I had really high hopes for this book as it is a classic and it's also the book that birthed a whole genre. Yup, this book is the very first gothic novel first published in 1764.
Even though the story in general was a good read I did kind of feel like it was bit of a drag because of the writing style. Since its an Italian story translated to English in the dark medieval ages, the language is similar to that which as a 21st century millennial whose mother tongue isn't English, found it kind of hard to follow through. I had to go back and read a whole sentence or even the whole paragraph at times, to make sense of who is narrating the story at that given time.
The synopsis of the story is as followed:
"It tells the story of Manfred, the prince of Otranto, who is keen to secure the castle for his descendants in the face of a mysterious curse. The novel begins with the death of Manfred's son, Conrad, who is crushed to death by an enormous helmet on the morning of his wedding to the beautiful princess Isabella."
It's not a bad story per se, especially if you enjoy old English and medieval style of writing then yes you might find it a wonderful read. Also the story is pretty short. ( I read the eBook which was 163 pages) took me a day and a half to finish. I do love the elements of the gothic literature such as Setting in a castle, An atmosphere of mystery and suspense, An ancient prophecy, Supernatural or otherwise inexplicable event along with The metonymy of gloom and horror and this book combines all these elements beautifully.
My Rating: ★★★☆☆
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