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The Snake's Pass
Excerpt from The Snake's Pass
The sky was a revelation to me, and seemed to almost obliterate memories of beautiful skies, although I had just come from the south and had felt the intoxication of the Italian night, where in the deep blue sky the nightingale's note seems to hang as though its sound and the colour were but different expressions of one common feeling.
The whole west was a gorgeous mass Of violet and sulphur and gold - great masses Of storm-cloud piling up and up till the very heavens seemed weighted with a burden too great to bear. Clouds of violet, whose centres were almost black and whose outer edges were tinged with living gold; great streaks and piled up clouds Of palest yellow deepening into saffron and flame-colour which seemed to catch the coming sunset and to throw its radiance back to the eastern sky.
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This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
The sky was a revelation to me, and seemed to almost obliterate memories of beautiful skies, although I had just come from the south and had felt the intoxication of the Italian night, where in the deep blue sky the nightingale's note seems to hang as though its sound and the colour were but different expressions of one common feeling.
The whole west was a gorgeous mass Of violet and sulphur and gold - great masses Of storm-cloud piling up and up till the very heavens seemed weighted with a burden too great to bear. Clouds of violet, whose centres were almost black and whose outer edges were tinged with living gold; great streaks and piled up clouds Of palest yellow deepening into saffron and flame-colour which seemed to catch the coming sunset and to throw its radiance back to the eastern sky.
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
374 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1890
23 people are currently reading
427 people want to read
About the author
Bram Stoker
2,662 books5,879 followersIrish-born Abraham Stoker, known as Bram, of Britain wrote the gothic horror novel
Dracula
(1897).
The feminist Charlotte Mathilda Blake Thornely Stoker at 15 Marino crescent, then as now called "the crescent," in Fairview, a coastal suburb of Dublin, Ireland, bore this third of seven children. The parents, members of church of Ireland, attended the parish church of Saint John the Baptist, located on Seafield road west in Clontarf with their baptized children.
Stoker, an invalid, started school at the age of seven years in 1854, when he made a complete and astounding recovery. Of this time, Stoker wrote, "I was naturally thoughtful, and the leisure of long illness gave opportunity for many thoughts which were fruitful according to their kind in later years."
After his recovery, he, a normal young man, even excelled as a university athlete at Trinity college, Dublin form 1864 to 1870 and graduated with honors in mathematics. He served as auditor of the college historical society and as president of the university philosophical society with his first paper on "Sensationalism in Fiction and Society."
In 1876, while employed as a civil servant in Dublin, Stoker wrote a non-fiction book (The Duties of Clerks of Petty Sessions in Ireland, published 1879) and theatre reviews for The Dublin Mail, a newspaper partly owned by fellow horror writer J. Sheridan Le Fanu. His interest in theatre led to a lifelong friendship with the English actor Henry Irving. He also wrote stories, and in 1872 "The Crystal Cup" was published by the London Society, followed by "The Chain of Destiny" in four parts in The Shamrock.
In 1878 Stoker married Florence Balcombe, a celebrated beauty whose former suitor was Oscar Wilde. The couple moved to London, where Stoker became business manager (at first as acting-manager) of Irving's Lyceum Theatre, a post he held for 27 years. The collaboration with Irving was very important for Stoker and through him he became involved in London's high society, where he met, among other notables, James McNeil Whistler, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. In the course of Irving's tours, Stoker got the chance to travel around the world.
The Stokers had one son, Irving Noel, who was born on December 31, 1879.
People cremated the body of Bram Stoker and placed his ashes placed in a display urn at Golders green crematorium. After death of Irving Noel Stoker in 1961, people added his ashes to that urn. Despite the original plan to keep ashes of his parents together, after death, people scattered ashes of Florence Stoker at the gardens of rest.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bram_Stoker
The feminist Charlotte Mathilda Blake Thornely Stoker at 15 Marino crescent, then as now called "the crescent," in Fairview, a coastal suburb of Dublin, Ireland, bore this third of seven children. The parents, members of church of Ireland, attended the parish church of Saint John the Baptist, located on Seafield road west in Clontarf with their baptized children.
Stoker, an invalid, started school at the age of seven years in 1854, when he made a complete and astounding recovery. Of this time, Stoker wrote, "I was naturally thoughtful, and the leisure of long illness gave opportunity for many thoughts which were fruitful according to their kind in later years."
After his recovery, he, a normal young man, even excelled as a university athlete at Trinity college, Dublin form 1864 to 1870 and graduated with honors in mathematics. He served as auditor of the college historical society and as president of the university philosophical society with his first paper on "Sensationalism in Fiction and Society."
