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lateromantic's review
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Incest, Suicide, Terminal illness, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Classism
anna_kiwi's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
sara277's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
4.25
This was my first time reading Mary Shelley and I loved her writing.
Mathilda deals with hard subjects such as grief, depression, incest and suicide. It’s a very dark and gothic story, but still romantic about some of those subjects. Mary Shelley’s lines are so poetic while at the same time portraying Mathilda’s suffering as so fatal, that the ending felt like a big -inevitable- relief.
I think the part where Mathilda proposes that she and Woodville commit suicide together was the best, it puts both characters’ views on display on both life and death, and both are defended so beautifully .
Mathilda deals with hard subjects such as grief, depression, incest and suicide. It’s a very dark and gothic story, but still romantic about some of those subjects. Mary Shelley’s lines are so poetic while at the same time portraying Mathilda’s suffering as so fatal, that the ending felt like a big -inevitable- relief.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts and Grief
Moderate: Incest and Suicide
emsb0oks's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
nartana's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
scvrdinko's review against another edition
2.0
i believe my disappointment and in part frustration with this novella comes from personal wrong expectations. i don't think i'd even finish it if not for its flowing, beautiful prose. the problem is that when i heard 'incest in a gothic novella' i expected somewhat more of interrogation on the subject, especially with how the book starts. the actual events of the story prove the opening to be inflated for me.
matilda's fascination with death is one the other hand is quite well depicted as her entire life has been determined by the passing of her mother. so every decision and passion of both matilda &her father are shaped by demise. and the strongest lines and moments to the end of the book come specifically from the death's allure, but that's about it.
but that's about it. very forgettable i'm afraid.
matilda's fascination with death is one the other hand is quite well depicted as her entire life has been determined by the passing of her mother. so every decision and passion of both matilda &her father are shaped by demise. and the strongest lines and moments to the end of the book come specifically from the death's allure, but that's about it.
but that's about it. very forgettable i'm afraid.
neylane's review against another edition
5.0
"I gained his secret, and we were both lost forever"
Matilda traz um amor trágico entre pai e filha e o sofrimento extremo que os sentimentos perturbadores trazem para a vida da protagonista. O livro só foi publicado um século depois por causa do pai da própria Mary.
É um livro extremamente bem escrito, sentimental e mergulhado na tristeza poética do romantismo “He loved her with passion and her tenderness had a charm for him that would not permit him to think of aught but her”, na adoração pela natureza “He found a relief to his impatient grief in the breezes of heaven and in the sound of waters and woods”, na solidão profunda “I might be for ever shut out from the world. I should there find solitude where I might weep, and the voices of life might never reach me”, na exaltação do sofrimento “Let me lay my head near your heart; let me die in your arms!” e no desejo da morte “I am not fit for life. Why am I obliged to live? To drag hour after hour, to see the trees wave their branches restlessly, to feel the air, & to suffer in all I feel keenest agony. My frame is strong, but my soul sinks beneath this endurance of living anguish. Death is the goal that I would attain”.
O livro tem muito da vida da própria Mary, principalmente no tocante a morte de sua mãe pouco tempo depois do parto e sua relação com Percy Shelley, que era casado com outra quando eles se conheceram e se apaixonaram. A vida da autora foi cercada de muito sofrimento e muitas perdas, e isso se reflete na intensa melancolia da história e no vazio profundo que Matilda sente, temas que também são abordados em Frankenstein. “I am, I thought, a tragedy”
É um livro que exige um certo cuidado do leitor por tocar de forma profunda na tese da morte como solução para os problemas da vida “[…] that I had words to express the luxury of death that I might win you. I tell you we are no longer miserable mortals; we are about to become Gods; spirits free and happy as gods. What fool on a bleak shore, seeing a flowery isle on the other side with his lost love beckoning to him from it would pause because the wave is dark and turbid?” Matilda divaga muito sobre o suicídio e isso pode ativar gatilhos emocionais.
Mas também traz o contraponto nas falas de Woodville, amigo da protagonista. No momento de maior desespero ele afirma que “The inhabitants of this world suffer so much pain. In crowded cities, among cultivated plains, or on the desert mountains, pain is thickly sown, and if we can tear up but one of these noxious weeds, or more, if in its stead we can sow one seed of corn, or plant one fair flower, let that be motive sufficient against suicide. Let us not desert our task while there is the slightest hope that we may in a future day do this.”
Uma leitura impactante e de uma riqueza inestimável.
Matilda traz um amor trágico entre pai e filha e o sofrimento extremo que os sentimentos perturbadores trazem para a vida da protagonista. O livro só foi publicado um século depois por causa do pai da própria Mary.
É um livro extremamente bem escrito, sentimental e mergulhado na tristeza poética do romantismo “He loved her with passion and her tenderness had a charm for him that would not permit him to think of aught but her”, na adoração pela natureza “He found a relief to his impatient grief in the breezes of heaven and in the sound of waters and woods”, na solidão profunda “I might be for ever shut out from the world. I should there find solitude where I might weep, and the voices of life might never reach me”, na exaltação do sofrimento “Let me lay my head near your heart; let me die in your arms!” e no desejo da morte “I am not fit for life. Why am I obliged to live? To drag hour after hour, to see the trees wave their branches restlessly, to feel the air, & to suffer in all I feel keenest agony. My frame is strong, but my soul sinks beneath this endurance of living anguish. Death is the goal that I would attain”.
O livro tem muito da vida da própria Mary, principalmente no tocante a morte de sua mãe pouco tempo depois do parto e sua relação com Percy Shelley, que era casado com outra quando eles se conheceram e se apaixonaram. A vida da autora foi cercada de muito sofrimento e muitas perdas, e isso se reflete na intensa melancolia da história e no vazio profundo que Matilda sente, temas que também são abordados em Frankenstein. “I am, I thought, a tragedy”
É um livro que exige um certo cuidado do leitor por tocar de forma profunda na tese da morte como solução para os problemas da vida “[…] that I had words to express the luxury of death that I might win you. I tell you we are no longer miserable mortals; we are about to become Gods; spirits free and happy as gods. What fool on a bleak shore, seeing a flowery isle on the other side with his lost love beckoning to him from it would pause because the wave is dark and turbid?” Matilda divaga muito sobre o suicídio e isso pode ativar gatilhos emocionais.
Mas também traz o contraponto nas falas de Woodville, amigo da protagonista. No momento de maior desespero ele afirma que “The inhabitants of this world suffer so much pain. In crowded cities, among cultivated plains, or on the desert mountains, pain is thickly sown, and if we can tear up but one of these noxious weeds, or more, if in its stead we can sow one seed of corn, or plant one fair flower, let that be motive sufficient against suicide. Let us not desert our task while there is the slightest hope that we may in a future day do this.”
Uma leitura impactante e de uma riqueza inestimável.
peggy_racham's review against another edition
4.25
Surprising read.
Content Warnings
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Incest, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, and Death of parent