The Haunted Hotel A Mystery of Modern Venice Wilkie Collins Books
Download As PDF : The Haunted Hotel A Mystery of Modern Venice Wilkie Collins Books
Lord Montbarry breaks off his engagement to Agnes Lockwood to marry the Countess Narona. The couple ends a continental tour in Venice where they live reclusively in a large, decaying palace. They are accompanied by Baron Rivar, brother of the Countess, and by Ferrari, their courier. Agnes learns from Montbarry's brother, Henry Westwick, that Mountbarry, whose life was insured for £10,000 in favor of his wife, has died of bronchitis. The courier has disappeared without trace although Ferrari's wife receives an anonymous note containing £1,000. The insurance companies carefully investigate but find no evidence that Mountbarry died other than by natural causes. The palace is refurbished as a fashionable hotel, and the Westwick family arranges to meet there. Without realizing that they are sleeping in the room where Montbarry died, three of his family separately experience insomnia, nightmares or nauseous smells. Agnes awakes in the night to see a disembodied head descending from the ceiling. A real head is discovered the next day decomposing in a secret compartment in the room above. Henry finds a set of gold false teeth which are later confirmed as Montbarry's by his dentist. The Countess has also come to Venice, compelled by Destiny. She writes a ghost story in the form of a play which is in effect a confession of Montbarry's murder by herself and the Baron. Ferrari, dying of bronchitis, had agreed to assume the identity of Montbarry to perpetrate an insurance fraud in exchange for the £1,000 sent to his wife. Montbarry's body was disposed of by acid but the head hidden in the secret compartment. Agnes and Henry return to England and are married privately. They never discuss details of the confession.
The Haunted Hotel A Mystery of Modern Venice Wilkie Collins Books
Released in 1878 as a penny dreadful-style serial, Wilkie Collins’ The Haunted Hotel is an atmospheric, supernatural mystery. When Lord Montbarry falls into the embrace of the diabolical Countess Narona and her mad scientist brother Baron Rivar, he jilts his former fiancé Agnes Lockwood and relocates to an aging castle in Venice. Montbarry is soon dead -- under mysterious circumstances -- and the now abandoned castle is converted into a fashionable hotel. But when Montbarry’s family comes on holiday to Venice to stay in the same hotel, they are confronted by strange dreams and a disturbing presence that haunts the room where the Englishman died.Collins’ certainly sells the setting – keeping things appropriately creepy and gothic – and he creates in the Countess Narona a rather memorable villainess – twisted, tormented, maybe even incestuous (which I suspect was pretty shocking in 1878). This is, though, more of a mystery than a horror story -- and probably won't frighten too many modern readers. Still, I appreciated Collins' style and his wry wit that made me chuckle out loud in a few places. More importantly, he tells a good mystery that is suitably unraveled by the time the book ends for a satisfying conclusion.
A few reviewers have noted that The Haunted Hotel is not Collins’ best novella (and truth to tell it was Dan Simmons’ use of Collins as a protagonist in Drood that made me want to read some Wilkie in the first place), but this was an enjoyable, easily read, classic (especially since I finished it up in a gilded suite at the Paris hotel in Las Vegas; with its curtained bed and red velvet couch, I could believe Montbarry's ghost lurked somewhere in the room – then I went out for Blackjack).
Product details
|
Tags : Amazon.com: The Haunted Hotel: A Mystery of Modern Venice (9781478104131): Wilkie Collins: Books,Wilkie Collins,The Haunted Hotel: A Mystery of Modern Venice,CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform,1478104139,FICTION Mystery & Detective General
People also read other books :
- Recipes for Ramadan by UrbanDuniya Tim Blight 9781519363503 Books
- Surviving Celibacy Stephen Fierbaugh Books
- Photographer Guide to the Canon PowerShot S100 edition by Alexander White Arts Photography eBooks
- Hustle Pray Love eBook Ingrid Cruz
- Cinderella Lawman The Strasburg Chronicles Book 3 edition by Pippa Greathouse Blushing Books Literature Fiction eBooks
The Haunted Hotel A Mystery of Modern Venice Wilkie Collins Books Reviews
Of the seven Wilkie Collins' books I've read up to now, "The Haunted Hotel" is the weakest by far. Were it not for its brilliant conclusion, the play written by the countess -- the primary evil character in the novel -- this would not be worth reading. The ending is pure Collins, however, and saves the day. As a side note, those who have been to Venice might enjoy reading of it as it was 150 years ago. Cafe Florian and the hotel Danieli were as prestigious then as they are today.
