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Paperback
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Chloe Chard
This novel, although not as well-known as Radcliffe's later works, is thought to represent her work at its best. More than just a work of suspense and mystery, it is a work of ideas--a discussion of the contrasts between hedonistic doctrines and a system of education and values.
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| Terrifying in a romantic sort of way... |
| Customer Rating: 4 out of 5 |
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France, 1640s. Adeline has had a difficult life. After her mother dies, her father places her in a convent, where, in misery, she begs him to release her. When he finally acquiesces, it is to imprison her inside a shabby home. Then, without logic or explanation, she is sent off with a family that is passing by. Monsieur La Motte, along with his wife and two servants, has fled Paris after he resorts to a life of crime in order to pay his many debts. He accepts to care for Adeline. They find the perfect hiding place: an abandoned abbey in a forest. They try to live a semi-normal life in the ruins -- until the Marquis de Montalt, lord of the abbey, comes along and ruins everything. The marquis' appearance, along with the findings of a skeleton, a manuscript and hidden passages within the abbey, sets off a string of bizarre events and enormous revelations that have Adeline risk not only her virtue but also her life.
First published in 1791, The Romance of the Forest began a trend of gothic novels that is still enjoyed today. Ann Radcliffe had very likely inspired authors like Emily and Charlotte Bronte, who in turn inspired Elizabeth Gaskell, Daphne du Maurier, Mary Stewart and others. The dark language and romanticism of the novel's setting of seventeenth century France enthralled me from beginning to end. The marquis is a despicable character, La Motte is not much better, and you fall in love with Theodore and feel sorry for Louis. The best part about the story is the narrative. Radcliffe describes scenery, mood and suspense with a romantic air that is difficult to resist. She even sprinkles the narrative with poems and sonnets. They do become tedious after a while though, and I admit to have skipped through some of them. I was confused through a major chunk of the novel, but, of course, everything makes perfect sense when the author ties all loose ends toward the end. The mystery is very well woven and there are some very surprising twists and turns in the story. The narrative does drag at times, especially during the middle of volume three, but it gets better toward the end, where is so riveting that you cannot wait to see how it all unfolds. All in all, The Romance of the Forest is a wonderful piece of classic gothic literature. The only Radcliffe I had read before this was The Italian, and now I cannot wait to reread that, but not before I read The Mysteries of Udolpho. Now THAT I cannot wait to get my hands on! Just call me a new Ann Radcliffe fan.
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| bad edition for teaching |
| Customer Rating: 1 out of 5 |
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This edition of the novel, unlike the older Oxford edition, includes absolutely no information about the novel. From what printing is this edition taken, for example? No introduction, no footnotes or glosses--nothing at all to help students read this novel.
But what is far more annoying are the deliberate OMISSIONS OF TEXT! A total of five chapters are missing, described as "tedious" and summarized briefly. Also, though Ann Radcliffe selected epigraphs for each chapter before the novel's 1791 publication, none of these are included, despite being rather interesting and insightful.
All in all, this edition is ridiculously bad as a scholarly text and not much better as entertainment, since the missing chapters really DO contribute to the enjoyment of the plot and characterization! Teaching with this edition is a nightmare.
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| for fans of gothic |
| Customer Rating: 4 out of 5 |
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The first chapters of this gothic romance deal with the misfortunes of a Mr. La Motte and his wife. He has to run away from the city to avoid being imprisoned for debts. In their journey they meet the lovely and quintessential gothic heroine, Adeline, in very strange circumstances, that will be explained in the next chapters.
From the beginning there are beatiful landscape descriptions, and an all pervading feeling of sadness, despair, and melancholy. The characters are uncertain about their safety, and their future, so they are unhappy.
Mrs. La Motte and Adeline, feel the pangs of loneliness. Maybe this is a book about loneliness, and the way people feel about it. Like most horror and fantasy books, it is a book about loneliness.
Mrs. Radcliffe creates an atmosphere of uncertainty, nobody really knows what is going to happen, and they always wait for the worst. The greatest terror is the terror of uncertainty, when everything people consider stable and firm, start to collapse. When things fall apart.
