Reviews

Edgar Huntly or, Memoirs of a Sleep-Walker by Charles Brockden Brown, Norman S. Grabo

victorialea's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

why was this harder to read than shakespeare. i hated this but the gothic parts slayed (pun not intended)

lucas_madden's review against another edition

2.0

What did I just read? The blurb on the back of my copy of this book talks about how this book is a metaphor for the early struggles of a new America, but this was like an 18th-century soap opera with all the crazy events that happened...

This was a book I was supposed to read for an undergraduate literature class in college, and I can remember why I didn't read it back then. It has been sitting on my bookcase since I graduated, but now that I've read it, it can go on to a new home because I don't need to read this again.

philip_bonanno's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The prose are so fun. Gothic aesthetic. Absurd British people. It’s a good time.

kevinmccarrick's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

annadrinksmilk's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

literally what jus happened

sirhe's review against another edition

3.0

American identity lies in its wilderness.

ifpoetshadmerch's review against another edition

challenging dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No

1.5

bobby_cav's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Edgar Huntly is a fascinating character and the exploration of his declining mental state drives the narrative forward

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Colonisation and Racism

ghostroom217's review against another edition

2.0

I'd read two of Brown's gothic novels (in the Library of America series) and enjoyed them well enough, but this one was a trial to get through. In a prefacing line, the author expresses pleasure and gratitude that his previous novel - Arthur Mervyn - was so well received, and that 'Edgar Huntly' had been written in a similar vein in hopes of appealing to those same readers.

This was my first misgiving, though the book started out fine and kept my attention for roughly a third of its length. After that, it dropped its narrative thread and seemed to jump on any distraction that wandered into the author's head. Maybe this was a result of the common serial format, but at one point I was reminded of an early season of '24' where one of the characters was menaced by a loose tiger for an episode or two. Brown jumps from situation to situation with little in the way of connective fiber, grasping for some new thrill to excite and please his readers rather than maintaining the integrity of the novel as a whole.

Another frequent intrusion was a densely-written page or two explaining motivation (so obviously in the face of common sense or reason) so his protagonist could maneuver into another short-lived and inconsequential plot contrivance.

The last 20 pages are unlikely expositions of how these random events tie together. I won't give any spoilers here, aside from logic being largely absent and coincidence playing an overextending role.

I'd skip this one or try one of his earlier novels first.

joeydallow's review against another edition

1.0

had to read for early american lit. worst book probably ever