As with many other Wilkie Collins novels, The Haunted Hotel has elements of fate, romance, danger, deception, murder and mystery. The story begins with Lord Montbarry breaking off his engagement to Anges Lockwood. Countess Narona, who will marry Lord Montbarry, comes to see a doctor to evaluate her sanity. The Countess seems to be under a good deal of stress about this marriage, as she was unaware Montbarry had already been engaged. There is an aura of fatalism about the Countess, as she feels an impending sense of dread about this situation. However, the marriage goes through, and it seems that the Countess and Agnes Lockwood will cross paths several times. When a mysterious death takes place a bit later, followed by a disappearance of equal mystery, then things get more complicated. Fate seems to beckon all key characters to an ill-fated hotel with one seriously spooky room.
The novel's conclusion, where all is unraveled in the denouement, is probably the most effective part of the book and mystery to the plot. As always, Collins knows how to put everything together in amazing fashion and hold our interest by delaying major plot developments. This makes the final few chapters quite compelling, as we await the fates of key characters and the mysteries involved with the hotel. I also really enjoyed the "book within a book" approach that Collins utilizes as a key component in the mystery.
Still, I think that several of Collins longer books are much more effective at creating a well-timed pacing and building the appropriate amount of suspense and tension. The pacing for The Haunted Hotel seems to be off, with long bouts of romance and trivial developments in the first half that stall the story. At these moments where we learn a bit of the background the plot moves at a plodding pace, with no sense of tension or real drive to get going anywhere. It is only when several character motives are in plain view, and when the hotel becomes the focus, that the suspense takes off and heads to a fitting conclusion.
I read the Moonstone when I was younger, and this the first time I've read a Wilkie Collins book in years. I absolutely loved the story. This is technically a novella so it really doesn't take too long to read.
A brief summary (with no spoilers!)
A man jilts his fiancee and marries a mysterious woman. In Venice, shortly after he is married, he unfortunately dies. The palace where he dies is converted into a hotel, which coincidentally one of his brothers invested in. Thus, the deceased man's entire family, former fiance, and widow all end up at the hotel at the same time. Different members of the party are all haunted in different ways, which were both creepy and interesting. The big questions of the book is room 14 really haunted?
For this to be a novella, the characters are very well developed. The villains of the story are both horrible and characters I can be sympathetic to, well one of them at least. I was definitely impressed with how the mystery was solved as well as horrified by the truth behind the haunting of Room 14.
Released in 1878 as a penny dreadful-style serial, Wilkie Collins’ The Haunted Hotel is an atmospheric, supernatural mystery. When Lord Montbarry falls into the embrace of the diabolical Countess Narona and her mad scientist brother Baron Rivar, he jilts his former fiancé Agnes Lockwood and relocates to an aging castle in Venice. Montbarry is soon dead -- under mysterious circumstances -- and the now abandoned castle is converted into a fashionable hotel. But when Montbarry’s family comes on holiday to Venice to stay in the same hotel, they are confronted by strange dreams and a disturbing presence that haunts the room where the Englishman died.
Collins’ certainly sells the setting – keeping things appropriately creepy and gothic – and he creates in the Countess Narona a rather memorable villainess – twisted, tormented, maybe even incestuous (which I suspect was pretty shocking in 1878). This is, though, more of a mystery than a horror story -- and probably won't frighten too many modern readers. Still, I appreciated Collins' style and his wry wit that made me chuckle out loud in a few places. More importantly, he tells a good mystery that is suitably unraveled by the time the book ends for a satisfying conclusion.
A few reviewers have noted that The Haunted Hotel is not Collins’ best novella (and truth to tell it was Dan Simmons’ use of Collins as a protagonist in Drood that made me want to read some Wilkie in the first place), but this was an enjoyable, easily read, classic (especially since I finished it up in a gilded suite at the Paris hotel in Las Vegas; with its curtained bed and red velvet couch, I could believe Montbarry's ghost lurked somewhere in the room – then I went out for Blackjack).
0 Response to "⋙ Download The Haunted Hotel A Mystery of Modern Venice Wilkie Collins Books"
Post a Comment