Rating: 
Summary: Creepy
Review: The Monk is defintely a creepy read, just keep in mind that it was written 200 years ago and the language can be a little dense. There are some excellent scenes but then there are a few sections that can be rough to get through. Depending how much work you want to put into it, The Monk can be very rewarding. If you aren't patient though, it may be best to look elsewhere.
Rating: 
Summary: The most influential of the Gothic horror novels
Review: The Monk is perhaps the most significant and certainly the most controversial of the Gothic novels of the late 18th century. Amazingly, its author, nineteen-year-old Matthew Lewis, wrote the novel in a period of only six weeks. Although inspired by the work of Ann Radcliffe (among other Gothic writers), Lewis goes far beyond the sensibilities of his predecessors and does not choose to explain away the supernatural events fuelling this inflammatory novel. The Monk is a tale of human evil in its most vile form; the unspeakable acts described in these pages are committed by the supposedly most devout individuals in society. The Catholic Church was incensed with the novel's publication, and it is actually quite remarkable that The Monk was published at all and that its author faced nothing more dire than censorship and indignant protest as a consequence of it.Ambrosio is the most celebrated, revered monk in Madrid (in the era of the infamous Spanish Inquisition) - his sermons attract crowds far too large to gain admittance to the sanctuary, and everyone holds him up as a veritable saint walking the earth. His fall from grace is precipitous indeed. Secretly, Ambrosio is vain and proud, blissfully assured of his own near-perfection. At the first temptation of lust, however, this holy man reveals himself to be the ultimate hypocrite, giving in rather easily to the type of desire he rails against each Sunday. After learning that his friend Rosario is in fact a lovely woman in disguise named Matilda, he revels in the love she declares for him and quickly becomes her secret lover. Quickly and ever more thoroughly consumed by his new-found passion and carnal lasciviousness, he grows tired of the ever-willing Matilda and turns his perverted eye toward the sweet and wholly innocent young Antonia. Through the witchcraft of Matilda, he comes to consort with demons in the sacred crypts underneath the abbey itself, giving up his morality and piety in the blind pursuit of actions worse than mere rape. Ambrosio is not the only hypocritical, secretly sinful church official in Madrid, however. The prioress of the convent bordering the abbey is a sickeningly cruel and spiteful agent of perfidy herself. When she discovers that Agnes, one of her novitiates, is pregnant, she is so mortified at the impending shame this fact will bring down upon her and the convent that she resorts to the most barbaric of punishments for the poor and pitiable young lady. While her crimes do not quite exceed those of Ambrosio, the devastating consequences of her sinful acts result in long-lasting, deeply grievous repercussions. The novel takes a while to really come together. After seeing Ambrosio in his publicly sanctimonious guise and watching his pitiful descent into the passions and lusts inspired by Matilda, we spend a great deal of time becoming acquainted with Antonia, Agnes, and the gentlemen who love them and will eventually fight bravely to try and save them both physically and morally from their sad fates. The story of the Bleeding Nun apparition is an important part of this section of the book and gives the reader his first real introduction to the supernatural aspects of the story. It is almost possible to forget about Ambrosio completely for a time; when he returns to the story, however, he commits unspeakable acts and profanes the very name of the God he supposedly serves in such excess that he earns a permanent spot in the annals of literature's most despicable villains. It is in the crypts, among the moldering corpses of the dead, that the most blasphemous acts take place. Antonia's fate is quite horrible, but it is actually Agnes' tale of woe that takes the reader to the most horrific of extremes. Just when the worst seems to be over, we learn in graphic detail the almost unimaginable extent of the ordeal suffered by Agnes and her innocent child - the tale is quite gruesome even by today's standards, almost unimaginably so by those of Lewis' own time. The suffering of the innocent Agnes and Antonia is, in my opinion, unparalleled in the realm of Gothic horror. Even some critics who are less than found of the Gothic horror genre have embraced this novel, partly because it does distinguish itself from the more Romantic writings of an author such as Ann Radcliffe. As such, it seems less pretentious and much more visceral than the typical Gothic tome. Lewis holds nothing back in presenting his portrayal of evil in the hearts of men and women. There is a love story aspect to the events surrounding Agnes and Antonia, but the author does not indulge in flowery descriptions of love, nor does he concern himself with rapturous expositions on the beauty of nature. There is very little of beauty to be found in these pages at all, and what innocence exists is ultimately lost at the hands of corrupted servants of God. With such complexity underlying the plot, The Monk is open to a number of interpretations, and its microscopic portrayal of evil's power to overcome the best of men and women continues to fascinate and leave a lasting impression on one generation of readers after another. Even in our own time, The Monk is more than capable of shocking the reader with its unbridled revelations.
