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Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.6
EAN num: 9780140437546
ISBN number: 0140437541
Label: Penguin Classics
Manufacturer: Penguin Classics
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 544
Printing Date: February 01, 2001
Publishing house: Penguin Classics
Release Date: January 30, 2001
Sale Popularity Level: 92805
Studio: Penguin Classics
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Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
The haughty, manipulative Marchesa, determined to thwart the romance between her son, the young Neapolitan nobleman Vincentio di Vivaldi, and Elena di Rosalba, has enlisted the help of the villainous, scheming monk, Schedoni. With a livid paleness of face and a melancholy eye, whose brooding presence dominates the novel, Schedoni has become an archetype of Romantic literature. Set in the mid-eighteenth century against the dramatic, lush backdrop of the Bay of Naples, The Italian is a tale of passion, deceit, abduction, and the horrors of the Inquisition.
In one of the most powerful Gothic tales ever written, Mrs. Radcliffe, the unrivalled master of the genre, skillfully combines traditional elements of danger, romance, and the supernatural with her abiding interest in history and considerable ability to paint poetic images of sublime landscape. In the introduction, Robert Miles examines the novel's literary and historical context.
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers 
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This book has all the makings of a very good plot and could have been very gripping if it had not been slowed down by all the prose and flowery descriptions of scenery etc. These were all beautifully written but to me slowed the story down to the point where I could not finish the book. Once again, I find it totally unrealistic to believe that a man who only sees a woman a couple times could fall so madly in love with her so as to endure all that this couple went through. I guess am too much of a realist to really enjoy novels of this type.
Rated by buyers 
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This is the very first of Ann Radcliffes novels that I have read...and it wont be the last. I love the trials each character goes through whether they are paired together or seemingly seperated for eternity. The determination of Vivaldi to be with Ellena is amazing. I felt every angle of that from absolute glee to despair. There are a couple of twists that in a way I thought I should have expected (of course due to the type of books and the time period it was written in) but was still pleasantly surprised. Recommended.
Rated by buyers -
I have a particular love for Mysteries of Udolpho, but The Italian is another wonderful book. I read it in one day, and couldn't put it down. The only sad part about it, is there is so few books of hers to read!
A must read for gothic literature!
Rated by buyers -
Timely delivery...and I saved money by buying here than at the campus book store!
Rated by buyers 
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I discovered Ann Radcliffe's 'The Italian', like another reviewer, after having read 'The Monk'. And while I had hoped for another similarly twisting, winding, gothic thriller, this was not the case with 'The Italian'.
The opening pages seem to purport the reveal of the tale of the Black Penitents, as the story opens with a group of travelers seeing a shadowy, diabolical figure lurking in the shadows of a church.
But what follows is more of a tale of 'star-crossed lovers', leaning a bit more toward Romeo and Juliette. Vivaldi, the hero of this tale, pursues the affections of the orphaned Ellena Di Rosalba, much to the chagrin of his mother, the Marchesa Vivaldi. She employs the aide of her confessor, Father Schedoni, to separate the young lovers.
Ellena is spirited away to a convent, which Vivaldi breaks her out of, and here the tale becomes at least a bit more complex, as Vivaldi is subsequently imprisoned for his actions; as Ellena is marked for death in her new surroundings; and the Marchesa struggles to keep them forever apart.
In comparison to 'The Monk', which you find in Amazon's list of 'people who read this book also read' listing...this tale is in no way as dark, gothic, or 'thrilling' a read. Though enjoyable, the story doesn't fit the opening pages and the foreshadowing of the 'diabolical figure' seeking refuge in the church to avoid death, the mysterious 'Black Penitents' named...or any of the intrigue with which the book opens.
Still, in comparison to modern 'thrillers'; this book is paced well, plotted nicely, and comes to a logical conclusion. While I did not find the story I anticipated, it is still worth a read.
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