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The Black Robe
This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curated for quality. Quality assurance was conducted on each of these books in an attempt to remove books with imperfections introduced by the digitization process. Though we have made best efforts - the books may have occasional errors that do not impede the reading experience. We believe this work is culturally importan...more
Paperback, 336 pages
Published
October 11th 2007
by BiblioLife
(first published 1881)
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Like most of Wilkie Collins's books, The Black Robe is full of plots and counter-plots, and secrets both important or important-to-Victorians-but-nothing-really-by-21st-century-standards.
It definitely sucked me in, though I spent a large junk of it gnashing my teeth in frustration. The opening protagonist, Romayne, is one of the most irritating men in fiction, whose huge ego and self-obsession make him the perfect mark for con men. He starts the book whining about people expecting him to think a...more
It definitely sucked me in, though I spent a large junk of it gnashing my teeth in frustration. The opening protagonist, Romayne, is one of the most irritating men in fiction, whose huge ego and self-obsession make him the perfect mark for con men. He starts the book whining about people expecting him to think a...more
I'm perfectly willing to admit that Collins books are junk food, but this one wasn't even particularly tasty.
To begin with the entire plot centers around a Jesuit conspiracy to cause a rich nobleman to return an estate to the Catholic church that was seized by Henry the VIII. This ridiculous premise is unbacked by any explanation of why this estate is of any particular interest. This made the whole novel feel slack. Collins also sets up a race between the nobleman getting married and converting...more
To begin with the entire plot centers around a Jesuit conspiracy to cause a rich nobleman to return an estate to the Catholic church that was seized by Henry the VIII. This ridiculous premise is unbacked by any explanation of why this estate is of any particular interest. This made the whole novel feel slack. Collins also sets up a race between the nobleman getting married and converting...more
I really liked The Black Robe, but think it's something readers will either like or loathe. It started off a tad slowly before gaining steady momentum, but I "had" to finish the last hundred pages in one sitting and at times it was difficult to put down. I found the well-written, informative novel more interesting because of its social commentary. I’ve come to really like Collins' writing, his novels are so far three for three, and I have a few others in the queue.
Father Benwell divides a couple...more
Father Benwell divides a couple...more
Previous to the Black Robe the only other Collins novel that I had read was The Moonstone. I really enjoyed the Moonstone, but I don’t think these two works are even comparable. I was shocked at how much more serious in tone, purpose, and prose the Black Robe was. Others more familiar with Collins may not have been so surprised.
The Black Robe is a masterpiece if you ask me. More here than in the Moonstone do you see Collins’ true insight to the workings of the human mind. The characters of this...more
The Black Robe is a masterpiece if you ask me. More here than in the Moonstone do you see Collins’ true insight to the workings of the human mind. The characters of this...more
I love Wilkie Collins, but sometimes his Victorianism becomes a little overpoweringly ridiculous. Far too many of his books use somehow illegitimate or accidental marriages as shocking plot twists and, after a certain point, it becomes absurd, if still rather charming. This was hardly his strongest effort - Collins' greatest strength is his characterization, and none of the characters here were particularly engaging. Try The Woman in White or The Moonstone first, if you're interested in Collins.
meraviglioso collins, che sa appassionare il lettore- catapultandolo in un mondo di intrighi e provvidenziali colpi di scena, mettendogli davanti agli occhi personaggi vivissimi (su tutti: lo spaventoso gesuita benwell), mischiando sapientemente critica sociale, analisi psicologica, tragedie, passioni e storie d'amore. un maestro.
I read this for a book group and it was a very provocative read. We had an excellent discussion. I'm not sure that I would have appreciated it nearly as much without the knowledge that I was going to get to talk about it. This is not a "happy" book but it is powerful, probing the depths of personal faith and culpability to others.
I realised part way through that I had read this book before but couldnt remember what happened.
This is the story of a troubled man, whose life and soul are literally torn between his wife and the catholic priests who are attempting to convert him to Catholicism (in order to gain the lands he inherited that had been removed from the Church by Henry VIII).
Big power struggles, points of law between UK civil and Catholic law (when are people married and divorced? and what happens if someone dies in...more
This is the story of a troubled man, whose life and soul are literally torn between his wife and the catholic priests who are attempting to convert him to Catholicism (in order to gain the lands he inherited that had been removed from the Church by Henry VIII).
Big power struggles, points of law between UK civil and Catholic law (when are people married and divorced? and what happens if someone dies in...more
Not one of Collins' best, but still better than most. Interesting central plot point although the main character was a tad too weak.
This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curated for quality. Quality assurance was conducted on each of these books in an attempt to remove books with imperfections introduced by the digitization process. Though we have made best efforts - the books may have occasional errors that do not impede the reading experience. We believe this work is culturally important and have elected to bring the book back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed work...more
Intriguing plot with many twists and turns
W. COLLINS enterteining as always
The black robe refers to a priest that, through subterfuge, converts a man to become a priest because he wants the man's land holdings and destroys this man life as well as his marriage. I didn't like this as well as Collins' Woman in White.
I am and ardent fan of Wilkie Collins. Most of his books are unputdownable for me. But life demands. So the breaks. But gripping and full of suspense...............
Completed reading and I wasn't disappointed!
Completed reading and I wasn't disappointed!
Not very PC by today's standards but an interesting read.
May 09, 2013
Danielle
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A close friend of Charles Dickens' from their meeting in March 1851 until Dickens' death in June 1870, William "Wilkie" Collins was one of the best known, best loved, and, for a time, best paid of Victorian fiction writers. But after his death, his reputation declined as Dickens' bloomed. Now, Collins is being given more critical and popular attention than he has received for fifty years. Most of...more
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