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marisacarpico's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
A 3.5, but I'm loath to round up.
Surreal to finally finish this. Has been sitting on my shelf for probably a decade. Picked it up during an Austen phase and wanted to read this before tackling <i>Northanger Abbey</i>. Knew it would take me months to read and didn't feel up to staring at the tiny text until this year.
Was it worth it? Yeah, I guess. There are some great tropes of the gothic novel established here, some intriguing mysteries and a few ghoulish moments. However, it is easy to see why this is not as popular as in its heyday. Couple of aspects made this a chore to read. First, is the structure. Radcliffe is more focused on describing nature and, frankly, moralizing than her plotting or her characters. Whole swathes of the book go on and on in a way that feel both quaint and small-minded to a modern reader. Many of the landscapes are certainly beautiful and described well. I mostly liked them, but could see how they'd become tiresome to someone less engaged by the flowery language.
More obnoxious to me were the endless instances of Radcliffe extolling the virtues of the day through her characters. There Emily is with a front row seat to the culture of Venice and all she can think is how manmade art and culture can't stand up to the splendor of nature. Rather than show her virtuousness now, these things just make her seem like a bumpkin with no taste. Both Emily and her romantic hero Valancourt are described as being laudable because they're unskilled in society and, supposedly, far purer in their approach to life than others. And yet their supposed superiority is so couched in Christian puritanism and a sense of superiority that they come off as smug rubes who are too stupid to do anything but passively be battered around by life. In a modern era, they'd be evangelical homesteader influencers.
Still, I think you could forgive or at least ignore Radcliffe's grandstanding and antiquated world view if she cared more about the plot. Unfortunately, the intriguing mysteries she sets up and the touches of gothic horror are rushed or put off well beyond their peaks in favor of truly ENDLESS pages of Emily or other characters lamenting their states. M. St. Aubert tells Emily while on his deathbed that she should not be ruled by grief or an excess of emotion and yet she swoons at the slightest inconvenience and is so driven by her self-righteousness that nearly every conflict in the book is driven by her inability to just listen or explain a situation. Over and over we watch her or others misunderstand a person's intent, make assumptions and then when they are given the opportunity to explain, wail in misery rather than take that opportunity. One or two times it would be bearable, even dramatic, but it happens over and over and by the time it leads to Emily and Valancourt nearly ending their romance, you're just waiting around for them to have the conversation you know will solve everything.
That's somewhat true of the mysteries and horror Radcliffe peppers throughout, though in an even more disappointing way. Udolpho (once we finally get to it a third of the way in) is scary and strange and Montoni's villainy only adds to its sinister air. Yet while we get cool scenes like the rotting body Emily discovers in a tower or the mysterious picture behind the veil, Radcliffe defers explaining these threads so long that they both lose their intrigue and are ruined by essentially an information dump in the last few pages. There are some great ideas there with poisonings, affairs and assumed names, but they're revealed in such a tossed off way that a modern reader can't help but feel shafted. Peppered throughout or resolved with more drama (Montoni being dispatched offscreen is a shocking letdown), these beats might have more emotional impact. As is, they feel like Radcliffe realizing she's nearly at the end and she needs to snip off a bunch of hanging threads.
Beyond those major structural and character issues, there are also just a number stylistic choices that left me frustrated. Radcliffe seems unable to write either a funny character or a lovably quirky one. Best example would be Emily's maid Annette, who I think we're supposed to find charmingly unmannered, but who comes off as obnoxious most of the time. Her incessant rambling and asides lead Emily to treat her with disdain and superiority and it's hard to understand if the reader is intended to act any differently. It's solid character work to have her go on a tangent about her boyfriend Ludovico in the middle of relaying vital information to Emily, but we are beat over the head with it and it never comes off as charming or fun, just more of Radcliffe delaying her plotting for uninteresting character beats. In a TV show or film, the character would probably come off more enjoyably, on the page, she feels like one of many elements that waste our time.
When I started this in January, I assumed it would take me until June to finish and had to make peace with that. There were many times I looked longingly at other books on my shelf and I took a break or two to read other things during this. Ultimately, I'm glad I finally read it. I'm sure it will make <i>Northanger Abbey</i> an even richer experience. However, I do think that rather than insist I finish my hard copy, this one would have been perfectly fine and perhaps even more tolerable if I'd just done the audiobook.
Surreal to finally finish this. Has been sitting on my shelf for probably a decade. Picked it up during an Austen phase and wanted to read this before tackling <i>Northanger Abbey</i>. Knew it would take me months to read and didn't feel up to staring at the tiny text until this year.
Was it worth it? Yeah, I guess. There are some great tropes of the gothic novel established here, some intriguing mysteries and a few ghoulish moments. However, it is easy to see why this is not as popular as in its heyday. Couple of aspects made this a chore to read. First, is the structure. Radcliffe is more focused on describing nature and, frankly, moralizing than her plotting or her characters. Whole swathes of the book go on and on in a way that feel both quaint and small-minded to a modern reader. Many of the landscapes are certainly beautiful and described well. I mostly liked them, but could see how they'd become tiresome to someone less engaged by the flowery language.
