Charles Brockden Brown (1771-1810) was an American novelist, historian and editor, who has been recognized as one of the first American novelists a...
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Jun 14, 2011
Shawn
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I read WIELAND: OR THE TRANSFORMATION for different reasons than I think the majority will read it. I'll bet a lot of people read it because it's a very early example of the "American Novel". Most are probably assigned it for a class. Perhaps some read it because of interest in a particular aspect (religious mania, biloquisim as portrayed in popular culture...God knows). I read it as part of a general overview I've taken on of the Gothic novel and so, being a "root of American
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Feb 06, 2012
Stephanie
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Without a lot of time for this review, I'll just sort of have to make some quick comments:
The actual events in this book were entertaining enough (if not completely ridiculous, but the author continually resorts to the excuse of these resulting from various "phenomena"). I understand the reasoning behind Wieland's position in the history of American literature, and for that I give credit where it is due. However: I was so frustrated by the characters that during my reading, More...
The actual events in this book were entertaining enough (if not completely ridiculous, but the author continually resorts to the excuse of these resulting from various "phenomena"). I understand the reasoning behind Wieland's position in the history of American literature, and for that I give credit where it is due. However: I was so frustrated by the characters that during my reading, More...
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Jul 30, 2008
Tamara
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I must note that this one is an acquired taste, as it is pretty dark, but I enjoyed it for its originality. Think 19th century X-files - spontaneous human combustion and all (though not aliens!). Mysterious, sometimes frightening and serious - also must read "Memoirs" as it is critical to "Wieland" and not just an addendum.
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Jun 02, 2011
Caroline666
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Trying to follow the plot of this novel through Brown's turgid, dense, overgrown prose is like trying to hack your way through a jungle at blackest midnight. You have to keep moving as fast as you can or else become utterly lost, so through sheer accumulation the tone of this book is hysterical and frightening even when nothing much is happening. Luckily, the principal concerns of the book are fascinating, as the story of Theodore Wieland, who is manipulated through cynical means into believing
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Feb 01, 2011
Allison
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The language of this story, as well as the narrator's (& author's?) need to share every little detail, made this story a slow read. The story is a little skewed since the narrator gives every detail about Latin pronunciations or plays the group puts on, but glosses over the scary parts of who's hiding in her closet. The ending is a deus ex machina, and a major letdown as far as whodunit goes. I guess this can be looked past, since it IS the first American mystery, but it's not worth the read out
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Nov 30, 2009
Keely
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One thing which defines the Gothic movement is a ponderous and measured movement. Scenes and events are allowed to unfold minutely, creating tone not with a word, but with a constant and inexorable movement. This allows the author to subtly ease the reader into a strange and consuming world without relying overmuch on symbols and archetypes.
The world of Wieland is strange, and neurotically consuming, but Brown's wealth of words are more overstimulating than engrossing. To paraphrase More...
The world of Wieland is strange, and neurotically consuming, but Brown's wealth of words are more overstimulating than engrossing. To paraphrase More...
Apr 09, 2008
Dina
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One of the earliest American novels ever written, Charles Brockden Brown's Wieland is a deeply dark novel, at times containing scenes of such terror and violence that I can see why Edgar Allen Poe would find inspiration here. It is Gothic, romantic, mysterious...it is a duel between the spiritual and logical, and if you ask me, I think the author takes the side of logic. Often when the start of the American novel is discussed, James Fenimore Cooper is usually the first name to come up. Why is
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Jul 23, 2011
Andy
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I'm not good at star ratings, if you haven't figured that out by now. Does this book warrant a five star rating in the way that I feel Cloud Atlas, or the Interpreters, or Faulkner's As I Lay Dying, would? Probably not, but in context, I think it does.
Few people whom I have met or talked shop (about books) with have even heard of Charles Brockden Brown, or Wieland, and The Transformation and Memoirs of Carwin the Biloquist. It's a long title because it's actually two works in th More...
