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The Monk  By  cover art

The Monk

By: Matthew Lewis
Narrated by: Nicholas Boulton,Georgina Sutton
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Publisher's summary

A masterpiece of gothic fiction, The Monk is a cautionary tale of madness, horror, lust, and despair. Father Ambrosio, the most pious and venerated monk in all of Madrid, is held as a paragon of virtue. But after 30 years of study and prayer, evil thoughts begin to permeate his mind.

As two plots cleverly converge, torture, murder, incest, rape, poison, and magic prevail, sustained by an elegance in the writing of the 19-year-old Matthew Lewis.

The book was banned upon its initial publication in 1796, but later caught the attention of Lord Byron and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, with Coleridge naming it "the offspring of no common genius".

Public Domain (P)2017 Naxos AudioBooks

What listeners say about The Monk

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

the Platonic Form of the Gothic novel!.org

The plot moves fast through all the usual yet somehow unexpected architecture, the manors, the convent and monastery, even the catacombs... and the entire cast of good and evil and the nearly good and the seemingly good but really blackest evil characters. The readers' performance was perfect. I can't imagine better. I wanted a great Halloween novel and this was definitely it.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Awesome story and well read

Great story with adventure, passion, horror, love and hypocrisy, with a flare of the supernatural.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Not a book that should be overlooked!

Wow. I ran across this book while looking up Gothic novels and alternated between reading my physical copy and listening to this version.
I was not at all disappointed by the characters, plot, or narrators. I don't want to spoil anything for you, so suffice it to say that nothing is extraneous and the ending will be a wild ride. Allow yourself to be swept up in this world and to believe in the characters and you will not be disappointed. I wish I had been half this imaginative when I was 19!!

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Good 👍 audio book

Good passtime. Really nice audio book while cleaning house and doing my week end house cleansing.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Great Performances But One For the True Goth Fans

Naxos's edition of "The Monk" is the best audio recording you will find on audible, and on the market (if one exists anymore) more generally. It comes with multiple narrators, and narrators of both genders. It also comes with music and poetical songs that accompany the presence of poetry and music in the text. They are quite beautiful and i would definitely recommend this recording to fans of Gothic fiction, or fans who a familiar with and like Lewis's novel. Regarding the narrative itself, i found the eroticism of the story, specifically its representation of the body and desire, to be incredibly captivating, but I also found the plot to be incredibly convoluted, the story and the historical setting to be lacking in realism, complexity, and depth. By and large, the novel came across as a highly dated form of sublimated pornography. In areas and at times i wanted to keep on listening to find out what next, but in a larger way, i was just glad to say I finally finished "The Monk." Alas it is not going to make my best novels list.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Amazing

No words; just read it. It is a story that questions salvation, religion, and relationships. If those peak you read it.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Disappointed

Not sure what I was expecting, but by the end I was disappointed and wished I had made a different selection.
I was unable to suspend my disbelief and as such never invested I either the plot or characters.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

It was OK

I chose this because I saw it on a best horror list. I should have looked into it more. But I will not rate it based on my disappointment over genre. I did end up getting sucked into the story, however about half way through starting getting bored. I stuck with it and it ended about how I thought it would. The narrator was great and I didn’t mind listening to him at all. It’s not on my list to recommend to anyone, but I also wouldn’t deter anyone from it if they were interested.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Gripping, and jaw dropping

The less said about The Monk the better. All I want to and will say is, the book is gripping and exciting cover to cover and has been such an engaging listen that I'm tempted to start it over immediately.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Not bad

The narration was good, but I didn't care for the seldom added additional voices. would still highly recommend.

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