The Italian - Ann Radcliffe (Gothic Fiction Review)

[@nicholasjones3207]

I had to laugh out loud at the plot twist involving the miniature portrait. Love it!

[@Ri.carter]

The dialogue you refered to the Marchessa and Schedone was so perfect, it's like a battle betewin pragmatism and Moralality. I just finished this book today, and English is not m first language and was great challenge for me, at first i thought i wouldnt be able to finsh it because it was a tedious process, using translator sometimes, and with old fashinioned english words some times was hard even using the translator, but gotta admit that i loved the book, Paulo's words at the end really gave me some tears, kind of a reflexive ending. nice video. cheers from Nicaragua.

[@wuhank0612]

Thank you so much for your view on Ann Radcliffe's The Italian. I first read M.G. Lewis' The Monk before working on Mrs. Radcliffe's The Italian. And the parallels between these two novels are so fascinating. Critics oftentimes suggest The Italian is Radcliffe's indignant response to Lewis' The Monk, but it is, as you have suggested, so "coincidental" that they both heavily draw our attention to interpersonal tensions in which hide a number of untold and unaccounted dark secrets. Male gothic like Lewis' we witness a succession of supernatural events which intensify the Gothic horror, whereas female gothic as Radcliffe's the reader senses remotely the incredibility and intensity among the character's remarks throughout the novel. Lewis and Radcliffe are indeed two of the finest Gothicists in the 18th century. Thanks again for your sharing!

[@JoshuaJClarkeKelsall]

Yeah I think that Radcliffe and Lewis did appreciate each other's work, even if they had very different ideas about how to tell a good Gothic story. I feel like the critics who say that maybe just like the drama of it! :P

[@isabeldesilva860]

this is such a great review, thank you!

[@gramugsp]

I really appreciate the gothic classic reviews! I’m halfway through listening to The Monk (the Naxos audiobook is a great production btw), which I picked up from a different review. I have The Italian queued up for my next read/listen, and look forward to drawing some comparisons. I am also reading Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles (currently on Blood and Gold), and having these classics in parallel have really helped to balance out the long journey through AR’s work. It also is interesting reading the origin and more contemporary ends of the same genre.

[@JoshuaJClarkeKelsall]

Yeah I agree it is good to have a balance of new and old on your shelf for that reason. I'm actually reading Blood and Gold at the moment too! Should get it finished over the next couple of days so there'll be a review coming soon. I have to say I think it's one of my favourites; a real step up from the lull of the Tales of the New Vampires, for me at least!

[@gramugsp]

That is definitely encouraging! I’m still in the beginning of Blood and Gold where a lot of past events are rehashed, so I’m looking forward to when the story starts to pick up. I just finished Pandora, and I can already see how the descriptions in B&G are more in line with Rice’s style. The writing itself also has a more ‘finished’ feel to it, so one has to wonder if Pandora really was published prematurely. Will be looking forward to the upcoming review!

[@ladyvampire1496]

Today, I bought this book, I never read anything by this author, but I founded myself very intrigued by it. I think I will enjoy the themes in gothic literature and even more with your excelent review.

[@JoshuaJClarkeKelsall]

Glad you're enjoying it. I'll probably do a fuller analysis of this and Ann Radcliffe's other novels somewhere down the line too. :)

[@joeylazio5989]

I cannot wait to read this book!

[@JoshuaJClarkeKelsall]

I hope you enjoy it when you do!

[@LatinDeerLord]

Fantastic review! What page number(s) was the passage you read from? - I think you're reading from the oxford world classics?

[@JoshuaJClarkeKelsall]

Hey I'm sorry, I don't remember anymore. I did start using page numbers on my other videos, but sadly this was before I came up with that obvious idea! :P

[@MeiziVu]

Great analysis

[@drpatrickbarry]

Enjoyed that. Yes I agree with you the beginning was the weakest part of the book, the romance just happened too quickly. I though the man-servent was very annoying. It was very funny in the remote house with the two protagonist trying to squirm out of doing "the deed".

[@JoshuaJClarkeKelsall]

Yeah I enjoyed the part where the villains fight over doing it, especially because Schedoni is in general a pretty terrible and cruel person, but even he struggles when it comes to enacting his terrible ideas.

[@jackbaker8359]

my girlfriend loves u, thanks mate. thanks a lot.

[@gracefutrell1912]

Here’s a creepy fact some people now Believe she based The evil mother character on her own mother-in-law 😳

[@JoshuaJClarkeKelsall]

Haha ouch! That must have been some horrible witch! :P

[@AlessandroZir]

🖤🖤🌚🕷️🦋