gsisk reviewed The Castle of Otranto: A Gothic Story (Oxford World's Classics) on + 192 more book reviews
No, by today's standard, it is not a horror story at all. I thought it more humorous than scary, and the people behave very implausibly. I'm glad the introduction explained this story, otherwise I would not have bothered to finish it; I did, because it is a classic and I was curious to see how it ends.
It has everything: A tyrant, his dutiful wife, older lords wanting to marry young maidens, damsels in distress, a questionable inheritance, knights, an unexpected hero, a priest with a past, mistaken identities that are revealed, lost and found children, sanctuaries, underground passages, caves, forests, a sword fight ... and of course, ghostly appearances ... and a murder in the end! All of this on 99 pages!
Two short passages made me laugh:
The knights gazed on each other, wondering where this would end.
***
Manfred: Grant me patience! Will this wench never come to the point?
It has everything: A tyrant, his dutiful wife, older lords wanting to marry young maidens, damsels in distress, a questionable inheritance, knights, an unexpected hero, a priest with a past, mistaken identities that are revealed, lost and found children, sanctuaries, underground passages, caves, forests, a sword fight ... and of course, ghostly appearances ... and a murder in the end! All of this on 99 pages!
Two short passages made me laugh:
The knights gazed on each other, wondering where this would end.
***
Manfred: Grant me patience! Will this wench never come to the point?