More obnoxious to me were the endless instances of Radcliffe extolling the virtues of the day through her characters. There Emily is with a front row seat to the culture of Venice and all she can think is how manmade art and culture can't stand up to the splendor of nature. Rather than show her virtuousness now, these things just make her seem like a bumpkin with no taste. Both Emily and her romantic hero Valancourt are described as being laudable because they're unskilled in society and, supposedly, far purer in their approach to life than others. And yet their supposed superiority is so couched in Christian puritanism and a sense of superiority that they come off as smug rubes who are too stupid to do anything but passively be battered around by life. In a modern era, they'd be evangelical homesteader influencers.
Still, I think you could forgive or at least ignore Radcliffe's grandstanding and antiquated world view if she cared more about the plot. Unfortunately, the intriguing mysteries she sets up and the touches of gothic horror are rushed or put off well beyond their peaks in favor of truly ENDLESS pages of Emily or other characters lamenting their states. M. St. Aubert tells Emily while on his deathbed that she should not be ruled by grief or an excess of emotion and yet she swoons at the slightest inconvenience and is so driven by her self-righteousness that nearly every conflict in the book is driven by her inability to just listen or explain a situation. Over and over we watch her or others misunderstand a person's intent, make assumptions and then when they are given the opportunity to explain, wail in misery rather than take that opportunity. One or two times it would be bearable, even dramatic, but it happens over and over and by the time it leads to Emily and Valancourt nearly ending their romance, you're just waiting around for them to have the conversation you know will solve everything.
That's somewhat true of the mysteries and horror Radcliffe peppers throughout, though in an even more disappointing way. Udolpho (once we finally get to it a third of the way in) is scary and strange and Montoni's villainy only adds to its sinister air. Yet while we get cool scenes like the rotting body Emily discovers in a tower or the mysterious picture behind the veil, Radcliffe defers explaining these threads so long that they both lose their intrigue and are ruined by essentially an information dump in the last few pages. There are some great ideas there with poisonings, affairs and assumed names, but they're revealed in such a tossed off way that a modern reader can't help but feel shafted. Peppered throughout or resolved with more drama (Montoni being dispatched offscreen is a shocking letdown), these beats might have more emotional impact. As is, they feel like Radcliffe realizing she's nearly at the end and she needs to snip off a bunch of hanging threads.
Beyond those major structural and character issues, there are also just a number stylistic choices that left me frustrated. Radcliffe seems unable to write either a funny character or a lovably quirky one. Best example would be Emily's maid Annette, who I think we're supposed to find charmingly unmannered, but who comes off as obnoxious most of the time. Her incessant rambling and asides lead Emily to treat her with disdain and superiority and it's hard to understand if the reader is intended to act any differently. It's solid character work to have her go on a tangent about her boyfriend Ludovico in the middle of relaying vital information to Emily, but we are beat over the head with it and it never comes off as charming or fun, just more of Radcliffe delaying her plotting for uninteresting character beats. In a TV show or film, the character would probably come off more enjoyably, on the page, she feels like one of many elements that waste our time.
When I started this in January, I assumed it would take me until June to finish and had to make peace with that. There were many times I looked longingly at other books on my shelf and I took a break or two to read other things during this. Ultimately, I'm glad I finally read it. I'm sure it will make <i>Northanger Abbey</i> an even richer experience. However, I do think that rather than insist I finish my hard copy, this one would have been perfectly fine and perhaps even more tolerable if I'd just done the audiobook.
liisu's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
slow-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? No
4.5
kpanagod's review against another edition
4.0
4.25 stars
The last 60 pages kinda ate! This felt like a really long Scooby Doo episode that was intermittently interrupted by extensive backstories and long (but beautiful) descriptions of the scenery and sublimity of nature. The only parts I didn’t care for were Radcliffe’s random poems in the middle of chapters, which she included by claiming that the main character wrote them…ok girl. Also the love interest was kinda mid so it’s a good thing the main plot didn’t revolve around romance.
Regardless, it was cool to read one of the earliest/most prominent novels of the Gothic genre and to see how the genre has evolved by comparing it to later Gothic works.
The last 60 pages kinda ate! This felt like a really long Scooby Doo episode that was intermittently interrupted by extensive backstories and long (but beautiful) descriptions of the scenery and sublimity of nature. The only parts I didn’t care for were Radcliffe’s random poems in the middle of chapters, which she included by claiming that the main character wrote them…ok girl. Also the love interest was kinda mid so it’s a good thing the main plot didn’t revolve around romance.
Regardless, it was cool to read one of the earliest/most prominent novels of the Gothic genre and to see how the genre has evolved by comparing it to later Gothic works.
tiff_39's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
my_chellf's review against another edition
Read Udolpho with audio and physical. Majority read so counted that as the book.
heathssm's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
thiswayforhorrorrecs's review against another edition
This book is so boring and nothing is holding my attention.