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The Monk

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The Monk

By: Matthew Lewis
Narrated by: Nicholas Boulton, Georgina Sutton
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A masterpiece of gothic fiction, The Monk is a cautionary tale of madness, horror, lust, and despair. Father Ambrosio, the most pious and venerated monk in all of Madrid, is held as a paragon of virtue. But after 30 years of study and prayer, evil thoughts begin to permeate his mind.

As two plots cleverly converge, torture, murder, incest, rape, poison, and magic prevail, sustained by an elegance in the writing of the 19-year-old Matthew Lewis.

The book was banned upon its initial publication in 1796, but later caught the attention of Lord Byron and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, with Coleridge naming it "the offspring of no common genius".

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

Public Domain (P)2017 Naxos AudioBooks Classics Genre Fiction Gothic Horror Literary Fiction Literary History & Criticism Scary Fiction
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This book is excellent. Truly. Matthew Lewis was just nineteen when he wrote this, what were you doing at nineteen? I was trying to figure out how to open bras with one hand, and deciding on the best excuse to use when calling in sick at my job and not get fired. Silly me; I could have been writing one of the greatest Gothic Novels of all time.
I could explain about the plot, the temptation and corruption of Ambrosio; or the subplot, the unjust fate of Agnes. Rather, I'll avoid giving spoilers and just say that anyone who thinks eighteenth century literature is boring needs to read this.
The narration is perfect. Highly recommend.

Wow!

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A fantastic story with a great, but not totally unexpected twist at the end.
Great narration by Nicholas Boulton as usual, although I do wish he’d pronounce the ‘h’ in hotel! The only things that let it down at all is the stanzas, particularly those that are sung!!! Completely unnecessary & don’t really bear any relevance to the story. Fast foreword through these & you’ll enjoy it

A brilliant piece of true gothic horror

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Absolute page-turner, full of conflicting styles, bad taste, bizarre sense of humour and events that are not probable or even possible ))

Absolute page-turner

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Love this. It was a joy to listen to. A bit confusing with some of the story

Grate 10/10

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I genuinely don’t know what to do with this book. It is probably one of the craziest things I’ve ever read, and that ending… I am still speechless.

I knew it was supposed to be a shocking Gothic classic, and I knew it was about a monk who becomes corrupted, but I honestly didn’t expect to be quite as scandalised by it as I was. This book is over 200 years old and somehow it still manages to shock me. I can completely understand why it caused such a stir when it was published in 1796.

I can also see exactly why it became such an influential Gothic novel. I went into it knowing about its connection to Northanger Abbey, and knowing that writers like Byron, the Shelleys, Poe and the Brontës had read it, and I could really see the influence while reading it. It was fascinating to read something and realise just how much later literature came after it.

The audiobook narration was also brilliant. Nicholas Boulton’s voice reminded me of Sir Anthony Hopkins, and I absolutely loved his tone. He did such a good job of bringing the different characters to life, which can’t have been easy with a text like this. Georgina Sutton was equally great, and I really liked having a female voice come in between some of the passages. I found it made the audiobook much easier to follow, particularly alongside the older style of writing. I’ll definitely be looking out for more of Nicholas Boulton’s work.

I would recommend going into this with a bit of classic-reading experience. The writing style can be challenging, and there were definitely sections where I had to reread something or look up a word. I actually found listening to the audiobook while reading along really helpful.

I also loved how unpredictable it was. There are so many characters and different threads running through the story, and in a way it reminded me of The Count of Monte Cristo because you’re constantly wondering how everything is going to connect.

There are definitely things in here that haven’t aged well, particularly some of the language and attitudes towards women, and there were moments where I was genuinely sitting there thinking, did he really just write that?

But ultimately, I’m really glad I finally read it. It’s atmospheric, fascinating, completely outrageous and an absolute hell of a story.

And that ending? I genuinely cannot get over

That ending?!

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