The Bride of Lammermoor (Oxford World's Classics)

I liked this book a lot. In truth, it should probably be called "The Master of Ravenwood" for the titular bride has slightly more involvement in the plot than the Maltese Falcon does in that book. It is a book about aristocratic intrigue and double dealing, chivalry, and romance that ends in a shocking crime of passion. The story is very well told, and the characters believable in spite of...more

I liked this book a lot. In truth, it should probably be called "The Master of Ravenwood" for the titular bride has slightly more involvement in the plot than the Maltese Falcon does in that book. It is a book about aristocratic intrigue and double dealing, chivalry, and romance that ends in a shocking crime of passion. The story is very well told, and the characters believable in spite of being a little overdrawn. The dialog is a bit stilted to my modern ear, but likely right in line for the time in which it was written.   hide

What could have been a cracking good Gothic suffers under Scott's meandering style. And I say that as someone who's read her fair share of meandering 19th century literature. All the elements of horror are present and accounted for, as well as a hilarious and effective running comic subplot about the lengths to which an old retainer will go in order to preserve the "credit of the...more

What could have been a cracking good Gothic suffers under Scott's meandering style. And I say that as someone who's read her fair share of meandering 19th century literature. All the elements of horror are present and accounted for, as well as a hilarious and effective running comic subplot about the lengths to which an old retainer will go in order to preserve the "credit of the family," so it's no wonder Donizetti cribbed it for his wonderful opera. It's just the delivery that's lacking. Scott's pretentious frame for the narrative has to be the least effective and most awkward since Wuthering Heights. As a sidenote, the introduction to this Oxford edition? Most boring I've ever waded through, and better than Lunestra, or a blackjack on the back of the head. See Lucia, skip the source material.   hide