The Readers Review: Literature from 1714 to 1910 discussion

Unlike the previous projects where we focused on one author the Gothic Project will allow us to read multiple authors. My idea was to read our selections more or less in publications order but I'm open to other suggestions if anyone has them.

If you plan on participating in this project please suggest book selections below then I can create a plan of attack and a schedule. We can read as many or as few books as we'd like. What say you?

Edit: I've decided NOT to read books in publication order. The older books are not highly rated and I don't want to lose participation because the reads are difficult or just ugh. Please do continue to add books to the list.

I can’t say I’d have the patience to read them all, but I’d hop in and out of this project.

Perhaps a starting point would be selecting from the gothic novels mentioned in Northanger Abbey. The group has already done The Italian, but have you read The Mysteries of Udolpho? The following are also mentioned in the book:
Matthew Lewis, The Monk (if you want to categorize it as gothic, not sensationalist)
Regina Maria Roche, The Children of the Abbey
Ann Radcliffe, The Romance of the Forest
Eliza Parsons, The Castle of Wolfenbach: A German Story
Regina Maria Roche, Clermont
Eliza Parsons, The Mysterious Warning
Lawrence Flammenberg/Karl Friedrich Kahlert, The Necromancer, or The Tale of the Black Forest
Frances Lathom, The Midnight Bell
Eleanor Sleath, The Orphan of the Rhine
Carl Grosse, Horrid Mysteries (I hear this is a very difficult read, BTW)

Another book read by Jane Austen but not, I believe, mentioned in NA is one of the earliest gothics, Emmeline by Charlotte Smith (1788).

It might be fun to read the more famous gothic spoofs,
Thomas Love Peacock, Nightmare Abbey
Eaton Stannard Barrett, The Heroine, Or, Adventures of a Fair Romance Reader (which has been described as the funniest novel in English)

I've read The Monk already and agree with Frances. It would be a good fit for this study.
Wieland and Memoirs of Carwin the Biloquist by Charles Brockden Brown is an early American Gothic novel.
There's also Melmoth the Wanderer by Charles Maturin, an Irish author.

Good suggestions, Rosemarie!

Abigail wrote: "Good suggestions, Rosemarie!"

Thanks!

Rosemarie wrote: "There's also Melmoth the Wanderer by Charles Maturin, an Irish author.

Earlier today, I was standing next to a first edition signed copy of a gothic novel by another Irish author who seems to have been adopted by the town (mainly for commercial purposes) because his name and book appear everywhere you go. No prizes for guessing who, once you know where I was.

The book was an exhibit in the museum at Whitby Abbey, North Yorkshire. A bright yellow cover could not hide the fact that it had been handled and read many times in its lifetime.

I think that the inscription inside the front cover read ’Miss Mulligan, with Bram Stoker’s kind remembrance, 7 July 1901.’ (although some of that could be my imagination as his handwriting was difficult to read.)

Although I have watched many film adaptations and even seen a ballet based on the story, I have never read the book. It might be the epistolary format that has been off putting for some, but others could argue that ‘Gothic’ literature might not have survived without a boost in the arm (or neck) from Bram. So please add Dracula (in its original form) to the list of possibles.

I like Abigail’s and Rosemarie’s suggestions and maybe we would end up with a longish list to read over quite a lengthy period comprising of a mixture ranging from the almost unknown to the very famous.

I haven’t read Dracula since I was fifteen and laid up with a bee-stung foot. That would be fun! As would Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus (Annotated): The original 1818 version with new introduction and footnote annotations by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, come to think of it.

I'm going to add to the list:The Time Machine

Strange Case of Dr. Jekell & Mr. Hyde
The Phantom of the Opera
Uncle Silas
The Haunted Hotel: A Mystery of Modern Venice
The White People
Anything by Ann Radcliffe

Would we reading any books in translation?
E.T.A. Hoffmann wrote a number of novels and stories that could be considered Gothic Lit.

Rosemarie wrote: "Would we reading any books in translation?
E.T.A. Hoffmann wrote a number of novels and stories that could be considered Gothic Lit."

Absolutely. I read The Nutcracker for the first time this past holiday season and enjoyed it. I'm totally open to suggestions in translation.

Daphne du Maurer is too modern, maybe you meant her father, George du Maurier author of Trilby.

I haven’t read widely in the gothic genre, so I’m excited about all the nominations. My one addition would be The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole. I understand that it is considered to be the first Gothic novel, although I haven’t read it.

Nancy wrote: "I haven’t read widely in the gothic genre, so I’m excited about all the nominations. My one addition would be The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole. I understand that it is considered to be the f..."

Here is one definition of the ‘Gothic Novel’ which could be helpful in slimming down any longlist.

https://www.britannica.com/art/Gothic...

Most of the examples given in the definition have been suggested above. I noticed that Vathek by William Beckford hadn’t been suggested so possibly ought to be included in the list.

I've read Vathek. It's a mess.

I'm not sure how much of the project I will participate in (The Italian was a bit rich for me) but I would love to reread Dracula which I also read as a teen, The Monk has been on my list for a while, and The Heroine, Or, Adventures of a Fair Romance Reader sounds like a great spoof.

If we are doing some derivative/spoofs, there's always Northanger Abbey as well!

Rosemarie wrote: "Would we reading any books in translation?
E.T.A. Hoffmann wrote a number of novels and stories that could be considered Gothic Lit."

I am interested in reading something from him.
I read the Nutcracker in December.

Also I would like to read The Monk

Robin P wrote: "Daphne du Maurer is too modern, maybe you meant her father, George du Maurier author of Trilby."

Yep, I messed that up!

I’d like to read the Mysteries of Udolpho

Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu

Carmilla (1872) is an early work of vampire fiction and predates Bram Stoker's Dracula (1897) by 25 years.

I would like to add The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” by Washington Irving to the list. I do not know hot get the link to the book on Goodreads as I am using the app on my iPad. Sorry about that.

Hedi wrote: "I do not know how to link to the book on Goodreads, as I am using the app on my iPad."

The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving.

I've added it for you, Hedi. The Goodreads app leaves a lot to be desired...

Thanks to everyone for the suggestions. I'll announce with books we're going to read by the weekend that way we can all get the books we need. I'm going to shoot to start on May 21.

Thanks, Jane. Yes, the app has definitely some areas for improvements.😉

Btw, it shows as “Hallow” and not “Hollow” 🤔

Hedi wrote: "Btw, it shows as “Hallow” and not “Hollow” 🤔"

It was Amazon that initially entered the information, too! I fixed it. :)

Jane wrote: "Hedi wrote: "Btw, it shows as “Hallow” and not “Hollow” 🤔"

It was Amazon that initially entered the information, too! I fixed it. :)"
😲