In 1876, while employed as a civil servant in Dublin, Stoker wrote a non-fiction book (The Duties of Clerks of Petty Sessions in Ireland, published 1879) and theatre reviews for The Dublin Mail, a newspaper partly owned by fellow horror writer J. Sheridan Le Fanu. His interest in theatre led to a lifelong friendship with the English actor Henry Irving. He also wrote stories, and in 1872 "The Crystal Cup" was published by the London Society, followed by "The Chain of Destiny" in four parts in The Shamrock.
In 1878 Stoker married Florence Balcombe, a celebrated beauty whose former suitor was Oscar Wilde. The couple moved to London, where Stoker became business manager (at first as acting-manager) of Irving's Lyceum Theatre, a post he held for 27 years. The collaboration with Irving was very important for Stoker and through him he became involved in London's high society, where he met, among other notables, James McNeil Whistler, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. In the course of Irving's tours, Stoker got the chance to travel around the world.
The Stokers had one son, Irving Noel, who was born on December 31, 1879.
People cremated the body of Bram Stoker and placed his ashes placed in a display urn at Golders green crematorium. After death of Irving Noel Stoker in 1961, people added his ashes to that urn. Despite the original plan to keep ashes of his parents together, after death, people scattered ashes of Florence Stoker at the gardens of rest.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bram_Stoker
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
May 29, 2008
I can't believe I forgot to add this! I just thought about it when I saw that Dracula was still on my "currently reading" shelf and got recommendations of "More books by Bram Stoker."
This is Stoker's little known, and seldomly written about first novel. I did my first Master's thesis (the Humanities University of Chicago one) on this novel and Dracula as two different interpretations of the Irish land war. At the time, I think I was the first person outside of Ireland to write scholarly work on this novel.
Anyway, many people hate it and think it's horribly written. What you MUST understand is that Stoker is writing an Imperial Adventure Romance--think of H. Rider Haggard's _She_, where a proper gentleman goes to a strange country, falls in love with a woman of another race, and colonialism ensues. The interesting thing here (to me, anyway) is that it is an Englishman and an Irish "peasant" woman, so the issues of social class are really interesting. There is also an interesting unease about what race she really is since she is "Black Irish"; it's as if even her having black hair throws the entire novel into a bevy of racist jokes at times.
You can also see that Stoker is *thinking* of writing something *like* Dracula, if not Dracula itself, because the evil moneylender in this novel (the villian) is "the very devil himself," "he'll bleed you dry," etc.
I wrote something like 80 pages on this novel and Dracula, so I obviously thought something worthwhile was there...
This is Stoker's little known, and seldomly written about first novel. I did my first Master's thesis (the Humanities University of Chicago one) on this novel and Dracula as two different interpretations of the Irish land war. At the time, I think I was the first person outside of Ireland to write scholarly work on this novel.
Anyway, many people hate it and think it's horribly written. What you MUST understand is that Stoker is writing an Imperial Adventure Romance--think of H. Rider Haggard's _She_, where a proper gentleman goes to a strange country, falls in love with a woman of another race, and colonialism ensues. The interesting thing here (to me, anyway) is that it is an Englishman and an Irish "peasant" woman, so the issues of social class are really interesting. There is also an interesting unease about what race she really is since she is "Black Irish"; it's as if even her having black hair throws the entire novel into a bevy of racist jokes at times.
You can also see that Stoker is *thinking* of writing something *like* Dracula, if not Dracula itself, because the evil moneylender in this novel (the villian) is "the very devil himself," "he'll bleed you dry," etc.
I wrote something like 80 pages on this novel and Dracula, so I obviously thought something worthwhile was there...
November 26, 2018
I couldn't get through it. The descriptions of the setting and ominous background seemed promising, but the accents of the characters were so strong at times that I had trouble deciphering what I was even reading. Imagine reading an entire book where every line of dialogue (and there's quite a lot of it) is written in the very broken english of Van Helsing's diary segments from Dracula. It strains the eyes and leads to frustration.
August 31, 2025
The Snake's Pass is Bram Stoker's first novel and second book overall. The first book was a short story collection published in 1881. The Snake's Pass, however, is a gothic, horror novel taking place over the boggy moors of Ireland with the backdrop of romantic legend looming. The Irish legend involves Saint Patrick and the King of Snakes which is imbued by the overarching narrative.
