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The Monk
The Monk: A Romance | Matthew Gregory Lewis
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Yuki_Onna
The Monk | Matthew Lewis
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Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks 📚🙌🏻 12mo
Eggs Nicely done ✅ 12mo
18 likes2 comments
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vivastory
The Monk | Matthew Lewis
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#SinisterArt Day 27
The figure at the top has been used as the cover art for the tagged book, one of the most memorable Gothic novels I have ever read. Dierick Bouts' Hell is def. a good match for Lewis work. Link with zoom option:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dieric_Bouts_-_Hell_-_WGA02967.jpg

TrishB This is a bonkers read! 1y
BarbaraBB I loved this book!!! Art work again reminds me of Caravaggio 1y
batsy Oh, cool! That is such a memorable cover of The Monk (I've yet to read it, though.) 1y
See All 13 Comments
Bookwomble Reminds me of a holiday camp I went to as a kid 🤔 1y
vivastory @TrishB @BarbaraBB I recall that the Vincent Cassel adaptation is worthwhile too 1y
vivastory @batsy Isn't it a great cover? Oh, I definitely would be curious to see what you think of The Monk. It has all of the Gothic tropes, but it is much darker. Definitely my favorite Gothic novel 1y
vivastory @Bookwomble Same, same 🤣 1y
batsy @vivastory That's high praise! It's on my list and your enthusiasm makes me want to check it out sooner. Maybe I'll ring in the new year with a frightful Gothic bang 😆 1y
vivastory @batsy An excellent idea! There are a few Gothic novels remaining on my TBR. I especially would like to read Radcliffe & Melmoth the Wanderer 1y
batsy @vivastory I have Melmoth TBR. Re: Radcliffe, I loved Udolpho, it was just wild, & I think (hope) you'll like it, too! The Italian also has one of the most ghoulish monks I've ever encountered & you can't forget him. I'm keen to read The Romance of the Forest next. There's another book I have on my list because it apparently borrows from The Monk 1y
vivastory @batsy Thanks for your input on Radcliffe! I'm often torn as to if I should start with Udolpho or The Italian, but I have been leaning a bit towards the former. I'd never heard of that Hoffman book before & I recently purchased The Sandman as a Little Black Classic. I've heard great things! 1y
Bookwomble @batsy I have all the books you've both mentioned, though, naturally, I haven't read them all yet 🙄 I can thoroughly recommend The Sandman, though, as I did read that last year and it's fantastic, in all senses of the word. 1y
batsy @Bookwomble @vivastory Glad to hear that about The Sandman! Since it's a short one, I might start there. 1y
46 likes1 stack add13 comments
review
WaterVixxen
The Monk | Matthew Lewis
Pickpick

This book is dark and twisted. A Gothic romance that was banned for a time, give great insights on the depravity of humanity. Can be hard to settle into, but once you do, it‘s impossible to put down. Lots of shocking moments. Read this for a British Lit class and thought it was phenomenal.

swishandflick Welcome to Litsy! 🤗 2y
WaterVixxen Thank you! 2y
2 likes2 comments
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LauraJ
The Monk | Matthew Lewis
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Today is the first day my foster cat, Felineous Monk has decided to spend time in the living room. Only took him a month. Cecil and I still can‘t touch him.
#catsoflitsy

Tamra A beauty! 4y
DebinHawaii Gorgeous. 😻Love that elegant tail! 4y
vivastory Best cat name ever 😂 4y
See All 8 Comments
Trashcanman I second that motion! Best 🐈 name on Earth 4y
Leftcoastzen He‘s beautiful! You are so wonderful to foster! 4y
Meaw_catlady He‘s so beautiful!!! Love him! 😻😻 4y
ValerieAndBooks 😍. Is that a white nose, or just how the light is hitting him? 4y
LauraJ @ValerieAndBooks just the light. He does have a small white patch on his chest and another on his lower abdomen. 4y
64 likes8 comments
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jenniferw88
The Monk | Matthew Lewis
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Esin
The Monk | Matthew Lewis
Pickpick

Racy even today (Paul rec)

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ReadingOver50
The Monk | Matthew Lewis
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Starting this one tonight on Serial Reader. It sounds interesting.

