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The Monk

Matthew Gregory Lewis

Start date: March 1, 2025

Finish date: March 31, 2025

Discussion: The Horror of it All

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The Horror of it All

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Apr 28, 2009 Dan | The Ancient Reader rated it liked it

Shelves: literary-fiction

I think Wilkie Collins has spoiled me when it comes to this type of Victorian/Gothic/Thriller because it's so hard to match his writing and storytelling skills. That being said, I'll add that The Monk was a fun read. While it's clearly an attack on organized religion - the Catholic church in particular - a close reading makes it also clear that Lewis found a significant difference between organized religion and a personal relationship with a Supreme Being. While he provides several interesting t ...more

57 likes · Like · see review

Feb 25, 2013 Laura rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 1001-books-you-must-read-before-you, gutenberg, spain, mtbr-challenge-2015, gothic-romance, e-books, 1000-guardian, british-literature, fiction-18th-century, read-2015

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The first idea of this Romance was suggested by the story of the Santon Barsisa, related in The Guardian.—The Bleeding Nun is a tradition still credited in many parts of Germany; and I have been told that the ruins of the Castle of Lauenstein, which She is supposed to haunt, may yet be seen upon the borders of Thuringia.—The Water-King, from the third to the twelfth stanza, is the fragment of an original Danish Ballad—And Belerma and Dura ...more

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Dec 26, 2017 Kelly_Hunsaker_reads ... rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 1001-books, classics

This book surprised me. I had never heard of it before it was chosen for a challenge in my Reading 1001 group. The plot was so intricate and complex. And the writing was perfectly taut, which gave it so much tension. I found the language so beautifully drawn that I often reversed to reread certain sentences and paragraphs simply to enjoy the loveliness or the words. I did find the book seemed to portray a prejudice against Catholics, but I guess I forgive that because of the nature of the story. ...more

2 likes · Like · see review