About this title: The story of a monk who succumbs to the temptations of a young girl, Lewis's early 19th-century novel was vilified in its time as obscene, blasphemous, and morally corrupt. It was, however, admired by many of the great writers of its time--from the Marquis de Sade to Emily Brontė.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Date Published: 1998
ISBN-13:9780192833945ISBN:0192833944
Description: Fine. No dust jacket as issued. Clean unread copy. Tiny nick from edge of front cover next to spine. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 496 p. Oxford World's Classics (Paperback). Audience: General/trade. read more
Description: Good. 039417481X Cover has one inch tear. Spine creases. Cover shows some wear. Page corner bends. NO highlighting, no underlining, no page markings of any kind. Tight binding. read more
Description: Good. 34z add Spine is cracked. Books rated "Good" may have some notes, underlining, or highlighting. These books also may contain the previous owner's name, stamp, sticker, or gift inscription, or may be library discards. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN-13:9780192833945ISBN:0192833944
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Acceptable. Shows definite wear, and perhaps considerable marking on inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Used, Very Good. SOFT COVER. This copy has visible but minimal creasing of the spine, has a name, inscription, stamp or some other indications of previous ownership, has some foxing of the pages, is in Excellent Condition Overall. Note: expect tanning of any paperback more than a few years old, regardless of condition. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: AVON
Date Published: 1975
Description: VG Used, Very Good in VG jacket. PAPERBACK, VG/VG, AVON, 1975, 1st printing, 7.2 oz. This copy has visible but minimal creasing of the spine, is in otherwise Very Good condition. Note: expect tanning of any paperback more than a few years old, regardless of condition. read more
Description: Acceptable. Book is in good reading condition. Cover has slight wear to its edges/corners. Spine edges show slight wear. Spine has creases. read more
"Matthew Lewis's "The Monk" is not without merit, and many people find it a gripping read. I, however, will probably never pick it up again, having read it once for my Gothic literature class. While many of the supporting characters are interesting and the examinations of superstition and pride are thorough (not to mention rather damning), the book left a bitter taste in my mouth. This mainly stems, I believe, from the book's attitude towards the actions of Ambrosio, that fallen monk of the title, who descends to the lowest depths when presented with temptation. There was just the slightest indication that the reader was to be titillated by his terrible lusts and desires. To an extent, that's fine; it's what the whole book is about, after all. But at a certain point it crossed the line where those indications should end. As he is succeeding in his horrific crime, I still felt like the book was cuing me to remain "thrilled" in my disgust. I found it jarring and it took me out of the action.
So...really, my problem with the book is mostly tonal in nature. Many other readers don't get the same thing from it, so I certainly would not say it's a fatal flaw. It just tripped the wrong wire in me."
"This bizarre Gothic romance retains the power to make us squirm hundreds of years after its most dark and transgressive elements have become as commonplace as the supernatural-themed TV dramas that continue to spring up on basic cable like mushrooms after a rain. Maybe it's that the stilted, pre-psychoanalytic characterizations only take on the feel of actual human experience as the characters descend into madness and obsession; maybe it's the way that the novel's creaky romantic and melodramatic elements gradually fall away as the protagonists descend from transgression into evil and madness.
Lewis wrote The Monk when he was quite young, and he seems to try his wings as an author before our eyes, by weaving poems, ballads, and independent shorter tales into an intricate melodrama which sets the stage for the main action. The monk Ambrosio is the toast of pious Madrid society, where his impeccable virtue, rousing sermons, and magnetic character are known to all. He refuses mercy to the transgressing young nun Agnes, but his only true fault seems to be an excess of self-regard. However, when a young initiate under Ambrosio's tutelage reveals himself to be in fact the lovely young woman Matilda, struck with love for the virtuous Monk, Ambrosio's world is soon thrown into chaos. Temptation is quickly followed by sin, guilt, and even darker temptation.
The speed of Ambrosio's descent is shocking and stands in dreamlike contrast to the sluggish melodrama which makes up much of the novel. Before long, Ambrosio has committed fornication, witchcraft and murder, and attempted rape, and Satan himself has made an appearance. The powerful final chapter heightens the book's fearful sense of inevitability- the supporting cast and digressive narration drop away completely as Ambrosio is apprehended and faces the horrors of the Inquisition. Ambrosio's greatest horror, however, is the horror of facing his guilt- unable to do so, he pleads for aid to Satan, who finishes the Monk's ruin cruelly and unforgettably.
This book, in its excesses and virtues, prefigures many elements of popular horror in the intervening 200 years or so- it is sexy, sensationally transgressive, sometimes muddled in intention but still convincing when dealing with the abjection and evil that touch every life."
"While very controversial in it's time, the sensual aspects of this book are so tame now that they just fly by you unless you make pains to notice them. A fun ride which established many fictional conventions, the main one of which is the torture scene. Lewis invented the idea of an inquisitional torturer having a surgical-tray-like array of instruments at his disposal. This isn't at all how the inquisition or the witch trials worked. Mainly, they just used the strappado: a simple and effective way of creating pain by tying a persons wrists behind their backs, throwing a rope over a ceiling beam or something and pulling their arms upwards. Ouch. No tools needed really. But think of how many inquisitional torture scenes you've seen in movies and read about... All thanks to Lewis and begun in this book. He pretty much fully realizes that scene. I don't know that anyone has really made significant improvements since then."
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