The Castle of Otranto - A Gothic Story

Horace Walpole

Oxford University Press

2014

192 páginas

6h 24m

ISBN-10: 0198704445

'Look, my lord! See heaven itself declares against your impious intentions!'

The Castle of Otranto (1764) is the first supernatural English novel and one of the most influential works of Gothic fiction. It inaugurated a literary genre that will be forever associated with the effects that Walpole pioneered. Professing to be a translation of a mysterious Italian tale from the darkest Middle Ages, the novel tells of Manfred, prince of Otranto, whose fear of an ancient prophecy sets him on a course of destruction. After the grotesque death of his only son, Conrad, on his wedding day, Manfred determines to marry the bride-to-be. The virgin Isabella flees through a castle riddled with secret passages. Chilling coincidences, ghostly visitations, arcane revelations, and violent combat combine in a heady mix that is both chilling and terrifying.

In this new edition Nick Groom's wide-ranging introduction explores the novel's Gothic context in the cultural movement that affected political and religious thinking before Walpole developed it as a literary style, helping to explain the novel's impact on contemporaries, its importance, and Walpole's pioneering innovations in the horror genre.

Resenhas (8)

5 (Perfeito)

Graças ao São Nicolau

Provavelmente dei uma nota muito alta (visto que os personagens não são lá muito bem desenvolvidos) mas atribuo isso ao fato de ter sido uma leitura de Halloween bem agradável e rápida (acompanhada do audiobook visto a barreira de um inglês mais arcaico) e sinceramente divertida em todas as suas reviravoltas trágicas e galhofa nos diálogos. O desprezo pelo Manfred, o pequeno suspense e a curiosidade para saber como a profecia se desdobraria em tão pouco tempo, além do destino das donzelas Isabella e Matilde, foram o suficiente pra me prender do início ao fim.