On the day of his wedding, Conrad, heir to the house of Otranto, is killed in mysterious circumstances. His calculating father Manfred fears that his dynasty will now come to an end and determines to marry his son's bride himself - despite the fact he is already married. But a series of terrifying supernatural omens soon threaten this unlawful union, as the curse placed on Manf...
On the day of his wedding, Conrad, heir to the house of Otranto, is killed in mysterious circumstances. His calculating father Manfred fears that his dynasty will now come to an end and determines to marry his son's bride himself - despite the fact he is already married. But a series of terrifying supernatural omens soon threaten this unlawful union, as the curse placed on Manfred's ancestor, who usurped the lawful Prince of Otranto, begins to unfold. First published pseudonymously in 1764, purporting to be an ancient Italian text from the time of the crusades, The Castle of Otranto is a founding work of Gothic fiction. With its compelling blend of sinister portents, tempestuous passions and ghostly visitations, it spawned an entire literary tradition and influenced such writers as Ann Radcliffe and Bram Stoker.
作者简介
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Horace Walpole, 4th earl of Orford, original name Horatio Walpole, (born Sept. 24, 1717, London—died March 2, 1797), English writer, connoisseur, and collector who was famous in his day for his medieval horror tale The Castle of Otranto, which initiated the vogue for Gothic romances. He is remembered today as perhaps the most assiduous letter writer in the English language.
原文摘录
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Since its first publication in 1764, The Castle of Otranto has rarely, if ever, been out of print, and over 130 editions precede this one. Few books of fiction have surpassed its sustained popularity in the history of literary publishing; even fewer can claim so central an Influence on the history of the novel or on late eighteenth century prose romance. Appearing a quarter of a century before Gothic fiction became a popular literary form, Walpoles story is startling for the way in which it assembles, almost prophetically, an array of generic devices recognizable to any reader familiar with Frankenstein (1818) Northanger Abbey (1818), Wuthering Heights (1847)or Dracula(1897). The fatal prophecy against Manfred's house, the supernatural visitations attending it, and the Draconian attempts... (查看原文)
Most influential and evocative of all, of course, has been the icon of the castle, transformed in Walpole's handling from a locus of safety into a place of sexual transgression and supernatural visitation, of secret passageways and political intrigue. With its adjacent monastery, it is a place that harbours guilt secrets and unlawful desires, a fortress not for keeping people out but for keeping them in. Modern readers, therefore, will find in Walpole's Gothic structures the prototypes not only for other Gothic fictions like The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794)and Melmoth the Wanderer(1820), but also for twentieth-century films as popular and disparate as Nosferatu (1922), Rebecca(1940), Alien(1979)and The Name of the Rose(1986).
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Penguin Classics(共1180册)，
这套丛书还有
《Selected Poems and Prose》《The Garden Party and Other Stories》《A Tale of Four Dervishes》《Complete Short Fiction》《Eugene Onegin》
等
。
0 有用 Vacant | 卍卐 2010-05-11 22:05:14
谁说他的小说不如通信啊？！
0 有用 Briersville 2020-12-12 08:48:37
看在它是哥特小说的开山鼻祖的份上多打一颗星……其实已经包含了很多经典的哥特元素，但文学性确实……
0 有用 Briersville 2020-12-12 08:48:37
看在它是哥特小说的开山鼻祖的份上多打一颗星……其实已经包含了很多经典的哥特元素，但文学性确实……
0 有用 Vacant | 卍卐 2010-05-11 22:05:14
谁说他的小说不如通信啊？！