The Monk - Softcover

Matthew G. Lewis

Softcover

ISBN 10: 039417481X ISBN 13: 9780394174815

Publisher: Grove Press, Inc., 1959

Synopsis

'He now saw himself stained with the most loathed and monstrous sins, the object of universal execration ... doomed to perish in tortures the most severe'

Shocking, erotic and violent, The Monk is the story of Ambrosio, torn between his spiritual vows and the temptations of physical pleasure. His internal battle leads to sexual obsession, rape and murder, yet this book also contains knowing parody of its own excesses as well as social comedy. Written by Matthew Lewis when he was only nineteen, it was a ground-breaking novel in the Gothic Horror genre and spawned hundreds of imitators, drawn in by its mixture of bloodshed, sex and scandal.

About this title

From the Inside Flap

When Matthew Lewis's "The Monk was published in 1796, readers were shocked by this gripping and horrific novel. Lewis's story, which drove the House of Commons--of which he was a member--to deem him licentious and perverse, follows the abbot Ambrosio as he is tempted into a world of incest, murder, and torture by a young girl who has concealed herself in his monastery disguised as a boy. As Ambrosio spirals into hell, the reader encounters an array of haunting characters: the innocent virgin, the Bleeding Nun, the Wandering Jew, an evil prioress, and Lucifer himself.
This Modern Library Paperback Classic, set from the unexpurgated first edition of 1796, brings to a new generation of readers a timeless classic of gothic fiction that has influenced writers from Byron and Emily Bronte to Poe and Hawthorne.

From the Back Cover

The Monk shocked and titillated readers with its graphic portrayal of lust, sin, and violence when it was first published, in 1796.

Edition details

• Publisher: Grove Press, Inc.
• Publication date: 1959
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 039417481X
• ISBN 13: 9780394174815
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 445