Penguin Classics Uncle Silas [Paperback]

 

 

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Maud Ruthyn is a privileged but lonely girl. She leads the quiet life of country gentry together with her sickly, eccentric father (her long-dead mother reposes in a mausoleum in a nearby forest), who subscribes to the beliefs of an obscure sect of mystics. Is it any wonder then that she's something of an innocent as regards to the wicked ways of the world, or that the influence of her environment has made her a nervous creature prone to flights of fancy? In order to further Maud's education--which, it can't be denied, has hitherto been somewhat neglected--she receives a governess in the form of Madame de la Rougierre, a truly malevolent monster, who, however, is promptly discharged after she's found looking through Maud's father's papers with fell intent. This is but a respite for poor Maud. In a gravely misguided attempt to erase the stain on the family name, her father appoints, in the event of his own death, Silas Ruthyn, the ruined and ostracised uncle she has heard horrid rumours about but has never seen, her legal guardian until she comes of age (Silas is the cause of aforementioned stain. Maud's father means to show the world that Silas's bad reputation is undeserved by trusting him enough to put his only child into his care); and when his precarious health finally does fail to fatal effect Maud is forced to leave her home for her uncle's creepy abode, the dilapidated manor house of Bartram-Haugh. There she meets the lord of the manor--an imposing, cultured and hypocritical spectre of a man prematurely aged by a youth spent in vice and dissipation: a person to inspire awe in the mind of a girl who still fears ghosts and goblins. What's worse, not only does she now have to fight off the unwanted attentions of his son, the boorish Dudley Ruthyn, whom the scheming Silas intends her to marry, but to her horror she discovers that Madame has returned and seems to be conspiring with her uncle! Will Silas get his hands on Maud's fortune? What is the secret of the chamber in which Mr Charke committed his grisly "suicide"? Will Maud live to tell the tale (well, as it is a first-person narrative it's rather obvious she does)?
This is a novel very much in the Gothic tradition, sporting, as it does, most of the trappings of a Radcliffesque thriller/mystery/romance (Mother Radcliffe's name is even mentioned by Maud, which is a very postmodern thing to do), but whereas a great many such tales show their age, sometimes embarrassingly so, this one does not: "Uncle Silas" remains as fresh as it was the day it was first published. Furthermore, there's no padding, no coasting, nothing unnecessary whatsoever in this book; everything in it is there specifically to advance the plot, set the atmosphere (and Le Fanu is unsurpassed at creating a suspenseful atmosphere) or help the reader gain a deeper understanding of the characters. I know more than a few modern authors who could learn from Le Fanu's example... Highly recommended.

Joseph Sheridan (J. S.) LeFanu, despite fame in Victorian times, has mostly fallen off the radar of modern readers. His superlative "Uncle Silas" is clear evidence as to why anyone who loves a good yarn will be immediately drawn in by his considerable gifts. This novel has a well-modulated dark atmosphere, clearly drawn and fully human characters and a superb plot.

The titular Silas is the uncle of our heroine Maud Ruthyn, who becomes the ward of her mysterious uncle upon her father's death. Silas has an unsavory reputation, having once been accused of murdering a man to whom he owed a gambling debt, but he has, by the time Maud first meets him, apparently repented and found religion. She goes to his home willingly, quickly befriends his saucy daughter Milly and is, for the most part, happy in her new surroundings. The plot thickens from there, and without giving away important details, the reader should know that LeFanu lets loose with a ripping good story that ends most satisfactorily and with some wonderful twists.

LeFanu is a skilled writer at the apex of his powers and an astute observer of the human condition. Some of the more telling lines exhibiting his gifts include:

" . . . that lady has a certain spirit of opposition within her, and to disclose a small wish of any sort was generally, if it lay in her power, to prevent its accomplishment."

"Already I was sorry to lose him. So soon we begin to make a property of what pleases us."

"People grow to be friends by liking, Madame, and liking comes of itself, not by bargain."

"She had received a note from Papa. He had had the impudence to forgive HER for HIS impertinence."

"In very early youth, we do not appreciate the restraints which act upon malignity, or know how effectually fear protects us where conscience is wanting."

"One of the terrible dislocations of our habits of mind respecting the dead is that our earthly future is robbed of them, and we thrown exclusively upon retrospect."

" 'The world,' he resumed after a short pause, 'has no faith in any man's conversion; it never forgets what he was, it never believes him anything better, it is an inexorable and stupid judge.' "

" . . . I had felt, in the whirl and horror of my mind, on the very point of submitting, just as nervous people are said to throw themselves over precipices through sheer dread of falling."

Admirers of Wilkie Collins, Thomas Hardy and, to a lesser degree, of Charles Dickens will find much to please them in the classic "Uncle Silas."

"Uncle Silas" has all the ingredients of a great gothic novel: creepy atmosphere, slowly building tension, a sympathetic heroine, and villains you really hate. Don't trust the blurb on the back cover of the Penguin edition, however; it talks about spirits, perception vs. reality, and the like. This is NOT a ghost story. The evil depicted is all too human, which accounts for the story's disturbing effect. A great read.

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4.0 out of 5 stars Weird Laughs
Memorable, satisfying.
Not as frightening as the blurb would suggest, and a little slow-moving in parts; but very atmospheric, and full of grotesque delights. Read more

Published on Nov 20 2002 by Owlette2008

3.0 out of 5 stars Slow moving
I was pretty excited when I came across Le Fanu's book as I had read somewhere that he was one of the originators of gothic literature. Read more

Published on Aug 8 2001 by spideranansie

5.0 out of 5 stars Gothic Greatness
"Uncle Silas" offers the elements of the Gothic tradition but surpasses all offerings I have encountered. Read more

Published on Aug 1 2001 by disco75

5.0 out of 5 stars A flawlessly good gothic book
If you are looking for a fantastic gothic book, look no futher. It has every element that lovers of the genre seek: Old houses, English countryside, murder, ghosts,romance--you... Read more

Published on Dec 5 1999

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