Few people whom I have met or talked shop (about books) with have even heard of Charles Brockden Brown, or Wieland, and The Transformation and Memoirs of Carwin the Biloquist. It's a long title because it's actually two works in th More...
Sep 01, 2010
Grania
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Oct 28, 2009
Despite the fact that I think Brown is a terrible writer, I wrote my dissertation on him. The reason is simple--his novels are fascinating in how they reflect the time he lived in. I was writing about him almost exactly 200 years after he wrote his novels. and the parallels between the two periods are amazing--a desperate seeking for a foundation to build trust on, a fear of strangers, a doubt about the truthfulness of appearances and experiences. I found it all strangely fascinating and his
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May 14, 2011
Katie
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So Charles Brockden Brown might be the first American novelist. You'd think he'd be a bit better known, but with a book like Wieland, I can see why I hadn't even heard of him until taking an American Literary Traditions class in college. I have to admit that his way with descriptions is admirable, but entirely too wordy to keep my attention, even with the spontaneous human combustion, disembodied voices, and mysterious deaths. It was too much for my taste.
Nov 07, 2010
Shane
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Charles Brocken Brown is a horrible writer. How he made a living writing I don't know. His gothic story is filled with pages of mindless rambling that does nothing to progress or develop the story.
The most interesting part of the narrative is the fact he wrote from a female point of view. The notion that he did this to relate to Carwin's proficiency in misleading others by false voices is intriguing.
The plot is a good one, but horribly written.
The most interesting part of the narrative is the fact he wrote from a female point of view. The notion that he did this to relate to Carwin's proficiency in misleading others by false voices is intriguing.
The plot is a good one, but horribly written.
Jan 16, 2010
Cynthia
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Brown's American gothic novels should be so much better known than they are and he could easily lay claim to being the US's first novelist of distinction. Wieland is possibly his strongest novel though the excellent Arthur Mervyn was my introduction to him.
The book poses the question of how far rational, Enlightenment principles can prevail when we are always pray to our inner demons and darkness, especially in the new country known as America. Lest this sound too philosophical the b More...
The book poses the question of how far rational, Enlightenment principles can prevail when we are always pray to our inner demons and darkness, especially in the new country known as America. Lest this sound too philosophical the b More...
Jun 19, 2008
Peter
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Absolutely mind-blowing. Generally considered the first novel written by a native-born American. An amazing metaphor for the nature of democracy (written about 20 years after the American Revolution) and whether or not it can actually work, in the guise of a Gothic novel. A mysterious ventriloquist (or "biloquist," as the word was then) seems to wreak havoc amongst a highly intelligent family. The inference: In a democracy, do the people essentially give up their "voices"
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Apr 01, 2011
Heidi
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One of my very favorite novels of all time--a man spontaneously combusts! a strong woman evades a murderer! a man goes nuts and kills his family! What's not to love? (okay the last one isn't so pleasant, but this is based on a true story --from the 1700s).
Read many, many times.
Read many, many times.
Jul 30, 2011
Chris
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One of the earliest American novels, Wieland is written in a old style that can be difficult to get through. After an interesting start, this novel moves exceedingly slowly, and I gave up on it after 100 pages. I can't recommend this unless you want to punish yourself.
Sep 01, 2009
Cheryl
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Okay, this was for an American Lit class, it's supposed to reflect the instability the country was feeling in the early 1800's, which is when it is written. If you want to ignore all that, it's an early gothic-like story with a bizarre finish and a strong female protagonist.
Dec 10, 2009
David
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Gloriously bad but there is more going on than meets first glance. Most agree that Brown was an atrocious writer, but he is also known as the first American novelist. There is a lot to think about here historically and in the bigger picture of the American novel.