I particullary liked when Adeline, while talking to Mr. La Motte, said that people can extract comfort from most situations. Even in a desperate moment, it is possible to find pleasure and forgetfulness, appreciating a quiet and peaceful place or relaxing in a lovely scenary, instead of always concentrating on your problems, or misfortunes.
People, do not have to suffer the cloud of sorrow to tinge every object they look upon, - said Adeline-. Was not she right? Adeline always found comfort, in the contemplation of nature. Mrs. Radcliffe insists that people may find relief to their sorrows, contemplating a sublime place, or inmersing in nature.
Mr. LaMotte and his family settled in an abandoned abbey, surrrounded by a thick wood, and a deserted countryside. A beautiful, and - at the same time - dreary place.
Typical of this genre, the abbey has many recesses, secret chambers, cells, and apparently, a ghost. It seems that somebody dissapeared in the derelict abbey, a long time ago, in strange circumstances, and his spectre haunts the place. These facts succeed in creating a gloomy, melancholy and dreary atmosphere. A manuscript is found in one of the many recesses, that may explain what really happened in the abbey, and who were responsible for the misdeeds.
There are some good sonnets interspersed in the text, like one dedicated to fancy, that may help people to forget their misfortunes, or some other dedicated to the night, and to a lilly.
More disgraces await poor Adeline, she had to find out that people are not always what they seem to be. That certain persons she considered friends are not real friends. But in spite of her dissapointments, she still keeps faith in the goodness of humanity. She does not want to become a bitter person, who does not trust anybody, just because some people deceived her. With time, Adeline will learn that people may repent, and never are completely bad.
The moods and feelings of Adeline, - fear, dispair, terror, etc.- sometimes correspond to alteration in weather.
When she is afraid, there are violents storms, gusts, etc. It is as if her feelings were related with nature, and her gloomy moods are reflected outside. It is a way to enhance the feeling the writer wanted her readers to experience.
It is a book for people fond of gothic fiction. In spite of the naive plot, and somewhat idealized characters.
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| Amusement, sometimes mixed with irritation |
| Customer Rating: 3 out of 5 |
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I had very mixed feelings about this one- the story itself was sometimes very interesting, but there were also some really annoying aspects to it.
For one thing, Adeline (the heroine) is so excruciatingly perfect that sometimes I just wanted to slap her upside the head. She is stunningly beautiful, ridiculously intelligent, and on top of that, she never has anything less than an entirely virtuous motive for any action she takes (or lack thereof). Apparently Mrs. Radcliffe was not aware that pictures of perfection make most people sick and wicked, not sympathetic. On top of this, as another review pointed out, she cries at a drop of a hat. I am myself rather sensitive, but there were times that it got fairly ridiculous.
Another annoyance was that there were several hackneyed plot ideas that really shouldn't have been used- the worst being the tired device of a character suddenly being found to be of noble birth and great fortune near the end. I don't know why this is a popular plot twist, but it seems to add little to the story as a whole.
The third was the overuse of poetry and descriptions of scenery. Having read The Mysteries of Udolpho and The Italian, I thought I would be prepared for this, but there were times in The Romance of the Forest that I got so fed up that I skipped these parts to get back to the main story. I can understand a little bit here and there, but there were portions that it went on for several pages at a time.
So why have I given it a three, then? Because there were also several things that somewhat redeemed it. Peter, La Motte's servant, was a delightful character, and I thought it was very unfair of Adeline and La Motte (the latter especially) to constantly be belittling him since it wasn't his fault he was not very bright. La Luc was also an endearing character, as were Theodore and Louis. I also liked Madame La Motte because she was more of a mixed character than any of the others- she had both good and bed qualities, unusual in Radcliffe's works.
So all in all, I would say that though there were many frustrations, the novel was not with its charms as well.
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| Short and Sweet |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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The Mysteries of Udolpho is the best of the Radcliffe books, but I give this one 5 stars because it is still a very good read!
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