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The Castle of Otranto
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R.G
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Sep 04, 2019 01:56AM
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I recall that being a fun book. I'll give it a re-read. I look forward to reading what others think of it.
I'm 1.5 weeks in and already incredibly behind on school reading, but if I manage to catch up I may definitely give this one a shot!
I already started and so far I'm enjoying it. Still not sure what's going on with the giant helmet.
Lara wrote: "I already started and so far I'm enjoying it. Still not sure what's going on with the giant helmet."I literally only needed this to be super hyped for this book. I also want to know about the giant helmet now. :'D
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That confused me too, like was it a paranormal thing that caused it or something? It was the only bit that I just couldn't grasp at all.
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I literally only needed this to be super hyped for this book. I also want to know ..."
It's a quick enough read if you do get to it. I read it I one session but that's because I'm going back to college next week and I knew I wouldn't have time later this month. But I thought it was an interesting story, with some nice paranormal references.
No spoilers, from the first ~10-20 pages: "Sir, whoever you are, take pity on a wretched princess standing on the brink of destruction: assist me to escape from this fatal castle, or in a few moments I may be made miserable for ever."This book has some absolute banger lines. It's such a good time so far. I cannot wait to talk about some of the first big plot stuff because it's all so funny and just a fun read.
I just started reading. Very gothic--the groom's mother fainted on the second page.
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I loved that the story gets going from the first page, just total chaos.
Yeah, I expected a slow setup but it dives right in. It just hit me now too... The giant helmet may have something to do with the prophecy mentioned before the wedding about the real owner growing too large and taking the castle back. IDK...
This is a little off-topic but I finally saw It 2 and Stephen King's appearance is awesome.Ok, back to Castle of Otrano. Prince Manfred is a dick.
"It is not a saucy herald that will save your son if you do not return to the princess!" Nice.
I finished reading it and I enjoyed the experience. I thought it was a quick and engaging read. I like the fact that the motivations of Manfred were clear and believable. I also liked that as readers we got to see that sometimes he regretted his actions and second guessed himself. Killing his wife would probably have been a faster route to get what he wanted, but that thought never crossed his mind. I feel that Manfred as a character was better constructed than the other characters in the story. I think everyone else was two dimensional and predictable.
I have read few books that are considered “gothic” and I don’t remember them having humorous elements. Has anybody read gothic novels with some humor in the story? What other gothic books would you recommend?
Southern Gothic usually has pretty dark humor. William Gay made some humorous insights in his book about an undertaker digging up his clients and dressing them up for dates.
Twilight by William Gay, that's it.Anyway I thought Manfred got off pretty easy.
The first 20 and last 20 pages had some pretty thrilling moments but there's a huge chunk in the middle that felt like it was dragging a bit. Honestly, I think a large part of what made it drag was the formatting frequently made it difficult to parse. I do love the idea of the giant spooky armor which I don't feel like I have seen in literature before and was more akin to like... Scooby Doo than other gothic novels I've read.
Olivia wrote: "more akin to like... Scooby Doo than other gothic novels I've read."Haha
a lot of the reviews of this book called it "melodramatic Gothic trash" and I'd have to agree, but I also loved it so what does that say about me. haha!
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It kinda felt like a soap opera, in that cheesy sort of way but you still need to find out what happens next
