The Monk: A Romance (Penguin Classics)

This is a riveting tale of intrigue, incest, murder and blasphey told in a wonderfully flowing style that is so easy to read that you can't put it down. The two separate story lines come together beautifully-it's the best book i've ever read!


Outrageous   January 9, 2001
 3 out of 5 found this review helpful

I always think Gothic Horror has something outrageously camp about it and this epitomises the genre for me. Ridiculous plot lines with moustache twirling heartless villains, sordid Nuns and despoiled virgins are only a few out the excesses that this novel tends to. Satanism, corruption and vice ooze from every page and it is a kind of horrific pantomime from start to finish. Very entertaining but don't expect to be frightened, you might be wildly amused though!


Absolutely stunning, scary and beatifully written   May 3, 2000
 4 out of 4 found this review helpful

This book was the choice of one of the participants in a reading group I belong to. We did not know a lot about it, only what she told us she had heard on a radio book review program. I was hooked from the moment I started reading the book until I read the last page. The tragedy was so inevitable and it lay rumbling in the background throughout the book. The characters were so real and you could sympathise with every one of them, because Lewis portrays them so well. The language was beautiful and moving. The story was exciting and raunchy as well as touching and solemn. I recommend this book to all romantics and horror fans.


The paradigm of a gothic novel   February 9, 2000
 2 out of 2 found this review helpful

This is an enormously enjoyable book, exploring the corruption of a prioress in parallel with the temptation of an abbott, within the context of several gripping romantic plots and elements of the supernatural. The prose style is surprisingly accessible, and not at all turgid.


A masterpiece!   January 8, 2000
 2 out of 2 found this review helpful

This book is flawless.The dialogue is vivid and absorbing, the story gripping and addictive and the ending apocalyptic. Beacause the dialogue is written in an 18th Century style, it can take a while to get used to, but sticking with it brings enormous rewards as the characters descend into murder, perversion and madness in a totally believable and realistic manner.The plot includes many clever twists and thought-provoking moments. It is impossible not to live the lives of the characters as the genius plot unfolds.