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Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.6
EAN num: 9780486434124
ISBN number: 0486434125
Label: Dover Publications
Manufacturer: Dover Publications
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 128
Printing Date: March 19, 2004
Publishing house: Dover Publications
Sale Popularity Level: 130101
Studio: Dover Publications
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Product Description:
One of the first, great Gothic novels, and one of the most influential books in literary history, this thrilling tale abounds in adventure, suspense, and supernatural occurrences. In a realm where a villain reigns, mysterious events aid in fulfilling a prophecy that spells doom for the ruler and justice for the rightful heir.
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Rated by buyers 
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Known as the landmark in "Gothic literature", I wasn't too sure of what to expect with this. Things started off well when the would-be husband gets squished under a giant helment mysteriously fallen from the sky. But then...
I believe this book has some bad flaws, and despite it being a readable read, these flaws really don't help. For instance, Walpole very often falls into the "telling" of the story, which makes you feel very distant from the events described, almost as a chronicle, or as a sum-up of what happens.
Another flaw is the supernatural events, which are either ridiculous, or ridiculously put. As a critic wrote, they look like representations of themselves, rather than supernatural events per se. The problem with that is that it entirely kills any fear the reader may have. This reads like a fairy tale or a medieval legend, and doesn't cause enough immersion to create any real fear or concern. It's like a play, over-acted and even cartoonish at times.
As Walpole himself writes in his preface, I applaud the attempt, but am less satisfied with the result. And I'm not even sure that this book is so original: if you know medieval novels like "Mélusine", you know that the supernatural and castles aren't that original in the 18th century, and thus the only originality here seems to be restricted to this very century - the 18th - and to be cast against a classicism of that day. That's alright, but it isn't enough to make a good book.
That said, "The Castle of Otranto" is not a bad book. It is sort of awkward and irrational, albeit on purpose, and you'll end up wondering about these giant knight parts that show up seemingly at random and do weird things. It's close to a dream, and surrealism, in a way, but again, that alone is not enough to make it a gripping story.
As a conclusion: fails to create immersion, makes the reader feels distant and as though watching a play in which actors and actresses over-act, leaves much mystery that the reader will eventually not really care to elucidate. This ancestor of Gothic certainly does not live up to its successors, like "Wuthering Heights" or "Frankenstein" and all those master pieces.
Rated by buyers 
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Here it is: the novel that created the gothic fiction genre and paved the way for such works as Frankenstein, Dracula, The Monk, Melmoth the Wanderer, The Shining and Alien (to name just a few). Yet, comparing The Castle of Otranto with the works it helped inspire is like comparing the Wright Brothers' airplane with a Boeing 747. Walpole's novel is certainly an important step in the right direction, yet it clearly lacks many of the features of gothic fiction developed by later writers. There's no real sense of mood or atmosphere, no wickedly evil villain (Manfred comes off like a wishy-washy used car salesman), and little suspense or drama.
At times this novel reads more like a parody of gothic fiction rather than its earliest example. It's filled with fainting ladies, noble princes in disguise, miraculous reunions, graveyard rendezvous, hereditary curses, etc. While some parts are interesting and engaging, sometimes the story feels like a novelization of a Disney movie, that is: trite, contrived and very predictable. Honestly, I wanted to like this book, and kept hoping that a silver lining would emerge at some point. It never did, and this book never rose above the level of just being okay.
Unless you're really interested in learning more about the origins of gothic fiction, I would recommend reading something else.
Rated by buyers -
This mess of a book, a semblance of ideas inspired largely by Shakespeare is nothing less than throw-away trash. This book is an inspiration to the art of cheesy writing, with silly visuals (a Monty Python opening involves a large helmet falling from the sky and crushing a weakling boy on his wedding day) and horrid dialog "Alas! Help! Help!" this book had me both laughing and bewildered.
Remember two things when considering this book, Walpole published it himself (we call that "vanity press" now) and he didn't take credit for it! He published under pseudonym and claimed it was a translation of an ancient text, thus twice distancing himself from it. Only after it sold did he admit he wrote it, then claimed his own genius. Though, as a new work, critics that found a translation interesting soon realized this "modern" work was in fact, bad. And it still is today.
Let me quote Clive Barker "Burn this book."
It's bad, really, really, bad.
Rated by buyers -
A nasty accidental death is not a good thing to have happen on your
wedding day, particularly when it happens to the guy you were going to marry.
After this unfortunate event, the father of the dead groom decides
he needs to marry the now did not quite make it to widowed woman. There are financial reasons, for this, of course.
Plenty of supernatural and other sorts of suspense follow.
Rated by buyers 
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"The Castle of Otranto" by Horace Walpole, is regarded as the very first novel of the gothic genre. Indeed its short and simple story is filled with the supernatural, and what must nowadays count as caricatures for characters. The charm of the story lies within its historical relevance and what it brought to future stories within that genre, not in the story itself.
Immediately the reader is introduced to the tyrannical prince of Otranto, Manfred, as he is about to marry his sickly son to the princess Isabella in a quest to secure his claim to the throne he may not be entitled to. When Manfred's son Conrad is struck dead, with no witnesses to his ghastly death, Manfred is at a total loss. He strikes upon the idea of marrying the young princess Isabella for himself; when he proposes the notion to Isabella, she is frightened and repulsed and runs away, seeking sanctuary within the castle's monastery. Then ensues Manfred's stalking of Isabella while trying to get out of his marriage to his extremely pious wife Hippolita, while all about the castle the servants and ruling family keep having dreadful visions.
In the end these supernatural visions serve to bring justice to the rightful heir, a young man who unwittingly helps Isabella escape from Manfred's clutches only to fall in love with Manfred's daughter, Matilda. The theme is that of the sins of the father being visited upon the children (even generations later) and is not a new theme in modern literature, but an interesting choice and one that works with the supernatural means Walpole employs to bring it about. While "The Castle of Otranto" is a watershed in the gothic genre, it is by far not the best or most notable work of that period; yet without the blueprint laid meticulously out by Walpole, such greater stories may never have been written.
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