked of his prey. He soon buttonholed Miss Taverner, and proceeded to fulfil Captain Audley's prediciton until she was rescued from him by Sir John Lade, who came up to inquire whether she had a fancy to sell her bays. She had no such fancy, nor did she care for Sir John, who smelled of the stables, and used the language of his own grooms, but she was grateful to him for interrupting the flow of Mr Lewis's conversation, and treated his repeated offers to buy her horses with more patience than could have been expected of her.
I KNow Heyer was a sticker for historical accuracy, so I wonder if our author was a bit of a social bore.
" ... Do not on any account look to the right, Miss Taverner! Monk Lewis is eagerly awaiting his opportunity to approach you, and once he succeeds in engaging your attentionyou will not be rid of him under half an hour, I never knew a man to talk so much!".
Mr Lewis, however, the author of that celebrated novel Ambrosio, or the Monk, was not one to be easily baulked of his prey. He soon buttonholed Miss Taverner, and proceeded to fulfil Captain Audley's prediciton until she was rescued from him by Sir John Lade, who came up to inquire whether she had a fancy to sell her bays. She had no such fancy, nor did she care for Sir John, who smelled of the stables, and used the language of his own grooms, but she was grateful to him for interrupting the flow of Mr Lewis's conversation, and treated his repeated offers to buy her horses with more patience than could have been expected of her.
I KNow Heyer was a sticker for historical accuracy, so I wonder if our author was a bit of a social bore.
14BentleyMay
Finished on Sunday. I completely agree with both Helenliz and arukiyomi.
15annamorphic
>13 arukiyomi: It needs to be an opera!