Jun 14, 2011
Liz
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Wieland is a surprisingly good gothic fiction. One of the better reads encountered in a university setting. A well off family encounters an unknown of supernatural proportions. Unique psychological interpretations of otherwise rational individuals prove interesting and destructive. The female narrator is a far cry from your typical female in distress associated with a gothic horror piece, especially in the period it was written. There are many ways to interpret Browns book but I can't help but c
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Jun 14, 2011
Chris
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I have no idea how I acquired this book. The only reason I kept it around it because I thought it was Byron's Werner, which I had further mistaken for Goethe's The Sorrows of Young Werther. It's all of the W's, you see, that had me confused.
Set on the Schuylkill banks just outside Philadelphia, Wieland is apparently one of America's earlier novels. It is filled with horror, mystery, and suspense--much of which is spoiled by both the back cover of the book and the introduction. Perhap More...
Set on the Schuylkill banks just outside Philadelphia, Wieland is apparently one of America's earlier novels. It is filled with horror, mystery, and suspense--much of which is spoiled by both the back cover of the book and the introduction. Perhap More...
Jul 31, 2010
Barry
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First American gothic novel? I read it because Caleb Crain wrote the introductory essay. I loved parts of it, but didn't care for the way the last quarter of it went on and on and on.
Jun 26, 2011
Kristyn
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Wonderful! Not only does this book enable the reader (and characters) to question the validity of their senses, it forces the reader to question the validity of a self-professed confused and hazy narrator. Does Clara use this self-profession as a crutch to sway the reader into believing her often fantastic story, or is she just telling the truth?
May 31, 2011
Lindsay
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Though forced to read this for a survey course, this novel is suprisingly good. There's supernatural happenings and violence--a good read.
Jan 27, 2008
Amy
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At the tail end of my college career, I took a class in Gothic Lit.. This was I think the first book I read in the class, and it absolutely changed my life.
It sucked me in with its delicious eeriness. I just love the melodrama and spooky images of night in the woods, the lightning, the psychological abnormalities...it paved the way for the thrillers in print and on screen to come.
Now, every chance I get to read anything Gothic, I go out of my way. There are a bunch of rea More...
It sucked me in with its delicious eeriness. I just love the melodrama and spooky images of night in the woods, the lightning, the psychological abnormalities...it paved the way for the thrillers in print and on screen to come.
Now, every chance I get to read anything Gothic, I go out of my way. There are a bunch of rea More...
Feb 08, 2008
Christine
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This novel is part of American Gothic fiction, but unfortunately is not as well known as it should be. It is especially interesting for its interest in the natural landscape as it impacts the human psyche. Unlike Uncle Silas, it retains elements of the supernatural that are never explained. Why it is particularly interesting is that the influence of the unknown wilderness of America is used to capture the most instinctual fears of the reader. Read it along with Uncle Silas and the Moonstone a
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Dec 16, 2009
John
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Not many people will be into this novel because it's written in that awkward, over-wrought, melodramatic late 18th-century English style (like William Godwin or Horace Walpole). But I love it because its the forebear of all the great 19th century gothic novels, especially those written by American authors like Hawthorne, Poe, Melville, etc. Brockden-Brown was the "Father of the American Novel," so this one sets the stage for a lot of what comes later. It's a story of shameful passions
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Jun 14, 2011
John
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Published in 1798, 'Wieland; or, the Transformation' is one of the earliest novels written in the U.S., and is an unusual twist on the Gothic novel, utilizing 'actual' phenomena instead of the usual 'fantastic' phenomena like ghosts.
I found it creepy and intense and suspenseful and evocative, and muchly enjoyed it. The setting and time period also render it engaging if you're interested in early U.S. life. Most versions include 'The Memoirs of Carwin the Biloquist', which gives you a More...
I found it creepy and intense and suspenseful and evocative, and muchly enjoyed it. The setting and time period also render it engaging if you're interested in early U.S. life. Most versions include 'The Memoirs of Carwin the Biloquist', which gives you a More...
Jan 27, 2010
Laura
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Depressing and strange. This was a difficult book to stick with to the end.
