NaNoReMo 2014

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NaNoReMo is almost upon us again, with the aim being that throughout the month of February, you read a classic novel. Your definition of 'classic' may differ from mine, and people are choosing all sorts for their monthly read, but I think the spirit of the venture is such that as long as you're reading something, then that's the main point to be taken from it all.

Last year, I chose Horace Walpole's The Castle of Otranto, which I largely hated for one reason or another, and while the temptation to read another Gothic classic was indeed a strong one (indeed I have yet to start Ann Radcliffe's Mysteries of Udolpho), this year I shall be reading Alexandre Dumas' The Count of Monte Cristo. My only real familiarity with the novel is through its 2002 movie adaptation, starring Jim Cavieziel and Guy Pearce, and Stephen Fry's version, The Stars' Tennis Balls. My other half and I had been discussing it just after Christmas, and after discovering it free through Project Gutenberg, I decided it was high time I actually read the novel.

I'm aware that it's not the shortest book in Christendom, and that February has only 28 days, but I shall endeavour to read as much of it as I can. Wish me luck!

NaNoReMo - Finished!

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At the end of January, I announced that I'd be reading Horace Walpole's The Castle of Otranto for NaNoReMo. I updated on my progress a couple of weeks ago, and I'm pleased to say I've finished it. I'm glad about this for two reasons; on one hand, I'm glad I finished within the given month, and on the other, it became such a chore to read that I was glad it was finally over when I reached 'The End'.

I'd originally chosen The Castle of Otranto due to its privileged position within the canon of Gothic literature - it's considered by many to be the first gothic novel, and its lineage can be traced through both its literary and cinematic descendants. My copy is only 115 pages long, divided into five chapters, and that is 115 pages of hand wringing, melodramatics, and absolutely no indication of which character is speaking at any given time.

I said in my last update that "I know that storytelling has changed an awful lot in the 249 years since it was published but the novel feels more like a documentary than a work of fiction" and I stand by that. The entire novel is 'told' in the same breathless fashion as a rumour being repeated in a washroom, and the characters never get the opportunity to become anything other than one dimensional stereotypes. Even the villain is devoid of personality.

It's a shame because there is a good idea buried within the story. Manfred, the Prince of Otranto lives in fear that he will lose his principality unless he produces a son, and after his own son is crushed by a giant helmet that appears from nowhere, he contrives to divorce his wife, Hippolita, and marry Isabella, the princess intended for his son. A local peasant, Theodore, continually throws a spanner in the works, especially when he falls in love with Manfred's daughter, Matilda. There is a lot of running to and fro, with characters spending most of them time dashing off to the local convent, or disappearing somewhere to talk to someone else. At the same time, a group of knights arrived, bearing a sabre that matches the helmet that they dug up in the woods, and Manfred's servants see a spectral giant within the castle. The idea of the Prince desperately trying to outrun a prophecy becomes buried beneath the melodrama of the family relationships.

There are subterranean passages, mysterious knights, prophecies, long lost heirs, and intrigue, so this should have been an enthralling read. Later authors have taken these themes and run with them, so perhaps my disinterest in this book comes from an unfair comparison with later works, but I really didn't enjoy reading this at all. I truly envy Helen Howell for reading Dracula for NaNoReMo - now THAT is a gothic classic!

NaNoReMo update

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At the end of January, I announced that I'd be reading Horace Walpole's The Castle of Otranto for NaNoReMo. I'd chosen it due to its privileged position within the canon of Gothic literature, and because many of its themes and motifs appear in later novels, and by extension, within the gothic mode of filmmaking.

It's not a long book - my copy is only 115 pages long - and I can only thank my lucky stars for that. I'm already about a third of the way through but it has not been a pleasure to get even that far. I know that storytelling has changed an awful lot in the 249 years since it was published but the novel feels more like a documentary than a work of fiction. Walpole almost exclusively 'tells' the story, rigorously ignoring any opportunities to 'show' what's going on, and the characters are almost entirely devoid of any depth.

In the story so far, the Prince of Otranto, a fairly odious and one-dimensional man named Manfred, has been anticipating the forthcoming wedding of his son, Conrad, to a princess named Isabella. Manfred is desperate to continue the family line to avoid a fatal prophecy, but before the marriage can take place, a giant helmet falls from the sky (yeah...what?!) and crushes Conrad. Manfred then decides to divorce his wife, Hippolita (a simpering woman continually described as being a paragon of virtue, who is so weak and pathetic you just want to slap her) in order to marry Isabella himself and thus produce more heirs. Isabella is having none of it, and escapes to a nearby convent through a rather convenient subterranean passage. All of this takes place within chapter one, and it's difficult to care what's going on when so much content is crammed into the story before you even know who anyone is.

It takes a lot for me to abandon a book, and I'd quite happily set this aside if a) it wasn't such a seminal text, meaning I feel like I have to read it, and b) it wasn't so short. I'm pretty sure I can whizz through the rest of it before the end of the month, and if I do...well I'll be switching to Edgar Allen Poe instead...