BarbaraBB It is amazing!! 4y
DGRachel I really enjoyed it, but I love Gothic classics. 4y
64 likes2 stack adds2 comments
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ferskner
The Monk | Matthew Lewis
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Pickpick

I don't know that you can say you're in for a treat if you've never picked up this completely insane book, but it's probably unlike anything else you've ever read. Murder, illicit sex, incest, heretics....it's still pretty scandalous!

#pop19 #booksetinanabbeycloistermonasteryvicarageorconvent

BarbaraBB It‘s such an unexpected great book!! 5y
KathyWheeler It‘s definitely a crazy read! 5y
TrishB It‘s bonkers!! 5y
71 likes3 comments
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ferskner
The Monk | Matthew Lewis
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It's frustrating to be sitting in a cell lot when your friend has landed, but the plane isn't allowed to gate because of lightning. At least I have this wackadoodle book to keep me company.

TrishB Yep, that book is banana pants. 5y
Sunraven Ha, wackadoodle and banana pants ... You guys are making me want to read this. 😆 5y
See All 6 Comments
BarbaraBB Such a good read! 5y
ferskner @TrishB @sunraven haha! I finished it last night and it stays crazy until the very end. 5y
Sunraven Sounds good to me. 😆 I added it to my “up next” list on Scribd, so we‘ll see when I get to it... 5y
77 likes2 stack adds6 comments
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ferskner
The Monk | Matthew Lewis
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I went to my first Jane Austen Society of North America (JASNA) meeting today! It was a discussion of the Gothic novels that influenced Northanger Abbey, and I think I may have been the only fan of Gothic lit but it was still a great event. Now time to settle in for more time with this novel and leftover lemon cake.

Daisey I enjoyed this novel so much more than I expected! 5y
Palimpsest I really liked this book. I love gothic lit. 5y
Librarybelle Totally stacking this! I‘ve yet to venture to one of my local JASNA chapter meetings...maybe some day! 5y
See All 6 Comments
xicanti My friend and I went to one of those meetings once! It was fun. I don‘t remember why we never went back. 5y
BarbaraBB I loved this book! 5y
DGRachel I loved this one. Your cover is much cooler than mine! 5y
87 likes3 stack adds6 comments
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MStew
The Monk | Matthew Lewis
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Another classic gothic horror I want to read! And this cover is frightening!!!

A Monk and his temptations 😨

#bookhaul

#classics

Lcsmcat 😮 5y
Briget66 Eek! 😬 5y
Emilymdxn I really enjoyed this book! 5y
See All 10 Comments
MrBook I came across this the other day while doing an online search. Yeah, this sounds frightening as all heck! 5y
BookwormM There is a movie as well 5y
MStew @MrBook sounds so scary! 5y
MStew @Emilymdxn im excited 😎 5y
MStew @Lcsmcat 😫 5y
81 likes5 stack adds10 comments
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rybrary
The Monk | Matthew Lewis
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Pickpick

Book 3 of 2019. Loooved this. The subject matter is scandalous even for today so I can't imagine what the reaction would have been like when it was published 200+ years ago. Two thumbs up for this evil monk.

If you've read it, who would you cast as Ambrosio if you were casting a film version???

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rybrary
The Monk | Matthew Lewis
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Reading at work means doing it sneakily from the computer. On another note, this book is insane.

Red.Reads As soon as out boss mentioned that we're allowed to wear headphones while at our desks, I lined up a list of audiobooks to see me through my work days :) 5y
rybrary @Red.Reads love it! Unfortunately I find I'm not coordinated enough to listen to books and do work at the same time 5y
Godpants Let us know how you like this. I‘ve started and stopped a few times but feel like I should give it a more solid try. 5y
rybrary @Godpants I don't red a ton of books pre-1900 because I'm always afraid I won't understand what's happening due to the language, but this is a relatively easy read despite that and the plot is pretty insane. I'm having a pretty fun time reading it and can definitely see why it was so scandalous when released. 5y
7 likes4 comments
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Emilymdxn
The Monk | Matthew Lewis
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Mehso-so

