About this title: First published pseudonymously in 1764, The Castle of Otranto purported to be a translation of an Italian story of the time of the crusades. In it Walpole attempted, as he declared in the Preface to the second edition, `to blend the two kinds of romance: the ancient and the modern'. He gives us a series of catastrophes, ghostly interventions, ...
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Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Oxford Univ Pr
Date Published: 1982
ISBN-13:9780192816061ISBN:0192816063
Description: Fair. No Jacket. Book Severly Curled, Corners/Edges Shelf Worn, Sm. Creases On Spine, Sticker On Back Cover, Interior Unmarked, Reading Copy. read more
Edition: Later Printing
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Macmillan Pub Co, New York, New York, U.S.A.
Date Published: 1963
ISBN-13:9780020552000ISBN:0020552009
Description: Fair. No Jacket. 12mo-over 6¾"-7¾" tall. Scissor cuts to first three pages, does not affect text. Soiling to wraps. Light shelf wear. Solid copy with clean pages. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Collier Books
Date Published: 1966
Description: Grade: C. Catalog: Fiction General Synopsis: 128 pages. All the familiar components of the Gothic novel, the ominous darkness and the howling winds, the dire portents and the ineluctable prophecy... read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Harcourt Brace College Publishers
Date Published: 1963
ISBN-13:9780030119507ISBN:0030119502
Description: A good reading copy only. May have underlining or highlighting throughout. Book has tanning or browning due to normal aging process. -, Trade PaperBack, Good / 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: Very Good. Great condition for a used book! Minimal wear. 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: Acceptable. Former Library book. Shows definite wear, and perhaps considerable marking on inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Penguin Classics
Date Published: 2002-01-29
ISBN-13:9780140437676ISBN:0140437673
Description: Good. Minimal damage to the cover, dust jacket not necessarily included minimal wear to binding, majority of pages undamaged, minimal to no highlighting/underlining of text, no missing p. read more
Description: Good. 0020552009 Former library item may have library binding and show stamps, stickers or other marks. Items not meeting quality expectations may be returned. Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. read more
Binding: PAPERBACK
Publisher: Harcourt Brace College Publishers
ISBN-13:9780030119507ISBN:0030119502
Description: Very Good. 0030119502 Paperback. Name/Inscriptoin on inside presentation page. Binding, Cover/Title, and Pages in Very Good condition. Thanks for your business! read more
"I can say that since my university studies I have known Horace Walpole, his Strawberry Hill neo-Gothic villa, and his novel The Castle of Otranto. No wonder, the theme of my diploma thesis was neo-Gothic architecture. Already at that time, I was a great admirer of him. Only now, I have a possibility to read The Castle of Otranto for the first time. Moreover, I can read it in its original English-eighteenth-century version, which is great. Giants and goblins haunt the castle, which has to be saved from destruction. There is a prophecy, the knight of the gigantic saber, and strong passions that reminds me sometimes of contemporary soap operas. Matilda, Isabella, and Bianca, are three young women who consider themselves to be saint and faultless. When they fall all three in love with a Theodore, they are no more saints as they become jealous. Theodore is a prototype of medieval gallantry and chivalry. I suppose that Horace Walpole reflected himself in that character. The ending of the story is emotionally at its extreme and there are passages that are unclear or quite ridiculous. For example, Matilda, who is dying by the hand of her own father, cries, '-oh, my mother! What will she feel! - Will you comfort her, my lord? Will you put her away? Indeed she loves you - Oh, I am faint! Bear me to the castle - can I live to have her close my eyes?' By the way, today when I completed my reading of The Castle of Otranto is the day of St Theodore..."
"Somewhere in the latter part of the second chapter, my attention began to drift. I pushed through, however, as I have a particular interest in Romantic & Victorian literature. I wanted to know the resolution, but I wasn't necessarily eager to see the in-between parts. I do like the over-the-top nature of this -- if you're gonna go supernatural, go all the way, right? Apparently so. Giant limbs appearing (with no explanation), giant helmets crushing characters, skeletal and ghostly haunts...when taking it for the ridiculous it is, what's not to love about such a crazy adventure? Still, while I appreciate its role in beginning the Gothic trend, I felt that the story dragged and then left some bits unresolved (REALLY, the giant appendages?). Still...I can't help but feel that soap operas owe a lot to Walpole's roots for dramatic flair."
This book was written in 1764, and started the whole Gothic craze that was so popular in the 19th century. But honestly, for a modern reader, scenes that were designed to cause fear and shock now wind up sounding really funny! I mean, take the opening. A father is planning the wedding on his only son. But before the ceremony can take place, a giant helmet falls out of the sky and squishes the groom to death. Who can take that seriously? And that's only the beginning, although really, it's the most ridiculous part.
If you want some entertainment, this is pretty fun. But I'm sure it's not entertaining the way the author meant it to be. It's just so dated. But it's still good for a laugh."
Evidently this is, like, THE Gothic Novel. The One. The Gothic Novel against which all other Gothic Novels are compared. And it's... well, it's short. That's about the best I can say for it. And it's somewhat creepy, and while I understand the role it plays in literature, and I appreciate having read it because every single piece of research I found for my paper later in the semester kept referring to it... it's only okay."
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