Arthur, is an affluent American come to visit some friends when a severe weather event causes him to seek shelter along with his driver, Andy, in a pub. It is there that they learn of the local legend of St. Patrick and the King of Snakes who has hidden a treasure in a nearby swamp that runs along the crags and rocks of the foothills. A local drunk adds to the intrigue by claiming that his father was present when the actual treasure was buried.
To complicate matters, there's a villain moneylender of a Satanic bend, a gorgeous damsel, and her father that owes the moneylender cash, and wouldn't you know that Black Murdoch would prefer the lovely hand of Norah Joyce than the money owed to him by her father Phelim Joyce. Yet, Arthur has developed a friendship with Andy, his driver, and an affinity to the sights and sounds of the town and its environs.
The characters are very well considered. The plot carries the weight of fairytale legend, but also the true-to-life recognition of greed, villainy, and intent to create chaos that motivates characters like Black Murdoch. There is pathos, sacrifice, and friendship that resolves this really strong story. This one clearly stands in the same class as Dracula.
Arthur, is an affluent American come to visit some friends when a severe weather event causes him to seek shelter along with his driver, Andy, in a pub. It is there that they learn of the local legend of St. Patrick and the King of Snakes who has hidden a treasure in a nearby swamp that runs along the crags and rocks of the foothills. A local drunk adds to the intrigue by claiming that his father was present when the actual treasure was buried.
To complicate matters, there's a villain moneylender of a Satanic bend, a gorgeous damsel, and her father that owes the moneylender cash, and wouldn't you know that Black Murdoch would prefer the lovely hand of Norah Joyce than the money owed to him by her father Phelim Joyce. Yet, Arthur has developed a friendship with Andy, his driver, and an affinity to the sights and sounds of the town and its environs.
The characters are very well considered. The plot carries the weight of fairytale legend, but also the true-to-life recognition of greed, villainy, and intent to create chaos that motivates characters like Black Murdoch. There is pathos, sacrifice, and friendship that resolves this really strong story. This one clearly stands in the same class as Dracula.
February 22, 2018
If you are looking for anything Dracula this isn't a book for you. This is Stoker's 'Irish' novel, and it could maybe have been subtitled 'The Book of The Bog'. There's gold in them there bogs, so tis, and black-hearted villains and cheeky Irish chappies. The whole book, though, is intelligently crafted and makes subtle points about Irish land law and intrusive English, and would ye know it, the whole fabulous tale of St. Patrick and the Shnakes and buried treasure, turns out to have a natural explanation. A stalwart Watson-esque sidekick and a fairy princess who is really from the village, and not averse to ripping off her petticoats to save the man she loves in a nice role-reversal rescue scene, really help to spring along this fable of dispossession. Better than I had been expecting, Stoker shows his kindly Irishness in this homespun yarn which, like the Bog, can run deeper and draw you in than previously expected.
August 12, 2021
Giant Snakes! Heroic women! Thrilling real estate deals! Gotta be Bram Stoker!
This 1890 adventure/romance is about one thing really: Bogs! We got bogged bogs, we got drained bogs, we got bog management, we got bogs with buried treasure. Bogs! Bogs! Bogs!
I'll issue myself a firm "settle down" and try this again: In this story our narrator comes to a patch of Ireland and hears a tale of St. Patrick driving the snakes from Ireland, except for the King of the Snakes, who managed to wriggle out of divine command on a technicality, and who...uh...hell, I forget how this comes about but he's got a crown and there's also a box full of French treasure buried in a bog out by the cliffs that are divided by the titular pass.
In his adventure, he also happens to meet the voice of a beautiful Irish lass who, if I'm not mistaken, is the reason for his returning at a later time. (Ladies, if your voice is that amazing, you got some serious game.) By coincidence, an old school chum of his is out in that same area. Why?
Bogs! Haven't you been paying attention? It's all about bogs!
Anyway, a villainous neighbor has cheated the beautiful lass's father out of his land, because he's in a mad rush to find the treasure, and he needs help with navigating the bogs. Our narrator stays around to help and finds himself in love with a mysterious dark-haired lass who comes to weep on the top of a hill, Knocknacar or Knocalltrore or Knocknokjokz or whatever. (There's a whole MESS of dialect-writing in this book, and it doesn't help this American guy 130 years later at all.)
Anyway, you know, and I know, and everyone but the narrator knows that this is voice-lass. Also, the girl that the narrator's pal has a crush on? Also voice-lass.
Despite the obviousness of this and despite a few other obvious elements to the story—I mean, it's a fine line between "telegraphing" and "foreshadowing", amirite?—this actually is the most engaging novel of Stoker's I've read after Dracula, and you know why?
