Though I usually do not review books I read for class I actually liked this one. (And I haven’t done much pleasure reading lately.) This specific edition includes three early American Gothic novels: Wieland, Arthur Mervyn, and Edgar Huntly. I enjoyed Wieland the most while the others were just OK. These novels and this author are the “father figures” of Gothic literature in America which is pretty interesting in itself.
Wieland is based in part on a real life mass murder. In the novel the character Wieland’s religious fanaticism, arguable mental instability, and influence from another character leads him to commit a terrible crime. The story employs some interesting and rather odd things like ventriloquism to tell the tale. At times the narration is melodramatic and rambling, but in my opinion that is to be expected from literature at this time. Though Wieland isn’t on the level of Poe it is an interesting look at Gothic literature’s roots.
The other two novels are much less creepy and interesting. At times their plots drag on and sometimes the amount of coincidence to drive the story is a bit too much for me. I skim read some parts of them because of this.