This was worth reading, I‘m glad I read it for my general understanding of gothic novels but I didn‘t find it as compelling or fascinating as most of the other gothic classics I read. I found it a little difficult to follow, and bits of it felt very mundane while other bits felt a bit silly, rather than deliciously melodramatic in the way something like castle of otranto or mysteries of udolpho was. Eh you can‘t love every book

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Emilymdxn
The Monk | Matthew Lewis
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I‘ve been really wanting to read a proper old fashioned gothic novel and this is one of the really big famous ones I haven‘t read yet! I‘ve heard it‘s very dark and was the first proper horror novel in English (or at least one of the candidates depending on how you define things). Excited.

BarbaraBB It‘s sooo good! 5y
Emilymdxn @BarbaraBB I‘m not that far in but I know I‘m gonna love it it‘s very me! 5y
29 likes2 comments
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JenniferEgnor
The Monk | Matthew Lewis
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Pickpick


I forget how I discovered this book but the violence and depravity in it made me want to read it. I finally did. Reviews from other readers said it was slow 🐢, and it was. I questioned some parts of it, but in the last section of the book, things really begin to pick up and get dark. Then, after being bored, I began to get intrigued. I was beginning to regret getting the book and reading it until then. I absolutely LOVE the way it ended!

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JenniferEgnor
The Monk | Matthew Lewis
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That dreadful doom to which even seemed preferable… to linger out a life of misery in a narrow loathsome cell, known to exist by no human being save her ravisher, surrounded by moldering corpses, breathing the pestilential air of corruption, nevermore to behold the light, or drink the pure gale of heaven, the idea was more terrible than she could support.

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CoraHirashiki
The Monk | Matthew Lewis
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Totally safe to judge this book by its cover.

Reasons to read it ⬇️

💀 The author was 20 years old and a member of Parliament

💀 It was an inspiration behind Poe‘s The Pit & The Pendulum

💀It‘s got the 3 bases of Gothic lit covered - paranoia, the barbaric, and the taboo

Bookwomble I've had this on my shelf for about twenty years - I really should try to read it at some point! How did you find it? 6y
CoraHirashiki @Bookwomble I liked it a lot - it pretty much epitomizes Gothic lit and is not at all boring. I was able to read most of it in one day 6y
Bookwomble @CoraKimiko I envy your reading speed - I'm a slow reader, so it'll take me some time to get through 400-odd pages 😊 6y
5 likes3 comments
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Nbrandolini
Artaud's The Monk | Antonin Artaud

Something

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SpiderCrafts
The Monk | Matthew Lewis
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Two great finds, while passing by the thrift store. I've had The Monk on my Gothic TBR list; sure best with an intro by Stephen King. That happens to pair with Harry Potter & The Cursed Child. The book was missing its cover jacket, but still a good bargain for getting around to reading the script story.

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DGRachel
The Monk | Matthew Lewis
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I always have trouble picking a #villain because, like Jane Bennett, I try to find the good in people (at least fictional people) and try to consider their reasons and motivations for their behavior. However, I think it‘s pretty clear that Ambrosio more than earns the title of villain.
#litsyclassics #maylovesclassics

Palimpsest Nice pick! 6y
sprainedbrain Most definitely. What a creep. 6y
Daisey Good choice! 6y
CoraHirashiki Yes, he was!! He looks way older on this book cover - looks much closer to being 60 instead of 30 6y
85 likes2 stack adds4 comments
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LynnMPK
The Monk | Matthew Lewis
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Pickpick

Great gothic novel about a monk‘s fall into disgrace.

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LynnMPK
The Monk | Matthew Lewis
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I can‘t wait to start this next! I‘m a huge fan of gothic lit and have read most of the well known novels. Northanger Abbey (which is a parody of gothic lit, and hilarious) is my fave Austen novel. I had never heard of this book until I saw a review on YouTube by Hannah of Beginnings to Bookends, and I was lucky enough to have won a copy from her!