BOGS! Dammit, boy, pay attention!
No, seriously, this is almost oddly good. The relationship has the right mixture of sentimentality and peril, you don't really know whether or not the lovers are going to live or die, and while there isn't a ton of action, the ending works out to be pretty solidly built. And why?
Bogs, of course. There is a LOT of material on bogs. I couldn't believe I was reading it in a novel, but Stoker loved this sort of thing—and it's actually much better here than the Egyptology in The Jewel of Seven Stars, not because the Egyptology isn't meticulously (and apparently accurately) done, but because the bogs play a determining physical role in the outcome of the book.
Going next to read The Watter's Mou' and we'll see if the '90s was Stoker's golden age.
This 1890 adventure/romance is about one thing really: Bogs! We got bogged bogs, we got drained bogs, we got bog management, we got bogs with buried treasure. Bogs! Bogs! Bogs!
I'll issue myself a firm "settle down" and try this again: In this story our narrator comes to a patch of Ireland and hears a tale of St. Patrick driving the snakes from Ireland, except for the King of the Snakes, who managed to wriggle out of divine command on a technicality, and who...uh...hell, I forget how this comes about but he's got a crown and there's also a box full of French treasure buried in a bog out by the cliffs that are divided by the titular pass.
In his adventure, he also happens to meet the voice of a beautiful Irish lass who, if I'm not mistaken, is the reason for his returning at a later time. (Ladies, if your voice is that amazing, you got some serious game.) By coincidence, an old school chum of his is out in that same area. Why?
Bogs! Haven't you been paying attention? It's all about bogs!
Anyway, a villainous neighbor has cheated the beautiful lass's father out of his land, because he's in a mad rush to find the treasure, and he needs help with navigating the bogs. Our narrator stays around to help and finds himself in love with a mysterious dark-haired lass who comes to weep on the top of a hill, Knocknacar or Knocalltrore or Knocknokjokz or whatever. (There's a whole MESS of dialect-writing in this book, and it doesn't help this American guy 130 years later at all.)
Anyway, you know, and I know, and everyone but the narrator knows that this is voice-lass. Also, the girl that the narrator's pal has a crush on? Also voice-lass.
Despite the obviousness of this and despite a few other obvious elements to the story—I mean, it's a fine line between "telegraphing" and "foreshadowing", amirite?—this actually is the most engaging novel of Stoker's I've read after Dracula, and you know why?
BOGS! Dammit, boy, pay attention!
No, seriously, this is almost oddly good. The relationship has the right mixture of sentimentality and peril, you don't really know whether or not the lovers are going to live or die, and while there isn't a ton of action, the ending works out to be pretty solidly built. And why?
Bogs, of course. There is a LOT of material on bogs. I couldn't believe I was reading it in a novel, but Stoker loved this sort of thing—and it's actually much better here than the Egyptology in The Jewel of Seven Stars, not because the Egyptology isn't meticulously (and apparently accurately) done, but because the bogs play a determining physical role in the outcome of the book.
Going next to read The Watter's Mou' and we'll see if the '90s was Stoker's golden age.
December 4, 2020
3.5 Stars
rounded up to 4 Stars.
The only novel written by Stoker to be set in his native Ireland. The novel is a romantic adventure story about an Englishman on vacation in West Ireland that falls in love with a young woman whose father lost his land to a gombeen [usurer] man. An old fashioned Victorian love story that was written by an actual Victorian with a true greedy "Perils of Pauline" type villain obsessed with the lure of lost treasure to add suspense to the drama.
The only novel written by Stoker to be set in his native Ireland. The novel is a romantic adventure story about an Englishman on vacation in West Ireland that falls in love with a young woman whose father lost his land to a gombeen [usurer] man. An old fashioned Victorian love story that was written by an actual Victorian with a true greedy "Perils of Pauline" type villain obsessed with the lure of lost treasure to add suspense to the drama.
August 2, 2024
not enough authors are writing about bogs these days
December 14, 2016
This book wasn't so bad. I loved the beginning and got so excited when Stoker mentioned legends. I was disappointed to learn that the legends were not really central to the story-line. I loved the dialects Stoker uses and how he alters words to give them an Irish pronunciation. I enjoyed the characters too and the fact that the narrator spoke highly of the Irish landscape. Not a bad book but there were times where I was bored a little bit too.
