Melmoth the Wanderer (Penguin Classics)
by Charles Robert Maturin
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Book Summary Information
Author: Charles Robert MaturinEditor: Victor Sage
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2001-02-01
ISBN: 014044761X
Number of pages: 704
Publisher: Penguin Classics
Book Reviews of Melmoth the Wanderer (Penguin Classics)
Book Review: Melmoth the Wanderer: Most Unique Gothic Novel -- and Not the Easiest to Read
Summary: 4 Stars
Among the many Gothic novels of English literature, "Melmoth the Wanderer" would require considerable patience on reader's side. Not that Charles Maturin's book is very boring; each of the stories in the long narrative per se is interesting, often intense and even funny. But unlike Gothic novels written by Ann Radcliffe or Matthew `Monk' Lewis, the book's unique narrative method is not for everyone's taste. In short, it never goes straight. Maturin gave the book this title -- `Melmoth the WANDERER" -- and his title is an apt one..
The novel (published in 1820) begins with an episode in 1816 when a young student John Melmoth (not the titular Melmoth) visits his dying uncle, and there he finds a manuscript in which a strange tale is recorded about one Stanton who lived in 17th century London. You might expect the real story begins with this manuscript, but things are not so simple. Maturin gives twists to this typical narrative device by not directly following the story of Melmoth, a man who traded his soul with ... well, you know what.
Unlike Radcliffe's "The Italian," you don't find a traditional, linear narrative here. The manuscript and the other characters narratives after that are frequently interrupted by blotted out spots or another story, which begins without picking up the threads of previous narrators. The book looks like pieces of stories put together like "The Arabian Nights," and you have to wait for Melmoth who always appears at the crucial moment of the life of the narrator or the protagonist of the narrative.
So we read terrifying stories about the shipwreck, Spanish Inquisition, impoverished family in Madrid or Immalee, beautiful innocent girl living alone in India, but of them are directly related to each other except the presence of mysterious Melmoth who offers something to those who suffer. Some stories are embedded in another story and at times you are reading a story-within-story-within-story (like Jan Potocki's amazing "The Manuscript Found in Saragossa.") The narrative structure is not an easy one to grasp and sometimes we don't know where we are now. But that is exactly the point of the book.
The character of Melmoth is also very enigmatic. He is given many chances to speak, and he speaks pretty much, but what happened to him or why he has to wander is not explicitly told by anyone. He doesn't speak, but whisper evil words. He remains in the shadow, but we sense his accursed presence. We come to know him by putting together various narratives. The process is toilsome, but rewarding in the end.
There are familiar Gothic themes in "Melmoth the Wonderer" - Inquisition, subterranean passages, imprisonment, etc. Maturin is good at using them, but his book's strength lies in the gripping descriptions of dark sides of humans, and the character of wild-eyed Melmoth who derides and tempts the hearers in agony with a sinister voice. If you're interested in Gothic novels and characters like Faust, "Melmoth the Wonderer" would not disappoint you.
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