The Castle of Otranto
Ratings46
Average rating3
So this is my second time reading this and honestly rereading made it make so much more sense. The Castle of Otranto is considered one of the first Gothic novels, and I really enjoyed reading it! But I gave this book three and a half stars due to the fact that some of the aspects of the book were never explained but maybe it's just me who's dumb
The writing is really hard to follow and the story wasn't as fascinating as it seemed it would be. It was kind of disappointed.
As an historic, genre-defining novel, The Castle of Otranto gets one star. It is ridiculous, sometimes (unintentionally) hilarious, and usually tedious.
The novel is probably 90% dialogue, which not broken into separate paragraphs, but grouped in multi-page conversations in a single paragraph, with no quotation marks. This makes it hard to follow or stay engaged with. (It's amazing how much I take for granted the modern conventions of fictionalized dialogue!) Also, much of it is written in faux-archaisms. (This novel is an early example of 18th- and 19th-century Europeans' nostalgia for the middle ages.)
The opening scene of this novel is wonderful for its absurdity: on his way to his own wedding, the sickly son of a false prince is crushed by a giant helmet falling from the sky - one star for that image alone!
And one star for the final sentence: “...and it was not till after frequent discourses with Isabella, of his dear Matilda, that he was persuaded he could know no happiness but in the society of one with whom he could forever indulge the melancholy that had taken possession of his soul.”
Let's wallow together.
Overall, It was a decent read. After reading it, I'd say the horror elements aren't what you'd expect and are more centered around misfortune and characterizations. I'd say it's more a thrilling mystery, sprinkled with supernatural horror at times. But it lands the mystery/thriller aspects very well from what I think. Again, my favorite part of the story wasn't so much the plot itself―even if it did have thrilling moments―but rather the character-centered drama weaved into the plot. I'd say this story could be appropriately termed “gothic romance” alongside its gothic horror label, and I was more in tune with the former. In any case, the plot kept a steady pace, but the actual reading experience was otherwise often a drudgery because of its archaic language and verbosity, which isn't a fault of the story, but just not my cup of tea evidently. To each their own, though. So, to summarize: a cool thriller that's a slog to get through but still pulls itself through by its well-displayed themes and layered characters.