January 12, 2021
If you like bogs, idyllic relationships, vile villains, 2D characters and long over-explanations, this is the book for you. It's a cute story and it is well written,but I'm afraid I found it quite dull.
August 8, 2018
This isn’t a bad little book. It isn’t his best work by far, but it’s a fun, simple little tale. The dialect is a bit excessive, but I enjoyed it for the most part.
February 17, 2023
Written seven years before Dracula. this short novel is part romance, part thriller. It concerns the legend of St Patrick driving the snakes out of Ireland, set in the West of the country. Against this wild, rural backdrop, a romance develops between Englishman Arthur Severn, and a local woman. There is also a land dispute between an old man and very unpleasant man called Murdoch, which turns very nasty.
Many of the characters are rather two dimensional; Murdoch seems a bit of a pantomime villain, and Norah, while ultimately brave, just a bit too sweet. Andy is a bit of a caricature of an Irish cab driver, obvious included as bit of light relief. I think also, there's something a bit disturbing about a couple of Englishmen storming into a rural community, buying everything up and 'improving' the area, and 'improving' its women, which doesn't sit easily with me.
The worst fault of the book is its long, dull passages devoted to geology and the mechanics of the shifting bog, and the tendency to transcribe long tracts of conversation into an Irish vernacular, which made reading incredibly slow, difficult and boring. Given that I'm dyslexic and read at half the rate of the average adult, it took me over 2 months to read a book of 139 pages. Plus the cheap e-book edition I was reading had so many typo's on every page that it infuriated me.
Don't read this book expecting to be as thrilled as you were by Dracula; rather, think of it as an writer starting to find his feet.
Many of the characters are rather two dimensional; Murdoch seems a bit of a pantomime villain, and Norah, while ultimately brave, just a bit too sweet. Andy is a bit of a caricature of an Irish cab driver, obvious included as bit of light relief. I think also, there's something a bit disturbing about a couple of Englishmen storming into a rural community, buying everything up and 'improving' the area, and 'improving' its women, which doesn't sit easily with me.
The worst fault of the book is its long, dull passages devoted to geology and the mechanics of the shifting bog, and the tendency to transcribe long tracts of conversation into an Irish vernacular, which made reading incredibly slow, difficult and boring. Given that I'm dyslexic and read at half the rate of the average adult, it took me over 2 months to read a book of 139 pages. Plus the cheap e-book edition I was reading had so many typo's on every page that it infuriated me.
Don't read this book expecting to be as thrilled as you were by Dracula; rather, think of it as an writer starting to find his feet.
March 18, 2025
This is very clearly a debut effort, resulting in a story that is about 100 pages too long. Though compelling enough, it is somewhat plodding. I would've loved to hear more about the legend of St Patrick instead of all the long descriptions about bogs.
I kept picturing Andy Sullivan, the coachman, as Dara O'Brien.
I kept picturing Andy Sullivan, the coachman, as Dara O'Brien.
January 4, 2023
Неожиданно наивная новелла о любви с персонажами в белых пальто
May 26, 2024
Couldn't even finish the book.
September 25, 2024
uni book
someone called this „the book of the bog“ and they were so right. The middle was slow but the end redeemed it, pretty good honestly
someone called this „the book of the bog“ and they were so right. The middle was slow but the end redeemed it, pretty good honestly
August 27, 2011
Fans of Dracula may be a little disappointed with this novel but there are glimmers of the genius of the later novel.
The central love story is conventional and fairly wooden, the characters are two dimensional but it is the landscape and the weather that are the driving forces of this story. The stormy weather that opens this novel continues until the climax, casting a pall over the happiness of the lovers. Only when danger is past do the clouds clear and the secrets of the mythic landscape are revealed. Combined with the bog that we are constantly reminded is a threat, this rain builds and combines with the rising, straining mud and filth of the bog as the tension and danger from the 'bad character' builds. Only when the land cleanses itself physically and morally can it be reclaimed for good. That this reclamation and sweeping away of corruption happens as the result of science and 'English' money could be seen as a metaphor for the supposed good that was imagined came from colonialism, but that may be reading too much into it as Stoker was an Irishman.
If the love story drags on, then the 'catastrophe' when it finally happens is wonderfully dramatic and genuinely frightening. It avenges the good and punishes the weak and wicked (and if anyone is not clear on that, the priest delivers the explanation to the assembled crowds).
It is not a great novel but Stoker's evocation of the Irish landscape and his powerful rendering of the climax make it worth a look.
