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The Monk
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The Monk Matthew Lewis
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4 stars This book surprised me. I had never heard of it before it was chosen for a challenge in my Reading 1001 group. The plot was so intricate and complex. And the writing was perfectly taut, which gave it so much tension. I found the language so beautifully drawn that I often reversed to reread certain sentences and paragraphs simply to enjoy the loveliness or the words. I did find the book seemed to portray a prejudice against Catholics, but I guess I forgive that because of the nature of the story. It is also a very old book and so I cannot judge it based on today's standards.
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The book is considered one of the first Gothic novels and one that is "male Gothic" specializing in horror (according to Wikipedia) and was published in 1796 by Matthew Gregory Lewis (English Author). This story of scandalous behavior may have been even shocking at the time but not new. In the end, it reminded me of events found in the Bible and Greek literature. There really is a lot of characters and their intertwining lives was sometimes hard to keep track of but in the end it did all come together and centered on the main character of the Monk known as Ambrosio. He is about 30 years of age and has been raised in the Abbey his entire life and a favorite of all. It is the story of his demise because of the sin of pride. Matilda is known as Rosario, a boy, who gains access to Ambrosio through her disguise as a boy. She is the character of wickedness in the book and of supernatural forces and magical powers. Matilda has too much power and Ambrosio is weak. The book has a great deal of romance element with Matilda's love for Ambrosio, Agnes's love of Don Raymond, Don Lorenzo's love for Antonia. The novel is full of evil characters; the Prioress who misuses her power in ways that do not fit her station, the Monk with his sin of pride, lust and murder and others. The book is set during the inquisition and includes references to the tortures and auto-da-fé. The cripts, mouldering corpses and relics play parts to make the book truly a Gothic work.
Read: January 2018Rating: 4 stars
I went into this book with low expectations, due to the time it was written. I was, however, pleasantly surprised. I found the language, plotting, and pace very accessible. The character development was terrific, especially for the more sinister characters. There was an atmosphere of creepiness and evil that really set the tone for the book. I was also impressed by the large cast of female characters.
I was surprised to learn that Lewis wrote the book at such a young age (20) and wrote it in a relatively short amount of time. I think this book definitely deserves to be on the list.
3 starsEarly Gothic fan-fiction by someone who clearly didn't think that Ann Radcliffe went far enough in the way of horror in her books. The story was entertaining, but while there were a lot of threads being spun, every plot twist was signalled so clearly in advance that there were no surprises. Although I should say that I was surprised at how explicit the story was. I was aware that it was explicit in the sense that Lewis does not hint at supernatural phenomena, he displays them as realities. But I did not expect the brutal crimes to be every bit as vivid as in a modern day crime thriller. Unfortunately I found the most interesting supernatural parts in the subplots and side stories.
I listened to the LibriVox recording, which was read by James K. White who always delivers high quality.
Leni wrote: "3 starsEarly Gothic fan-fiction by someone who clearly didn't think that Ann Radcliffe went far enough in the way of horror in her books. The story was entertaining, but while there were a lot of..."
I really like the description of this book as gothic fan-fiction. I actually used your comment to describe it to a friend of mine. It seems appropriate to me in how it takes so many aspects just barely hinted at in other gothic novels I've read and accentuates the actual violence of them.
I enjoyed this book much more than I expected to after reading the description. I was surprised at just how violent and dark it was, taking things only hinted at in other gothic novels of this time I've read and describing them in a fairly graphic manner. Based on the time it was written I did not expect so much "voluptuous" description of the women and gore in the murders. I can't say that the events of the story surprised me, except that I was expecting it to be much more subtle. I also appreciated that the ending was not quite so neatly wrapped up, just because it was so much more violent. I also enjoyed the stories of Agnes, Antonia, and Lorenzo much more than specifically Ambrosio's story, although that might just be due to him having absolutely not redeeming qualities in my view.
The Monk 4 stars
A dark and violent story about hypocrisy, kidnapping, rape and murder. Surprisingly readable for being so old.
I liked this book a lot - it's a dark, creepy gothic horror novel that doesn't shy away from violence and blood and guts. I listened to an audio version read by Nicholas Boulton, who was wonderful, and the songs in the book were actually performed in the recording. There was also additional narration/singing by Georgina Sutton - it was really more of a performance than just a reading. Some of the book was predictable, but I was very absorbed in the story and listened to the whole thing in one day.I gave it 4/5 stars here on Goodreads.
4 Stars
This is the story of brother Ambrosio a young monk who is the rising star of his monastery and a sensation in Madrid, he is a speaker of much renown and his virtues are celebrated far and wide. Abandoned as a small child the church is the only life he knows and he only leaves the monastery to preach at a local church this and his own belief in his own virtue makes him a target for dark forces that want to destroy him.
This is a gothic story, the monastery is a sinister setting especially with the convent grave yard and catacombs next door and the way the Monk's downfall occurs is very melodramatic.
The story is about the fight between good and evil and it keeps you guessing until the very end which side will win the battle.
Before reading this I had actually seen a film based on the book, I can tell you now the film is a lot more light hearted and nowhere near as dark as the book it is also significantly different in terms of the story itself as well.