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colinsk's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
3.0
nadaoq's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
hadu's review against another edition
3.0
I originally bought this book to get in the mood for Halloween thinking it was going to be a creepy story. I had read [b:Uncle Silas|6353342|Uncle Silas|Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327351196s/6353342.jpg|2847087] and loved it. I assumed "The House by the Churchyard" would be just as good and hoped it would be especially because the book is so thick!
I felt overwhelmed by the number of characters when I first began reading. The confusion cleared up some as I read on but not completely because there were so many personalities to keep straight. I remember reading for some time and wondering when something scary would happen. There were points when I thought it was starting to finally go down a dark path but then it wouldn't last.
I found the storyline to be a mixture of a comedy and murder/mystery (but mostly comedy) rather than a ghost story as the title of the book will fool you into thinking. It's interesting to be able to laugh at 19th century humor in the 21st century. Although I didn't end up reading the kind of novel I wanted for the season I still enjoyed my time with this book. As in "Uncle Silas" Sheridan Le Fanu's heavily detailed style of writing makes it effortless to visualize the scene.
I felt overwhelmed by the number of characters when I first began reading. The confusion cleared up some as I read on but not completely because there were so many personalities to keep straight. I remember reading for some time and wondering when something scary would happen. There were points when I thought it was starting to finally go down a dark path but then it wouldn't last.
I found the storyline to be a mixture of a comedy and murder/mystery (but mostly comedy) rather than a ghost story as the title of the book will fool you into thinking. It's interesting to be able to laugh at 19th century humor in the 21st century. Although I didn't end up reading the kind of novel I wanted for the season I still enjoyed my time with this book. As in "Uncle Silas" Sheridan Le Fanu's heavily detailed style of writing makes it effortless to visualize the scene.
msand3's review against another edition
2.0
Like other readers, I fell in love with [b:In a Glass Darkly|837422|In a Glass Darkly|J. Sheridan Le Fanu|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1178784539s/837422.jpg|1142157] and [b:Uncle Silas|49190|Uncle Silas|J. Sheridan Le Fanu|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1367864839s/49190.jpg|2847087], so I thought House By the Churchyard would be right up my alley. Perhaps my own high and misguided expectations lead me astray. Although the publisher deserves some blame, pitching this as "perhaps (Le Fanu's) best novel" in the genre of supernatural fiction/ghost stories. It's not really that type of novel. Once this realization set in, it became a slow, laborious read.
At least I can understand why this book influenced Joyce. It's a story about telling stories. In fact, the structure of the novel is brilliant, but the tangents and the menagerie characters just didn't hold my interest, again, perhaps due to my own expectations of what I thought I was getting in this novel.
What saves this from being a one-star experience was the amazing section about a man being trepanned (a medical procedure in which a person has a hole bored into his head -- while awake and often without anesthesia! -- in order to cure certain illnesses). In Le Fanu's novel, it's done as an attempt at murder. I've always been fascinated by this procedure -- mostly by those who opt to do it to themselves without help! -- and it's the first time I've seen trepanning appear in fiction.
So yeah: that's about all I liked about this novel.
The House By the Churchyard hasn't turned me off to Le Fanu. I'll read some more of his work in the near future -- probably [b:Wylder's Hand|2533794|Wylder's Hand|J. Sheridan Le Fanu|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1473769322s/2533794.jpg|73491] or [b:The Rose and the Key|75957|The Rose and the Key|J. Sheridan Le Fanu|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1170888324s/75957.jpg|73481] -- but I'll avoid his earlier, non-Gothic work.
At least I can understand why this book influenced Joyce. It's a story about telling stories. In fact, the structure of the novel is brilliant, but the tangents and the menagerie characters just didn't hold my interest, again, perhaps due to my own expectations of what I thought I was getting in this novel.
What saves this from being a one-star experience was the amazing section about a man being trepanned (a medical procedure in which a person has a hole bored into his head -- while awake and often without anesthesia! -- in order to cure certain illnesses). In Le Fanu's novel, it's done as an attempt at murder. I've always been fascinated by this procedure -- mostly by those who opt to do it to themselves without help! -- and it's the first time I've seen trepanning appear in fiction.
So yeah: that's about all I liked about this novel.
The House By the Churchyard hasn't turned me off to Le Fanu. I'll read some more of his work in the near future -- probably [b:Wylder's Hand|2533794|Wylder's Hand|J. Sheridan Le Fanu|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1473769322s/2533794.jpg|73491] or [b:The Rose and the Key|75957|The Rose and the Key|J. Sheridan Le Fanu|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1170888324s/75957.jpg|73481] -- but I'll avoid his earlier, non-Gothic work.
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