Walpole, Horace. The Castle of Otranto.WALPOLE, Horace. The Castle of Otranto. Read by Tony Jay. 4 cds. 4 hrs. Blackstone Audiobooks. 1764/2006. 0-7861-7025-5. $36.00. Vinyl; plot, author, reader notes. SA This 18th-century British potboiler pot·boil·er n. A literary or artistic work of poor quality, produced quickly for profit. [From the phrase boil the pot, to provide one's livelihood. , from which all Gothic fiction Gothic fiction is an important genre of literature that combines elements of both horror and romance. As a genre, it is generally believed to have been invented by the English author Horace Walpole, with his 1764 novel The Castle of Otranto. derives, boasts an evil prince, two beautiful princesses, a family curse, and a remote and haunted castle complete with trapdoors, walking wraiths, bleeding statues, and portraits whose eyes follow characters about. After a gigantic helmet falls, quite literally, out of the blue, the only son of Manfred, Prince of Otranto, is found crushed to death. Desperate to secure his line, Manfred rejects his devoted wife to ruthlessly stalk his late son's fiancee. A handsome stranger saves the day. Walpole's fusion of the exotic and the supernatural may have been original enough to start an enduring literary genre Noun 1. literary genre - a style of expressing yourself in writing writing style, genre drama - the literary genre of works intended for the theater prose - ordinary writing as distinguished from verse , but his overblown o·ver·blown v. Past participle of overblow. adj. 1. a. Done to excess; overdone: overblown decorations. b. dialogue and silly characters reduced this novel in print to little more than an academic footnote for generations. In reviving this largely forgotten tale in audio format, Blackstone deserves credit for recognizing that it--like any classic ghost story--is at its best when read well out loud. Jay's sonorous sonorous resonant; sounding. , menacing voice and expressive fast-paced performance so heighten the aura of evil that listeners can easily focus on the action instead of the flaws. Francine Levitov, Attorney, New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of , NY S--Recommended for senior high school students. A--Recommended for advanced students and adults. This code will help librarians and teachers working in high schools where there are honors and advanced placement students. This also will extend KLIATT's usefulness in public libraries. |
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