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Summary: Well, It Should've Worked...
Review: A high school English teacher, I assigned The Castle of Otranto to my 50 sophomores. They're a tough sell when it comes to books. (They're against them.) Still, I thought these kids might be interested in the one book that defined gothic horror, a genre much beloved by teenagers today. Forget it. They hated it. What was spooky to Walpole is hokum to youngsters who consider The Texas Chain-Saw Massacre one of the Ten Best Movies Ever Made. In desperation, I tried to teach the book as an example of 18th century camp, but campiness isn't a concept a 15 year old appreciates. Can 60 tenth-graders all be wrong? Yes, of course they're wrong. It should've worked, but it didn't. Next year, it's back to The Mayor of Casterbridge. That'll teach 'em to complain.
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Summary: Visit good storytelling
Review: A simple ghost story of old... not blood and guts. Easy motion storytelling alows no dead spots and no dense spots where you can't go on. Really, an nice way to get a story without the modern drag-out-knock-down gorging of today without sacrificing content.
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Summary: Otranto is a perfect place for ghosts and usurpers
Review: Considered the very first book of Gothic Literature, Horace Walpole's 'The Castle of Otranto' stands on its own merits. It is not the kind of novel for those who expect a gory ghost story, closer to what we callterror today. The narrative is too subtle, filled with nuances that create a scary mood.The story is not very complicated: in the day of his wedding, Conrad, the son of the prince of Otranto, is killed in a very surreal way. While his mother, sister and bride are terrified, his father wants to divorce and marry the bride, so that he can have another son. This event will unchain a lot of ghosts' intervention and a dark truth will be found. And for such short book --actually a novella-- a lot of things happen. The events and characters are quite unrealistic, but this is where the fun of reading this book is. Not to mention the historical value of the narrative. More than a ghosts story, it is the tale of a man who usurped the throne, and the consequences he suffered. While the aftermath may not be quite realistic, usurping thrones was something quite common. The biggest barrier for a contemporary reader is Walpole's language. Not that it is florid, but it is written in the way people used to speak in the 18th Century. But while for some it is a discouragement, for other it is a joy --once we get used to it. His dialogues a descriptions easily flow. The way the writer creates the atmosphere is unforgettable. Castle is a place where ghosts seem to be, and Otranto's is a perfect place for them. Moreover, there is a very positive influence of Shakespeare on Walpole. Every now and then a Shakespearian quote pops up --mostly from 'Macbeth' and Hamlet'. 'Otranto' has even a theatrical format. Square brackets are used to indicate changing, like in a play. All in all, 'The Castle of Otranto' is a great novella, but it doesn't have a wide appeal. People who are used to contemporary gothic tales my found it very slow, but anyway, they should try and read, just to find out where it all began.
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Summary: Walpole voices his political views in The Castle of Otranto
Review: Horace Walpole was a Whig in Parliament. In Otranto, he voices his fears of too much power in too few hands and that only the first born son is a rightful heir. (walpole was the youngest son.) Everything in this book represents one of these fears. Written during the Age of Enlightenment, Otranto is not just a great book, but also a politician's manifesto.
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Summary: The First Gothic Novel
Review: Horace Walpole's little gem is the one that started it all--the very first Gothic novel. Short, at times unintentionally funny, and to our jaded eyes, sometimes campy, it nevertheless retains its appeal. The plot is overblown--a very wicked villain who, when his son is killed by a gigantic helmet (one cannot help a mental image of a cartoon character being smashed flat, I fear--but this poor sod doesn't rise again), chases after the dead boy's fiancee (despite the fact that he is still married); the innocent maiden (in fact two) harassed by the villain; the mysterious hero who seems to be lowborn but has every characteristic to suggest noble birth; ghosts, spectres, curses, prophesies, secret passages, dank tombs!! It's a veritable catalogue of all things that have since become cliches. But for all that, it's worth reading, and it's oddly enjoyable. Besides, once you've read it, you'll know where so much we see repeated again and again in popular fiction and popular films comes from originally. As I frequently tell people who ask--not many do--they did that already in the 18th century!
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Summary: Phantasmagoric And Truly "Gothic"
Review: I love this story. Anyone who thinks they know what Gothic is better read it. Anyone who is an English major better read it. Anyone who likes Romantic Art must read this. It is a part of history and a part of our permanent literary history/the arts and culture. And it's a great story!
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Summary: Outstanding!
Review: If you like gothic novels, you will love The Castle of Ottranto. I have never read a book so quickly nor found myself so entirely engrossed as when I read this novel. It contains all of the gothic elements from catacombs to incest to hypersexuality to abused authority and of course to murder and guilt. This book is fantastic.
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Summary: Delightfully humorous ghost story.
Review: It's more of short story than a book. A humorous, if not sick and twisted, tale of a ghost grown too big for his castle.
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Summary: The impact of The Castle of Otranto (not nec. the helmet)
Review: Knowing the cultural background for any given novel can add greatly to one's enjoyment of the work. I found this book enjoyable not only for the melodramatic (and often ridiculous) plot, but also because it does shed light on any number of books, by Jane Austin (Northanger Abbey) or any number of historical novels written more recently. But, be forewarned. This is not a modern story, and to those of us accustomed to Jurassic Park special effects, the zipper suit on the monster will be obvious...
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Summary: The original Gothic novel
Review: Manfred is an usurpator who wants to consolidate his reign over Otranto. So he tries to marry his weak son to Isabella, heir to a more legitimate prince. But there is an old prophecy which warns against such moves, and the day of the wedding a gigantic iron helmet falls over Manfred's son's head. Then, a creepy -mostly funnily creepy- tale develops. But the plot, though wild and entertaining, is the least important thing about this 1764's novel. The really attractive, entertaining and literarily important thing is the creation of stereotypes: the foul weather; an ancient, dark castle full of closed halls, secret passages, corridors and doors; frightening apparitions; wicked tyrants desperate for fertile women; virtuous and pure ladies; heroic lads; dark and cold forests where ghosts appear, etc. Walpole, who seems to have been an interesting man, must have had enormous fun writing this tone-setting book, which has had plenty of children in literature. When I read it I kept imagining the scenes, the settings and the weather, and it was great to imagine it come alive. Literarily imperfect, it is fun to read and to discover where many of the commonplaces in Gothic literature come from. Well worth it.
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