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Katiesbookishlife
The Monk | Matthew Lewis
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About a third of the way, slow going though 🤦‍♀️

Bklover This doesn‘t look like an easy read! 6y
DGRachel Ooh, I remember loving this one. Yes, it‘s a slow burn, but it‘s a true Gothic Classic. 😍 6y
Katiesbookishlife @Bklover it‘s definitely not ! 6y
Katiesbookishlife @DGRachel yes it does pick up the pace a little, thank goodness 😅 6y
23 likes1 stack add4 comments
review
sprainedbrain
The Monk: A Romance | Matthew Gregory Lewis
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Pickpick

I really liked this audiobook - wonderful narration by Boulton, with performances of the songs mentioned and supplemental narration here and there by Sutton. Very high quality production of a dark, creepy gothic horror novel first published in 1796. Some of it was predictable, but all of it was absorbing.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

5th and final book finished for #24in48

JaimeDawn That pic looks like Snape at the castle window 6y
112 likes8 stack adds2 comments
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Daisey
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Pickpick

I signed up for #24in48 without actually looking at my calendar and then more things were added, so there is going to be very little reading this weekend. 😔
However, I did finish this audiobook while driving to spend today with family. It was darker and more violent than most other gothic novels I‘ve read, and it attributes more to the supernatural instead of explaining it away. It definitely kept my attention!

#audiobook #1001books

sprainedbrain I‘m loving this on audio, too! The narration is fantastic. 👌🏻 6y
Daisey @sprainedbrain Agreed! How far are you? 6y
sprainedbrain @Daisey almost done! 38 minutes left. 6y
56 likes3 comments
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Daisey
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I‘m already more than a third of the way through this book and enjoying it more than I expected. I was still listening about the ghost of the bleeding nun when students started arriving in my classroom this morning and continued again a bit after I got home this evening. I might actually finish by the end of the month at this rate.

#Reading1001 #1001books #audiobook

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Daisey
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I finished Women in Love this morning (finally!) and am moving on to a new book for this afternoon‘s #audiowalk. So far I‘m finding it much more interesting!

This is book number four in January with #Reading1001, although I‘m not sure I‘ll manage to finish by the end of the month.

#1001books #audiobook #Hoopla

BarbaraBB This one is soooo good! Enjoy 😘 6y
Daisey @BarbaraBB That‘s what I keep hearing! Looking forward to it. 6y
56 likes2 comments
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Kristelh
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This will be one of my first books of the year. #Reading1001, #1001, #ScaredyKit.

jenniferw88 It's a good book! 6y
Kristelh #jenniferw88, good to hear 6y
Kristelh It was a great 👍 6y
11 likes3 comments
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BarbaraBB
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The monk Ambrosio is a #believer who has never set foot outside the cloister he lives in. Then one day something happens that introduces him to the world of temptation and lust. Written over 200 years ago and still such a great gothic read!
#DecDays #1001books

Cathythoughts That‘s a very scary picture 😱 6y
Cinfhen Those illustrations are 🔥☄️🔥☄️💥sounds like a great pick for today 6y
BarbaraBB @Cathythoughts @cinfhen It is the cover of my Penguin Classic edition! 6y
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vivastory Have you seen the movie with Vincent Cassell? It's a good adaptation 6y
BarbaraBB @vivastory No... but I should! 6y
Darth_Kaders An amazing book! I also have the same cover! 6y
Leftcoastzen Love this book ,read it a long time ago ,maybe time to read it again. (edited) 6y
63 likes5 stack adds7 comments
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Bambolina_81
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I'm not sure this is even legible but here are my #litsyclassics for @sarah83 upcoming challenge. I own all but 3 of these and have only read 4 previously so I'm really looking forward to it!

