Melmoth the Wanderer (Penguin Classics)
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Product Description
Product Description
Created by an Irish clergyman, Melmoth is one of the most fiendish characters in literature. In a satanic bargain, Melmoth exchanges his soul for immortality. The story of his tortured wanderings through the centuries is pieced together through those who have been implored by Melmoth to take over his pact with the devil. Influenced by the Gothic romances of the late 18th century, Maturin's diabolic tale raised the genre to a new and macabre pitch. Its many admirers include Poe, Balzac, Oscar Wilde and Baudelaire.
About the Author
Charles Robert Maturin (1782-1824) was born in Dublin and educated at Trinity College. He took orders and worked as a curate in Loughrea and Dublin. Maturin enjoyed literary success with his Gothic novels and a tragedy 'Bertram' (1816). His later plays and fiction, including MELMOTH THE WANDERER, were neglected and he died in poverty. Victor Sage is Reader in Literature in the School of English and American Studies at the University of East Anglia.
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First Sentence
In the autumn of 1816, John Melmoth, a student in Trinity College, Dublin, quitted it to attend a dying uncle on whom his hopes for independence chiefly rested. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
In the autumn of 1816, John Melmoth, a student in Trinity College, Dublin, quitted it to attend a dying uncle on whom his hopes for independence chiefly rested. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
24 of 25 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Can't decide whether I prefer this, or "The Monk" by M. Lewis. The Monk is an easier read and is faster paced, but Melmoth really has an evil, demonic quality which is far darker than anything that the Monk has to offer. Parts of it really are bizarre. One of the most oddball books that I have ever read. The narrative hops around through several different times and locations which can be a little confusing, but overall, SO much more interesting and infinately better written than most of today's drivel. Highly recommended !
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Oh, to have listened to one of the author's sermons! This book is clever beyond the reach of any of its contemporaries (and certainly beyond anything in the modern horror genre) taking one from misery to misery, to the very depths of human despair, but all the time reminding that there is another level; when things are at their blackest, there are still lengths to which one would not go.
Beautifully written, immesely evocative, each of the stories within is worthy of publication alone, the sum is a masterpiece.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition
Melmoth the Wanderer is the story of Melmoth, who sells his soul for immortality, becoming a kind of Wandering-Jew figure. It tells snippets of his story throughout the ages (and needless to say, it all goes horribly downhill quite quickly). It is very much a novel of its time, revelling in the gothic taste for the terrible, the dark side of "sublime" and general death 'n' horror. Now, I actually quite like this genre, and as a specimen of its type it's not at all bad. It is well-written, it covers a whole variety of times and places and brings the full gamut of the terrible into play. In fact, as an essay piece or a reader for a literary course it's probably quite useful.
However, as your common or garden reading-material it's possibly the most depressing thing I've ever read. It takes the floridity of the genre to its full extent - and then out the other side. It involves very few characters that are actually appealing, and probably something dire happens to them anyway. Because it is a series of vignettes, it comes across as being quite choppy, with little in the way of continuity possible. The writing is so powerful that it goes too far and overdoes it, and if you're reading for pleasure (as I was)you may find it a heavy slog.
One of the other reviewers here mentioned "The Monk" and actually I found that a much better balance of dark and lighter writing. This is important as in my opinion, without the lighter bits, the horror loses definition and just becomes a bit...well...overdone.
My view is that if you're dithering between the two, go for the "The Monk". (Feel free to call me a Philistine though!)
JAC.
However, as your common or garden reading-material it's possibly the most depressing thing I've ever read. It takes the floridity of the genre to its full extent - and then out the other side. It involves very few characters that are actually appealing, and probably something dire happens to them anyway. Because it is a series of vignettes, it comes across as being quite choppy, with little in the way of continuity possible. The writing is so powerful that it goes too far and overdoes it, and if you're reading for pleasure (as I was)you may find it a heavy slog.
One of the other reviewers here mentioned "The Monk" and actually I found that a much better balance of dark and lighter writing. This is important as in my opinion, without the lighter bits, the horror loses definition and just becomes a bit...well...overdone.
My view is that if you're dithering between the two, go for the "The Monk". (Feel free to call me a Philistine though!)
JAC.
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