(Downloaded via the British Library 19th century app)
The central love story is conventional and fairly wooden, the characters are two dimensional but it is the landscape and the weather that are the driving forces of this story. The stormy weather that opens this novel continues until the climax, casting a pall over the happiness of the lovers. Only when danger is past do the clouds clear and the secrets of the mythic landscape are revealed. Combined with the bog that we are constantly reminded is a threat, this rain builds and combines with the rising, straining mud and filth of the bog as the tension and danger from the 'bad character' builds. Only when the land cleanses itself physically and morally can it be reclaimed for good. That this reclamation and sweeping away of corruption happens as the result of science and 'English' money could be seen as a metaphor for the supposed good that was imagined came from colonialism, but that may be reading too much into it as Stoker was an Irishman.
If the love story drags on, then the 'catastrophe' when it finally happens is wonderfully dramatic and genuinely frightening. It avenges the good and punishes the weak and wicked (and if anyone is not clear on that, the priest delivers the explanation to the assembled crowds).
It is not a great novel but Stoker's evocation of the Irish landscape and his powerful rendering of the climax make it worth a look.
(Downloaded via the British Library 19th century app)
June 4, 2011
Set in his native Ireland, Bram Stoker's first novel bears little outward resemblance to his masterpiece, Dracula. Nevertheless, this short gothic piece about shifty deals and shifting land entertains even if the story is slight. The love story around which the novel is built is too dry to interest many, and the hero is bland, but fans of 19th-century gothic fiction will enjoy the story's unconventional setting and colorful cast of characters (all speaking in thick Irish brogue). Recommended for fans of Bram Stoker and gothic fiction.
November 27, 2025
È senza dubbio un romanzo gotico che merita di essere riscoperto. L’ho letto poco prima di donarlo a una lotteria di Natale organizzata dal club del libro a cui partecipavo, e mi fa piacere sapere che sia poi passato nelle mani di altri lettori che lo hanno apprezzato quanto me.
Ciò che ho amato di più è stata l’atmosfera: suggestiva, inquietante, attraversata da presagi sottili in ogni pagina. Stoker costruisce un senso di tensione elegante e continuo, capace di rendere la lettura magnetica e sorprendentemente scorrevole.
Ciò che ho amato di più è stata l’atmosfera: suggestiva, inquietante, attraversata da presagi sottili in ogni pagina. Stoker costruisce un senso di tensione elegante e continuo, capace di rendere la lettura magnetica e sorprendentemente scorrevole.
January 26, 2025
My Thoughts:
My Positives: This novel is written beautifully, and I love that we are in Ireland for this book. The villain is easy to hate, and the protagonist is easy to love. The romance in this novel is dated but still my favorite, thay I have read in a while. I like how the final two chapters are very thriller like. As you race to save Norah from Murdoch. Love this book.
My Negatives: Don't really have any.
Final Thoughts: Great book, I enjoyed it very much and highly recommend it.
My Current Bram Stoker Ranking
1. (1890) The Snake's Pass 🏆
2. (1887) The Dualitists
My Positives: This novel is written beautifully, and I love that we are in Ireland for this book. The villain is easy to hate, and the protagonist is easy to love. The romance in this novel is dated but still my favorite, thay I have read in a while. I like how the final two chapters are very thriller like. As you race to save Norah from Murdoch. Love this book.
My Negatives: Don't really have any.
Final Thoughts: Great book, I enjoyed it very much and highly recommend it.
My Current Bram Stoker Ranking
1. (1890) The Snake's Pass 🏆
2. (1887) The Dualitists
May 22, 2019
I loved Stoker's transliteration of the thick accents of the rural western Irish secondary characters throughout, but the plot is sadly uninspiring, the protagonist unsympathetic, the tantalising local legends have a mundane explanation, and I found the pacing a test of endurance. Effective as a historical rendering of a remote Irish village, and the entitled and imperious attitude of the English visiting it.
October 16, 2017
Not exactly the kind of "horror" I've come to expect from Bram Stoker, but enjoyable nonetheless. Slow building, but worth it for the end. Well written, if you can decipher the dialogue written with Irish accent. This book has a certain charm, which is most obvious in the character of the driver Andy.
September 7, 2018
К сожалению, обыкновенный сентиментальный роман на фоне геологических исследований болота. Ничего мистического, загадочного в сюжете нет. Даже легенда о св. Патрике и Змеином короле всего лишь местный фольклор и создана, наверное, только чтобы подчеркнуть алчность и прочие мерзкие качества антагониста.
February 15, 2020
I love such stories - a lot of mystery and imagination, with a setting in Ireland
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews