| Title | : | The Monk and the Hangmans Daughter |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1199128546 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781199128546 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages | : | 80 |
| Publication | : | First published January 1, 1892 |
| Awards | : | Los Mejores del Banco del Libro Mejores Libros Juveniles Traducciones (2nd) (2013) |
The Monk and the Hangmans Daughter Reviews
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Realmente está nouvelle, yo diría que, es de apreciación, porque posee un ritmo pausado, pero no lento o aburrido, las descripciones que el autor crea de la época en la que está situada son inmejorables, logra desarrollar la sociedad y sus habitantes formidablemente.
Se va desarrollando una historia en la que las mejores intenciones son sus características principales, encontraremos un amor prohibido, un monje franciscano que recorre nuevos escenarios que lo asombran e intrigan, nuevas personas con las que vienen nuevas percepciones e incertidumbres de lo que es, de lo que siente y de lo que debería ser.
La obra está narrada en primera persona por el Monje Ambrosio la cual es, sin duda, atrapante y disfruté mucho de su evolución.
La historia es predecible, pero tiene un estilo narrativo muy agradable y absolutamente envolvente, con escenarios tan preciosos como oscuros, que ese factor en realidad no influye en lo muy buena y mucho que se puede disfrutar de su lectura.
Yo leí otra edición, pero esta tiene unas ilustraciones alucinantes y queda absolutamente recomendada, por tanto la historia en esta edición es de 5 estrellas absolutamente. -
I thought I was picking up a story of forbidden passion and sundered lovers, but instead got a portrait of religious hypocrisy and, intensely depicted, narcissitic obsession and objectification of the "loved" person as a recepticle for the emotions of the protagonist. It's clear that Bierce has no sympathy for the actions of the main character, the monk Ambrosius, but neither is he portrayed as a stock, moustache-twirling gothic villain. In presenting the narrative from the single point of view of Ambrosius's diary, Bierce ran the risk of seeming to empathise with or justify the monk's self-absorbed fantasies, but he's too good a writer for that, thankfully.
How much of this sentiment is in the original German-language story by
Richard Voss, which Bierce co-translated, I don't know, but in his introduction he states that he added much material of his own, as well as translating Voss.
Gothic conventions he did use include: perverse monks; febrile religious passions; peasant village life; wild, rugged mountain landscapes; the dead, and intimations of mortality and doom. All to good effect. -
Me pareció un romance muy puro y solemne, muy dulce en muchos sentidos. Una profunda empatía creció de mi para este monje pecador desde el principio, desde su primer encuentro con Benedicta. La inocencia siempre me ha parecido una cualidad que hay que admirar, pero creo que esta vez terminó jugando en contra de la historia entera. Me hallé deseando con fervor que algo aconteciera para que Ambrose tuviese valor, rebeldía o simplemente algo menos de miedo al infierno como para hacer algo. ¡Algo! Algo real, carajo, no solo orar. Algo menos que detenerse a auto flagelarse, privarse de alimentos y del contacto del resto de la humanidad por una emoción tan buena y pura como la que le inundaba su mente llena de telarañas de iglesia.
A veces uno desea entrar en los libros y darle de cachetadas (o chanclazos, lo que se le ocurra en el momento a uno y sea más efectivo) al protagonista, aunque este te tome por un espíritu maligno, con tal de hacerlo espabilar y que las cosas no discurran por esos derroteros que tú ya sientes venir.
Me recordó al libro "De Amor y otros demonios" donde un clérigo y una chiquilla salvaje tienen una historia de amor tan... iba a decir pura y bonita, pero esos no son los adjetivos que se debería usar en cuanto a García Márquez. El hecho es que no pude evitar trazar un paralelismo entre ambas obras y pensar que existen múltiples similitudes dolorosas entre ambas historias, como sus finales, por ejemplo.
El final, que yo ya venteaba desde mediados de la obra, me ha dejado altamente descolocada y meditabunda. Es una obra prodigiosa, de eso no cabe la menor ni más mínima duda, salvo que siento que no se le ha hecho justicia en esta obra a los personajes de Ambrose y Benedicta, pero que se los ha dotado de un desarrollo increíble. El hecho de poder adentrarse en los pensamientos tan atronadores del monje, me ha parecido una locura. Ahora que lo pienso, luego de terminada la obra, pienso que era más susceptible de lo que imaginaba en un principio. Cómo si su final verdaderamente no fuese un arrebato de su autor (como lo califiqué inmediatamente lo acabé) y se hubieran plantado cuidadosamente guiños aquí y allá que entreveían que esta no era una historia blanca como ala de inmaculada paloma de campanario, sino pálida y mortecina como la faz de un cadáver en el patíbulo.
Fuera de todo eso, porque sino me detengo seguiré dándole vueltas al mismo tema, los escenarios son lo mejor del libro. Esas montañas, riscos traicioneros, el lago, la niebla, la nieve, la luna, el pueblo en lo alto con las personas felices. Su autor me ha embriagado de la helada paz que se respiraba en esos sitios y he disfrutado mucho durante su lectura. La idea simbólica de las Edelweiss, sin aroma pero de infinita y delicada belleza, eso también me ha parecido muy interesante... ojalá todo hubiera tenido un final diferente.
En La Gárgola se hablaba de que la esquizofrenia podía ser la razón de los éxtasis de los monjes de antaño. Delirio antes que verdadera revelación. Y quien sabe, porque si se leen algunas de estas visiones (no todas) se puede ver que hay cosas que pudieron llevar a la hoguera a muchos y al manicomio a muchos ahora.
Pues quien sabe, pero aquí, el delirio por las privaciones y emociones fuertes bien podría ser una razón para considerar muy concienzudamente.
Creo que esta obra me dejará pensando mucho, largo y tendido, por algunas días más. -
Solid 4 Stars, probably 4-1/2
This story is the longest by Ambrose Bierce I’ve read. That is not meant as a slight, I admire how much he makes one see and feel, while using only a few words. This is longer than the rest, but still packs more into it, than if someone else used 1000 pages. Love, lust, jealousy, cruelty, prejudice, and religious bigotry, are all packed into this really good story. The reader will have to decide about the ending, are we witnessing insanity or divine intervention.
The online copy I read was provided by the University of Virginia and was 156 pages in length. -
I found this in an antique bookseller. Originally published in the late 19th century (my copy is a 1967 print), it tells a story of a young Franciscan monk in pre-enlightenment Germany, who takes pity on the local hangman’s daughter, a figure who by nature of her father’s occupation is a social outcast. At first, due to the reverential language of the tale, it seemed that it would be a tale of temptation and mutual redemption. By the end of the book, it turns into something quite different. Not for a moment lurid in any way, it is a beautifully written tale that some may interpret as a warning of the dangers of a celibate life. I read it differently. I saw it as a warning of misplaced affection and the dangers of obsession in any walk of life.
On the whole, it was short, enjoyable, and told its story with a delicacy rarely seen in modern books. -
Este es otro de esos libros que he comprado únicamente por el trabajo visual de Santiago Caruso, aunque me gusta mucho también el trabajo de Bierce. No lo había leído anteriormente "El monje y la hija del verdugo", aunque me daba la impresión de que no iba a ser algo típico a lo que ya he leído en el pasado del autor, y tuve razón. En esta ocasión, se trata de un relato más inscrito dentro de la tradición europea de esas viejas leyendas tomadas como base para una obra literaria. Esta en particular, puede inscribirse un poco dentro del género gótico, y es imposible que no recuerde obras como "El monje" de Mathew G. Lewis, y aunque no abunda tanto en el tema de la maldad, si trata acerca del tema del alma con buenas intenciones iniciales, pero que acaba sucumbiendo cuando se le presenta la primera tentación.
Está escrito en primera persona, así que nos es posible recorrer de primera mano los caminos que acaban en la tragedia que le acontece al Monje del relato, salpicado con unas descripciones que no desmerecen para nada las mejores obras del gótico, predisponiendo al lector al estado de ánimo ideal para testificar el descenso del protagonista hasta la sima más abyecta del pecado.
¿Y de las ilustraciones? Bueno, de esas no hay nada que decir, como siempre con el trabajo de Caruso, son magníficas y se nota el excelente trabajo al transcribir en forma visual las emociones contenidas en el relato.
Muy recomendable. -
The Monk and the Hangman's Daughter is a short, but effective, novel written by the American author,
Ambrose Bierce. It is written in the form of an undated diary, detailing the arrival in Berchtesgaden of three Franciscan monks, including the diary writer, Ambrosius. He goes on to tell of his first meeting with Benedicta, the hangman's daughter, and of his subsequent meetings and dealings with her.
The story is a tragic one, being "a battle between body and spirit, the sins of the past and the desire for redemption." I particularly enjoyed Bierce's descriptions of the scenery as seen through the eyes of the young monk, Ambrosius. -
Bierce's writing absolutely shines here!
Now, what's with Benedicta and her supposed brother?! Why neither of them said anything :|
And let me tell you, I'll be having nightmares tonight because this psychopath of an MC/narrator. Also, I can't be more pissed off at the whole religious institution and people in this novel if I tried. Hypocritical, judgemental bastards the lot of them... -
Literary device: cognitive dissonance/ irony
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Asked by a contemporary to translate this novella to English (from yet another translation to German), Ambrose took it upon himself to add some of his own spice to the mix. Ironically, that very contemporary whom Ambrose was asked by, disclosed later that that original author had told him that the whole base of the story was from a manuscript he had found in a Franciscan monastery somewhere in Bavaria.
This is the first work of Ambrose that I have read. With the nature of Ambrose's contribution, it's hard to judge his writing style and choice of genre, when not knowing when it was it his words I was reading, or the translator to German's, or of the person initially thought to be the author, OR yet more of the original author whose manuscript was held by the Franciscan Bavarian monks. It certainly creates or some confusion.
The ambiguous history of the novella doesn't make clear the literary intention that the author/s had by writing/editing this piece. It also is unclear, when keeping in mind where the manuscript was held, whether at some instances the author/s intended sarcasm, or were quite genuine.
I did enjoy this 2-day read quite a lot. For some reason, one which I hope isn't to my disadvantage, I love reading novels that have in them detailed false narrations, and the slow degeneration of the mental and physical states of protagonist. Also found in Dostoevsky's works, this novel too did that well.
It's only around 70 pages, so it doesn't require much to experience.
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Όμορφη ιστορία, μακριά όμως από ύφος του Μπηρς (φαντάσματα, μάγισσες κλπ κλπ)...
Μέσω της ιστορίας και της αφήγησης του Μοναχού Αμβρόσιου, ο συγγραφέας μιλάει για την θρησκεία, την πίστη, τον έρωτα και την λογική.
Νοήματα δοσμένα με απλό τρόπο, πανέμορφες περιγραφές και χαρακτήρες βγαλμένοι από παραδόσεις και θρύλους.
Ο συγγραφέας χτίζει, σε όλη την διάρκεια αυτού του μικρού διηγήματος, την πλοκή που θα οδηγήσει στην απόλυτη λύτρωση.
Εν τέλει διασκεδαστικό και ελαφρώς φιλοσοφημένο διήγημα.
3,5* -
Un relato excelente, con una gran ambientacion gotica. Unos monjes son cambiados a un convento ubicado en lo alto de las montañas y alli, uno de ellos conoce a la marginada pero bellisima hija de un verdugo, la cual lo deja turbado desde el principio. Muy buenas descripciones del ambiente, de las costumbres de la epoca y tambien de los personajes. No hay que leerlo con expectativas de que sea un relato de terror, sino un relato de suspenso gotico.
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4.5/5
Hermosa edición, preciosas ilustraciones, traducción cuidadísima. Un relato sobrecogedor pero al mismo tiempo muy poético que te hace leerlo con una rapidez extraordinaria. -
The words are poetic, the subject as gothic as could be... I loved this book. Short, anything but sweet... dark, beautiful and haunting... Everything a reader could look for in a gothic fiction.
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A short yet poignant and beautifully written tale concerning the young Franciscan monk Ambrosius, who is torn apart by the conflict between the religious beliefs and instruction of his order and his blossoming love for the daughter of the local hangman, who is abhorred by the community.
In many ways this short novella exposes the duplicity and bigotry of religion, and the sheer cruelty and sadistic intent behind the dogma (or so I felt) of the Franciscans. Ambrosius is an innocent, used and scorned by the monks themselves and the local populace.
Bierce is an excellent writer and this is a very readable tale which I highly enjoyed. Wonderfully descriptive prose and very evocative imagery. You are drawn in by the torment and agonies of the narrator.
From the Oneworld Classics series. -
Yazarın önsözünden anladığım kadarıyla, bu hikâyenin kökeni Baverya Alplerindeki bir Fransisken Manastırı’nda bulunan el yazmasına dayanıyormuş. Richard Voss’un buna dayanarak yazdığı öyküden (muhtemelen “Der Mönch von Berchtesgaden” / 1891) yapılan çeviriyi, bir dostu düzeltmesi için Ambrose Bierce’a getirmiş, o da öyküyü genişletip detaylandırarak kendi uyarlamasını yapmış.
Şimdiye kadar Bierce’dan kötü bir şey okumadım, bu kısa romanda da bu kural bozulmadı. Sade üslubuyla ağır ağır felakete yaklaştığınızı hissettiren, Alman romantizmi tarzındaki bu kasvetli tarihsel hikâyeyi (17. yy) çok beğendim. Bierce’a özgü sert, alaycı ironi yok, ama gene son sayfada trajik bir sürpriz var. -
What a wonderful little read. A fairytale style at times - certainly at the start and with a sense of magic and whimsy brought about by referred-to legends and the imagination of e narrator.
The best aspect of this story is the naive voice that the narrator has adopted - always with an undertone which leaves you questioning his fallibility. Such great writing to have produced this.
The battle between earthly love and heavenly love within the narrating monk is superbly played out, and the ending does little to answer this eternal question.
A wonderfully disturbing quick read. -
Слушал эту аудиокнигу и страдал!
Аброз, как ты мог вот так вот высраться с такой белибердой?!?!?
Невероятное нытьё, нытьё в квадрате, нет нытьё в кубе!
Все второсортные авторы курят в сторонке, особенно женские авторы про "лубовь" и выбор: "чувства vs. разум (долг, честь и пр.)"....
Ничего кроме желания набуцкать как чтеца, так и главного героя прям по самым щам!
Первосортный шлак. -
Listened as a radio drama from the 70's with dramatic music and the cold wind whistling in the background. Dark autumn or winter night is the time to let this gothic tale set you in the mood, my darkling friends.
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The eternal conflict between body and soul..
The conflict from which we should learn never to judge others unless we are in their shoes.. -
A wonder and a joy to read. Prior to this I had only read The Devils Dictionary and “An Occurance at Owl Creek”. The Monk and the Hangman’s Daughter remind me of Owl Creek with the surprise - the sting in the tail - striking twice for me in the end.
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A great book for showing the unreliable narrator, but also how people (and good characters) are neither all good nor all bad—both right and wrong about different things. Great story!
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An inexperienced Franciscan monk called Ambrosius is sent on a mission to the mountain wilds near Salzburg, where he is immediately entranced by the arresting sight of a beautiful young maiden singing and dancing by the gallows of a recently hung man.
The girl turns out to be the hangman's daughter, Benedicta, chasing away the vultures from the swaying body. Father and daughter are treated like outcasts in the remote community, with Benedicta accused of harlotry. Ambrosius is convinced of her purity, but fears that his own feelings for her are less than chaste.
By rights this story should probably be credited to Adolphe de Castro, a longtime correspondent of H.P. Lovecraft. Ambrose Bierce certainly translated it for him and gave advice on the ending, but that may have been all. That said, de Castro himself claims to have found the tale written down in a German monastery.
Whomever authored it, it's not particularly well written, but it does contain one or two memorable scenes (such as the one described above) and a truly spine tingling ending which really elevates the entire story.
Oh, the dangers of enforced celibacy! -
I love Ambrose Bierce. His sardonic wit was ahead of its time, especially for an American writer. His story "Chickamauga" shows such perfect and cruel imagery and is possibly my favorite short story. This story or novella is borrowed from a writer Richard Voss, a German teller of medieval tales, that Bierce thought should be translated and "amplified" with his writing style. The story is surprisingly original. The characters are solid, trustworthy, sympathetic, and develop nicely for such a rigid and disciplined format.
The twist Bierce usually employs is present (albeit subtly), perhaps what attracted him to Voss' tale to begin with. It has an epic quality, like Greek tragedy and free from obvious allegory, and reads like a moral play or a passage from the Bible. I love the way the hero reasons with himself and his god. This gives the narration an easy view of the difference, which comes into play at the end, between his religious morals and ours. -
Esta novela me parece increíble. La descripción es una forma acertada de ambientar la época en que se ubica; la narrativa, una línea de avance lento, pero equilibrada con el progreso de los personajes.
La narración en primera persona resulta fascinante por su modo de acercamiento a la evolución y decadencia mental del protagonista.
El amor, la fe ortodoxa y la obsesión se desencadenan en un paroxismo rodeado de locura y terror. Recomiendo la lectura.
La edición que poseo es distinta, pero recomiendo la que se presenta en esta plataforma con las increíbles ilustraciones de Santiago Caruso. -
Very short story that reads like a cautionary fairytale. Simply written in a diary form with succinct and sharp descriptions of the landscapes that you can see immediately in your minds eye! The style it is written n reminds me of Evelyn Waugh, but I'm not sure why exactly!
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Like a fairy tale.Grim. -
This is a tozzin' little book that entertains from start to finish. The descriptions are magnificent, the plotting well-paced, the characters lively and engaging and the writing so easy to read and digest. It was originally written more than three hundred years ago and this version is more than a hundred years old and yet it has the feel of a modern manuscript.
The story involves the interplay between a hangman's daughter (who is beautiful) and a monk (who is handsome). They are both very naive, which is really what drives the story forward. I can't tell you much more about the story because I would spoil it for you if I did.
There's a lot of joy and life in this story that would appeal to someone who likes bright, shiny things. There's also a bit of anti-church sentiment here, which might not resonate with hardcore Christians, but I'm sure they would understand it even if they didn't agree. Overall, you should read it if you like short novels that are a little different from your run of the mill stuff. It's nice.
