ie They are  NOT coming from overseas !!

The  Monk

- By Matthew Lewis -

With and Introduction and Notes by Emma McEvoy.

ISBN: 9780199535682

Publisher: Oxford University Press, London, UK 

Published: 2008

Binding: SOFTcover  456 pages  

Condition: UNread & displayed condition! HERE in MELBOURNE! A retired display copy as illustrated!

Edition:  FIRST EDITION: 1st printing  

TIGHT,  SCARCE   HARDCOVER  ~  IN  MELBOURNE  ... 

WHY do ebayers buy from US?

Because you KNOW what you're getting. My close up photos are of the actual item!!

Remains UNread - it was the display copy instore . It is Tight -  neat, no inscriptions or marks within. Appears as in my photos - this is the exact copy!!  A nicely preserved copy - superb!

No discernible shelf wear, the interior is tight and spotlessly clean with  456 pages. THIS copy is the FIRST of the Oxford World's Classics Edition: later printing from 2008 - the UK publishing by Oxford university Press, London. 

SCARCE title - this is an  UNread copy!!

In original pictorial SOFTcover binding, in publisher's covers which are in excellent condition.

(Stored with 2020!)

Measures approx.  6  x 4¾  inches or 16  x  13cms

SYNOPSIS ....

The Monk: A Romance is a Gothic novel by Matthew Gregory Lewis, originally published in 1796. A quickly written book from early in Lewis's career, it was published before he turned twenty. It is a prime example of the male Gothic that specialises in the aspect of horror.

'The Monk was so highly popular that it seemed to create an epoch in our literature', wrote Sir Walter Scott. Set in the sinister monastery of the Capuchins in Madrid, The Monk is a violent tale of ambition, murder, and incest. The great struggle between maintaining monastic vows and fulfilling personal ambitions leads its main character, the monk Ambrosio, to temptation and the breaking of his vows, then to sexual obsession and rape, and finally to murder in order to conceal his guilt. Inspired by German horror romanticism and the work of Ann Radcliffe, Lewis produced his masterpiece at the age of nineteen. It contains many typical Gothic elements - seduction in a monastery, lustful monks, evil Abbesses, bandits and beautiful heroines. But, as the Introduction to this new edition shows, Lewis also played with convention, ranging from gruesome realism to social comedy, and even parodied the genre in which he was writing. 

Set in the sinister monastery of the Capuchins in Madrid, this is a violent tale of ambition, murder, and incest. The struggle between maintaining monastic vows and fulfilling personal ambitions tempts its main character into breaking his vows.

Editor

EMMA Mcevoy ISA Lecturer AT Goldsmith's College

ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

Very  Interesting read!

REVIEWS

FABULOUS PIECE OF WRITING …. ow that I've finished this fabulous piece, I remember I read it several years ago. However, this time around I enjoyed it so much more. Be it because of age, wisdom, life knocking me around a bit more, don't know the reason why only that I absolutely couldn't shut up talking about it with my husband all night last night.

For being only 19 when he wrote it and during the particular time period, he was very astute at the cultural swing that was occuring at the time. There is even a note of awareness regarding his own role in society as a writer....very impressive! I haven't loved a book like this since Dostoevsky's "Demons"....people enslaved by their own passions....Wow!

It's rare that a book will entice so many different emotions in me. I felt shock, horror, despair, joy, love, hate, disgust....so many things entricately woven in a tale of prideful sin and unrequited love. Wow! Wow! Wow!

Note though .. . It's not an "easy" read....older english is very different but well worth the effort!

Wow!!! WOW!! ….. WOW! this book is fantastic, shocking and scandalous! it continued to go to dark places and kept surprising me over & over. I highly recommend this book. read it. i

FIVE STARS ….  One of the weirdest gothic tales I ever come across. In parts surreal. Highly recommended!

Outstanding  ……  What makes the book so outstanding, and why it has never been out of print in the over 200 years since it was first published, is that it is written with great intelligence and insight into people's psyches by an extremely talented author. And, unlike some classics, it isn't in the least bit boring.
But seriously, no one is ever going to be asked to write a book report in school for it. I might have though. If I'd know about the book I would have done it as 'summer reading'. Those reports had to be read out to the class. That would have enlivened things a bit.