Rating:
Summary: The most influential of the Gothic horror novels
Review: The Monk is perhaps the most significant and certainly the most controversial of the Gothic novels of the late 18th century. Amazingly, its author, nineteen-year-old Matthew Lewis, wrote the novel in a period of only six weeks. Although inspired by the work of Ann Radcliffe (among other Gothic writers), Lewis goes far beyond the sensibilities of his predecessors and does not choose to explain away the supernatural events fuelling this inflammatory novel. The Monk is a tale of human evil in its most vile form; the unspeakable acts described in these pages are committed by the supposedly most devout individuals in society. The Catholic Church was incensed with the novel's publication, and it is actually quite remarkable that The Monk was published at all and that its author faced nothing more dire than censorship and indignant protest as a consequence of it. Ambrosio is the most celebrated, revered monk in Madrid (in the era of the infamous Spanish Inquisition) - his sermons attract crowds far too large to gain admittance to the sanctuary, and everyone holds him up as a veritable saint walking the earth. His fall from grace is precipitous indeed. Secretly, Ambrosio is vain and proud, blissfully assured of his own near-perfection. At the first temptation of lust, however, this holy man reveals himself to be the ultimate hypocrite, giving in rather easily to the type of desire he rails against each Sunday. After learning that his friend Rosario is in fact a lovely woman in disguise named Matilda, he revels in the love she declares for him and quickly becomes her secret lover. Quickly and ever more thoroughly consumed by his new-found passion and carnal lasciviousness, he grows tired of the ever-willing Matilda and turns his perverted eye toward the sweet and wholly innocent young Antonia. Through the witchcraft of Matilda, he comes to consort with demons in the sacred crypts underneath the abbey itself, giving up his morality and piety in the blind pursuit of actions worse than mere rape. Ambrosio is not the only hypocritical, secretly sinful church official in Madrid, however. The prioress of the convent bordering the abbey is a sickeningly cruel and spiteful agent of perfidy herself. When she discovers that Agnes, one of her novitiates, is pregnant, she is so mortified at the impending shame this fact will bring down upon her and the convent that she resorts to the most barbaric of punishments for the poor and pitiable young lady. While her crimes do not quite exceed those of Ambrosio, the devastating consequences of her sinful acts result in long-lasting, deeply grievous repercussions. The novel takes a while to really come together. After seeing Ambrosio in his publicly sanctimonious guise and watching his pitiful descent into the passions and lusts inspired by Matilda, we spend a great deal of time becoming acquainted with Antonia, Agnes, and the gentlemen who love them and will eventually fight bravely to try and save them both physically and morally from their sad fates. The story of the Bleeding Nun apparition is an important part of this section of the book and gives the reader his first real introduction to the supernatural aspects of the story. It is almost possible to forget about Ambrosio completely for a time; when he returns to the story, however, he commits unspeakable acts and profanes the very name of the God he supposedly serves in such excess that he earns a permanent spot in the annals of literature's most despicable villains. It is in the crypts, among the moldering corpses of the dead, that the most blasphemous acts take place. Antonia's fate is quite horrible, but it is actually Agnes' tale of woe that takes the reader to the most horrific of extremes. Just when the worst seems to be over, we learn in graphic detail the almost unimaginable extent of the ordeal suffered by Agnes and her innocent child - the tale is quite gruesome even by today's standards, almost unimaginably so by those of Lewis' own time. The suffering of the innocent Agnes and Antonia is, in my opinion, unparalleled in the realm of Gothic horror. Even some critics who are less than found of the Gothic horror genre have embraced this novel, partly because it does distinguish itself from the more Romantic writings of an author such as Ann Radcliffe. As such, it seems less pretentious and much more visceral than the typical Gothic tome. Lewis holds nothing back in presenting his portrayal of evil in the hearts of men and women. There is a love story aspect to the events surrounding Agnes and Antonia, but the author does not indulge in flowery descriptions of love, nor does he concern himself with rapturous expositions on the beauty of nature. There is very little of beauty to be found in these pages at all, and what innocence exists is ultimately lost at the hands of corrupted servants of God. With such complexity underlying the plot, The Monk is open to a number of interpretations, and its microscopic portrayal of evil's power to overcome the best of men and women continues to fascinate and leave a lasting impression on one generation of readers after another. Even in our own time, The Monk is more than capable of shocking the reader with its unbridled revelations.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting but not Exceptional
Review: The Monk, much like The Castle of Otranto or Vathek, has been elevated to the position of a Gothic "classic." While its centrality to the development of that interesting genre is unquestioned, it clearly shows its age. Lewis's stiff, rather unimaginative prose is simply incapable of producing large scale effects in his readers, and the sexual drama fails to shock. If you need rather ordinary descriptions of devilry and sexual pyscosis, this is the novel for you. If you are looking for a work that combines an effective and imaginative textual innovation with equal horror, you would be better off looking at more modern texts: Lovecraft, Machen, or, in an another vein, one of Jim Thompson's masterpeices, such as Savage Night or Pop. 1280.
