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The Mysteries of Udolpho (Oxford World's Classics)
 
 
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The Mysteries of Udolpho (Oxford World's Classics) (Paperback)

by Ann Radcliffe (Author), Terry Castle (Contributor), Bonamy Dobrée (Editor) "ON the pleasant banks of the Garonne, in the province of Gascony, stood, in the year 1584, the chateau of Monsieur St. Aubert ..." (more)
3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
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  • This item: The Mysteries of Udolpho (Oxford World's Classics) by Ann Radcliffe

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Product details

  • Paperback: 736 pages
  • Publisher: Oxford Paperbacks; New edition edition (18 Jun 1998)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0192825232
  • ISBN-13: 978-0192825230
  • Product Dimensions: 19.4 x 12.8 x 4 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 71,933 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories:

    #3 in  Books > Fiction > The Classics > Radcliffe, Ann
    #17 in  Books > Horror > Genres & Characters > Gothic Horror
    #32 in  Books > Romance > Genres > Gothic

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Product Description

Product Description
`Her present life appeared like the dream of a distempered imagination, or like one of those frightful fictions, in which the wild genius of the poets sometimes delighted. Rreflections brought only regret, and anticipation terror.' Such is the state of mind in which Emily St. Aubuert - the orphaned heroine of Ann Radcliffe's 1794 gothic Classic, The Mysteries of Udolpho - finds herself after Count Montoni, her evil guardian, imprisions her in his gloomy medieval fortress in the Appenines. Terror is the order of the day inside the walls of Udolpho, as Emily struggles against Montoni's rapacious schemes and the threat of her own psychological disintegration. A best-seller in its day and a potent influence on Walpole, Poe, and other writers of eighteenth and nineteenth-century Gothic horror, The Mysteries of Udolpho remains one of the most important works in the history of European fiction. As the same time, with its dream-like plot and hallucinatory rendering of its characters' psychological states, it often seems strangely modern: `permanently avant-garde' in Terry Castle's words, and a profound and fascinating challenge to contemporary readers.

About the Author
Terry Castle is Professor of English at Stanford University.
Inside This Book (Learn More)
First Sentence
ON the pleasant banks of the Garonne, in the province of Gascony, stood, in the year 1584, the chateau of Monsieur St. Aubert. Read the first page
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Customer Reviews

11 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
3.5 out of 5 stars (11 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars The gothic tradition and more., 11 Aug 2001
By A Customer
This review is from: The Mysteries of Udolpho: A Romance (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)
Characters,particularly female ones, tend to be rather flat and anaemic. Radcliffe concentrates on powerful male figures, the dark menace of Montoni or the benevolent paternity of St. Aubert and the Count de Villefois. Descriptions of France and Italy are painterly and will have you rushing to book a flight to the Languedoc or somewhere near the Appenines. It could be said, perhaps, that the landscapes are the real protagonists in the tale. Radcliffe skilfully ties up all the lose threads but the explanations given of supernatural events are highly improbable. Pivotal theme of the work could be said to be 'Fortitude' and how Emily, the heroine,finds and develops this quality in herself. Worth reading,not only because it is regarded as the seminal gothic novel, but because it was instrumental in raising the status of novel writing in the eyes of the literary establishment. This enabled female novel writers to gain credibility and acceptance whereas until this point,poetry writing,predominantly the province of men,was seen as weightier and cerebral in comparison to the trifling shallowness of novels.
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23 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Just plain good fun!, 12 Feb 2005
By Mrs. E. R. Braun "elisabeth_rb" (Leeds, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
I came to this book after reading about it in Jane Austen's 'Northanger Abbey', which I suspect is why many enquirers are now reading this! I really enjoyed it and, although some of the other reviewers' negative comments are at least partly justified, I'd say, if you're not afraid of long novels, give it a go, it's just good fun.

By 21st century standards of horror, this story is tame and childish, but if you're like me and don't appreciate the excesses of modern horror and supernatural/occult things, but just enjoy a good read, you'll find this more to your taste. Yeah, sure there are some unbelievable parts, (like Emily's being able to compose whole sonnets on the spot, for one), but fiction like this is not really meant to be convincing. Mrs Radcliffe wrote to entertain the masses, and that's what she achieves. Yes, the desciptions can be a bit tedious at times, but if you read quickly as most of us do when we're 'in to' a novel, they soon pass and you get on with the story.

I esp. liked the fact that all the mysteries are explained in the end which saves you from having to go through the dissatisfying experience of wanting to know exactly what happened back there when 'x' did 'y' and so on, but never being told. (I sometimes wonder if some authors couldn't think of anything convincing with which to tie up their loose ends!!)

Have fun!=)

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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Delightful, over-the-top mystery, 8 Nov 1998
By A Customer
If you like your villains dastardly, your heroines swooning, and your castles brooding, this is the book for you! Our heroine is Emily St Aubert, whom we follow through family tragedy, romance, and exploitation. Murder, war, brigandry, and coincidence are thrown in for good measure. Some readers may dislike Emily's character - she weeps and swoons a great deal, and is largely passive in the face of malevolence.

Those who like their stories 'lean and mean' will find this a lot to digest at almost seven hundred pages, and the pace is often ponderous, with the early parts of the book largely a travelogue through 16th century France and Italy. Here there is a lot of repetition about the sublimity and awfulness (as in inspiring awe) of nature. The poems, which are liberally sprinkled throughout the book, are best skipped.

But despite these criticisms, this is a hugely entertaining book. Radcliffe's descriptions provide wonderful atmosphere, producing an almost dreamlike feel whether in a gloomy castle or on a summer walk. The characters are strongly defined, and their emotions palpable.

Highly recommended.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars How to waste precious time.
I will never get back the time I spent reading this book. I found the book fustrating from start to finish. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Max Nicholas

4.0 out of 5 stars Like a long and complex dream
After having read the mere 176-page original gothic tale of 1764, Horace Walpole's "The Castle of Otranto", I embarked on this 672-page equally-famous gothic fantasy by Ann... Read more
Published 17 months ago by Nicholas Casley

2.0 out of 5 stars If only there was more Udolpho...
If I'm honest, I found this book to be a major disappointment - almost more so because it could easily have been so much better. Read more
Published 23 months ago by RageofKlugman

2.0 out of 5 stars Over-rated and over-written
Having read Lewis' "The Monk", Shelley's "Frankenstein" and Radcliffe's own "A Sicilian Romance" I was really looking forward to a gigantic, 700-page, overblown Gothic novel. Read more
Published on 23 Mar 2004 by lionellaurent

4.0 out of 5 stars rip-roaring Gothic, red and raw in tooth and claw.
This book is great fun. It's far too long, and some bits of it simply don't make sense, but you can see why Ann Radcliffe's work was so inspirational to so many other writers... Read more
Published on 9 Sep 2003 by S. Hapgood

5.0 out of 5 stars Literary Perfection
I fear I don't have the words to fully explain just how important, enjoyable, and breath-taking this novel is to me; The Mysteries of Udolpho is simply one of the greatest written... Read more
Published on 30 Nov 2002 by Daniel Jolley

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazingly descriptive
After glancing over Jane Austen's 'Northanger Abbey', it occurred to me that the genre she parodied may, in fact, be more enjoyable than many of her own works. Read more
Published on 20 Jan 2000

5.0 out of 5 stars Long, but wonderfully fun and creepy
I love novels, especially gothic novels, but I dreaded reading this book for my senior seminar on the gothic novel. The sheer size of it was so imposing to me. Read more
Published on 26 Jun 1998

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