Sarah83 Looks good. Great choices 😎 6y
Suet624 Fantastic. 6y
66 likes2 comments
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BarbaraBB
The Monk: A Romance | Matthew Gregory Lewis
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Pickpick

A great book! I can hardly believe that is was written more than 200 years ago by a boy of 19 years old in a two-week period. The story is very gothic, but could have been written yesterday. Ambrioso the monk is a very religious man, who has never experienced the world outside the cloister in which he lives. Then one day something happens which introduces him into a world of temptation and lust. These themes are today as vivid as ever. #1001books

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roneea
The Monk: A Romance | Matthew Gregory Lewis
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Pickpick

Hands down the best gothic novel I have read. So much romance, melodrama, blood and guts! Highly recommend for fans of the dark and gothic 🔪🔪🔪

9 likes1 stack add
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jenniferw88
The Monk: A Romance | Matthew Gregory Lewis
This post contains spoilers
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Ande
The Monk: A Romance | Matthew Gregory Lewis
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Pickpick

Crazy sex monk wizard. It is as good as it sounds.

3 likes1 stack add
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TrishB
The Monk: A Romance | Matthew Gregory Lewis
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#dnf
@RealLifeReading
The only one I haven't finished since being on litsy!! Recommended by an English Prof I work with.
Just not for me. I have finished some I've not really enjoyed, which is stupid really......

89 likes3 stack adds
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prowlix
The Monk: A Romance | Matthew Gregory Lewis
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#creepycover could pretty much be every edition of this book. It's one of those weird classics I almost want to read just to say I read it but not sure if it's worth the effort? Anyone read this one? #booktober

hiespin I've read it! It's wonderful. Incredibly dark, but satisfyingly gothic. Seriously, if you want to take on a classic this is a ride you should experience at least once! 7y
Ande I can recommend it. Get on for the ride. 7y
37 likes3 stack adds2 comments
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TrishB
The Monk: A Romance | Matthew Gregory Lewis
Bailedbailed

Got to about half way and just couldn't finish. I expected a gothic horror and it definitely wasn't!

DGRachel 😔 I really liked it, but I can see where not everyone would. I fully support bailing! 7y
TrishB @DGRachel does anything happen in the second half that I shouldn't have missed? Hate bailing! 7y
the_hibernator If you don't like the first half, don't bother with the second half. This was a hard book for me to read, but I thought it was ok in the end. 7y
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TrishB @the_hibernator thanks! I shall resign myself to not finishing! 7y
DGRachel I don't know how far you've actually gotten, but I was going to say exactly what @the_hibernator said - if you've gotten to the halfway point, let it go without guilt. I liked it, but classic gothic literature was my favorite genre in college. It's not horror in the way I think of horror (Stephen King/blood & gore). #noguilt 7y
deirdrebeecher Have you tried Sheridan Le fanu , he's a bit wordy but he is a good bridge between the early Gothic stuff and what we think of as horror. 7y
33 likes2 stack adds6 comments
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TrishB
The Monk: A Romance | Matthew Gregory Lewis

Starting this, recommended by an English Professor I work with as I like Gothic stuff.

DGRachel This was really good. Enjoy! 7y
TrishB Read half on plane! It's an experience! 7y
Hobbinol Oh I loved this book🌚🌚🌑(just noticed there isn't a black heart emoji so you got three dark moons instead)! 7y
TrishB @Hobbinol love the black moons! 7y
39 likes1 stack add4 comments
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KatarinaK
The Monk: A Romance | Matthew Gregory Lewis
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Pickpick

Quite possibly the trashiest book I have ever read. Read for a Jane Austen and her Contemporaries course. At times it was very funny even when it wasn't supposed to be!

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LaFemmeMacabre
The Monk: A Romance | Matthew Gregory Lewis
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Just getting started

brbamreading I'm starring to love this app! 😍 8y
MrBook Interesting cover. Welcome to @Litsy ! We hope you enjoy your stay, I think you'll like it here 😎👍🏻. 8y
LaFemmeMacabre @MrBook I appreciate the warm welcome. The cover is lovely, it's why I was drawn to it . 8y
MrBook 😊👍🏻 8y
5 likes1 stack add5 comments
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Readliterature
The Monk: A Romance | Matthew Gregory Lewis
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"Having finished her usual devotions, Antonia retired to bed. Sleep soon stole over her senses; and for several hours she enjoyed that calm repose which innocence alone can know, and for which many a monarch with pleasure would exchange his crown."

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