Rating: 
Summary: Engrossing, morbid iniquity!
Review: This book has everything: deception, murder, incest, rape, sorcery, ghosts, old castles, and the summoning of the devil. Although it is a lengthy book that bounces back and forth between past and present, this character and that character, current events and stories retold, it never gets so confusing that one can't remember what is going on. Lewis apparently had a great deal of fun writing it. I say that because the events, caracters, and even the dialogue is way over the top, and one can sense that Lewis didn't take himself too seriously while writing it. By today's standards the plot would seem cliche, but in Lewis' time, a time when novels where still somewhat frowned upon as being nothing but a bunch of lies (and therefore the work of the devil), his approach was probably somewhat innovative. I find the dialogue to be similar to that found in Stoker's Dracula. Full of profuse declamationions expounding the joys of virtue, love, purity and good will towards men. Such grandiose speeches can be somewhat ridiculous, but also romantic and idealistic at the same time, and are often indicative of those who think and feel with a passion-such as, well, basically all of the characters in The Monk. I especially liked the ending! (Though I can't say why without giving it away!) A must read-and great mental escape-for anyone who likes dark, atmospheric, morbid, romantic gothic novels. A devilshly good time.
Rating:
Summary: Monkish Delight
Review: This book is, to put it simply, a lot of fun to read: The Bleeding Nun, The Wandering Jew, virgins in distress, ancient crumbling castles, nefarious divines, Satan himself! - all the trappings and archetypes of what is called the "Gothic genre."-Be it said that I loathe the reductionist categorizing of works into so-called genres.-A work, to my mind, should stand on its own. Nevertheless, fans of the "Gothic" will not be disappointed. But there is a just a bit more here than a romp through the glorious medieval dark. The author has a keen insight into human dissimulation, inconstancy and hypocricy. None of the characters turns out to be quite what he or she seems at first glance. - From the opening scene in which the townfolk of Madrid are coming to hear Ambrosio's sermon "...all of them foreign to the ostensible motive. The Women came to show themselves, the Men to see the Women." etc., etc (a situational irony that will not be lost on anyone who has spent many a Sunday morning sitting in a pew) to Antonia's mother bowdlerizing her daughter's copy of the Bible because of the many prurient and horrifc scenes depicted in THAT book, The Monk is filled with such authorial apercus regarding the foibles of human nature that cannot fail to leave the reader almost unconsciously chuckling to his or her self.
Finally, the monk himself is not an entirely unsympathetic character (despite his many crimes, including murder and premeditated rape). The author takes some pains to depict him as a victim of circumstance who should never have been left in swaddling clothes at the abbey gate in the first place.
But, these points aside, following the story through its meandering plot twists, poetic interludes and phantasmagoria is just a plain good rollick.
So, forget the lit/crit. Enter the labyrinth!
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Read
Review: This book was recomended to me by a friend, and I was unsure of it at first but by the time the first chapter was finished I was engrossed! This book is a thrilling ride, second in my mind only to Dumas' The Count of Monte Cristo. Read this book it is an experience you won't forget!
Rating:
Summary: Sensational Gothic suspenser
Review: This is dated stuff, with its flowery descriptions, its melodramatic dialogue and situations and its hackneyed plot, with its reliance on coincidences and mistaken identities. Still, I haven't read a book recently that has breathed a more potent air of menace and evil. The suggestion of atmosphere is strong and the latent eroticism and perversion contribute a great deal to the tension.
Rating:
Summary: THE MONK
Review: This rich gothic novel is overly poetic, pompous, frustratingly obscure, but great fun for anyone who enjoys Ann Rice, Horace Walpole, or Brown's Wieland. A tragedy of a well-respected clergyman, who has never known vice, and his temptation and eventual submission to Satan. Although entertaining, this book must be read thoroughly tongue-in-cheek.
Rating:
Summary: Shocking and Astounding
Review: When I first picked up this book, I had no idea what to expect. I thought it would be long and stuffy like some of the books of its genere or mildly entertaining.
To my surprise, the writing was crisp, engaging and imaginative. I was amazed that the book was written in the late seventeen hundreds. Many images and situations created in the book are haunting and vividly imprint themselves onto ones imagination.
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