The Merciful Women

Rating:
Summary: love it or hate it
Review: andahazi's delightfully quirky novel about the birth of the gothic novel, the authors involved and thier dark muse has not surprisingly cut readers down teh middle. a quick look at teh earlier ratings suggests that readers have either loved or hated it.

i, thankfully, belong to the former group and must admit that i thoroughly enjoyed this devious tale written with sublime black humour. this book is clearly not for the faint or heart or the squeamish but if you are willing to be led down some sleazy alleys andahazi delivers his goods. the translation by alberto manguel is top class and it is hard to imagine this was not written in english.

the book does no offer much breadth of scope but what it promises it delivers.

Rating:
Summary: A dark, ironic parody of the Gothic genre....
Review: On a dark stormy night, a group of people holidaying by Lake Geneva gather to read out their stories. It is a competition devised by the dashing Lord Byron, to see who can write the most horrific and terrifying story... one of these people is Mary Shelley....

This book is a fantastic parody of the Gothic genre; the dark stormy nights, the mysterious castle and the heaving,storm-tossed lake... all in all, a tremendous read for anyone who enjoys Gothic tales or their parodies. Although sometimes graphic, the story is gripping and the elements of historical truth are enough to keep you interested right up to the thrilling and unexpected end. The book is filled with dark irony, and the intertextual references to the Gothic genre and the creation of that monstrous, classic tale Frankenstien, are witty and clever, but the book can be enjoyed on many levels. I would highly recommend this book, and have bought multiple copies for all of my friends.

Rating:
Summary: Argentinian Ego
Review: This novel is an extreme example of the Argentinian ego: I guess only men from Argentina could possibly dream that the semen they throw away after jerking off will feed --by a dark and horrendous coincidence--, the life of two beautiful women. To make it short, even the semen they throw away is able to give life to another person, how glorious they are!!
The review of Donna Seaman above is absolutely ridiculous. John Polidori did exist and he is the author of "The Vampyre," the novel that paved the way for all the future vampyre novels, with Bram Stoker's "Dracula" at its peak. From where does she believe that Polidori is an original Andahazi character can only be explained by laziness: the first five results after querying google for John William Polidori tell the whole story.
I only write this review to prevent other readers to spend their time and money in a silly and disgusting book.