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Olalla
Uno de los grandes relatos de Robert Louis Stevenson, ambientado en un caserón español.
Siguiendo las recomendaciones médicas, un oficial escocés herido en combate y que necesitará un largo período de convalecencia accede a convertirse en el huésped de una familia que vive en un gran caserón fortificado en un remoto rincón de España. Según le han dicho, en la casa, muy deteriorada por el tiempo, solo vive una madre con sus dos hijos: Felipe, de pocas luces, y Olalla, de la que apenas se sabe nada, últimos supervivientes de esta estirpe venida a menos, víctima de los excesos y la endogamia. Pero antes de entrar en la fortificación, el oficial tendrá que aceptar una condición previa: deberá renunciar a mantener cualquier tipo de relación con la familia.
Siguiendo las recomendaciones médicas, un oficial escocés herido en combate y que necesitará un largo período de convalecencia accede a convertirse en el huésped de una familia que vive en un gran caserón fortificado en un remoto rincón de España. Según le han dicho, en la casa, muy deteriorada por el tiempo, solo vive una madre con sus dos hijos: Felipe, de pocas luces, y Olalla, de la que apenas se sabe nada, últimos supervivientes de esta estirpe venida a menos, víctima de los excesos y la endogamia. Pero antes de entrar en la fortificación, el oficial tendrá que aceptar una condición previa: deberá renunciar a mantener cualquier tipo de relación con la familia.
92 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 1885
About the author
Robert Louis Stevenson
4,963 books6,592 followersRobert Louis Balfour Stevenson was a Scottish novelist, poet, and travel writer, and a leading representative of English literature. He was greatly admired by many authors, including Jorge Luis Borges, Ernest Hemingway, Rudyard Kipling and Vladimir Nabokov.
Most modernist writers dismissed him, however, because he was popular and did not write within their narrow definition of literature. It is only recently that critics have begun to look beyond Stevenson's popularity and allow him a place in the Western canon.
Most modernist writers dismissed him, however, because he was popular and did not write within their narrow definition of literature. It is only recently that critics have begun to look beyond Stevenson's popularity and allow him a place in the Western canon.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 491 reviews
October 30, 2016
I’ve been getting negligent in my reviews of these as of late. Only fourteen left to go! I’ve been reading through this lot for almost two years! I will get through all eighty eventually, just wait and see. I’ll post a spectacular update celebrating the occasion. There might even be cake involved.
Well, anyway, on to the book in hand; it’s not a very good one, numbered amongst the lowest in my estimation in the collection. It’s hard to believe that this was actually written by Robert Louis Stevenson. I mean the man’s a literary genius. The Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mr Hyde is a phenomenal piece of literature. This, well, this was just dreadful. And not in the good sense of Victorian horror either; it’s not dreadfully spooky or dreadfully gothic: it’s just plain dreadful.
Why? Well it barely feels gothic. Yes you have some of the basic tropes, a dark castles and location, but there is no atmosphere in the writing. There is no level of intensity or expectation of what’s around the next corner. Instead we have a case of instant love. I’m not overly opposed to this because sometimes it does work when it’s handled well. Here, though, it just felt forced. There was no real emotion driving it. Where was the lonely longing that would force someone to love instantly? Where was the desperation and the sense of isolation? Nowhere.
Robert Louis Stevenson can write much better than this.
Penguin Little Black Classic- 19
The Little Black Classic Collection by penguin looks like it contains alot of hidden gems. I couldn’t help it; they looked so good that I went and bought them all. I shall post a short review after reading each one. No doubt it will take me several months to get through all of them! Hopefully I will find some classic authors, from across the ages, that I may not have come across had I not bought this collection.
Well, anyway, on to the book in hand; it’s not a very good one, numbered amongst the lowest in my estimation in the collection. It’s hard to believe that this was actually written by Robert Louis Stevenson. I mean the man’s a literary genius. The Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mr Hyde is a phenomenal piece of literature. This, well, this was just dreadful. And not in the good sense of Victorian horror either; it’s not dreadfully spooky or dreadfully gothic: it’s just plain dreadful.
Why? Well it barely feels gothic. Yes you have some of the basic tropes, a dark castles and location, but there is no atmosphere in the writing. There is no level of intensity or expectation of what’s around the next corner. Instead we have a case of instant love. I’m not overly opposed to this because sometimes it does work when it’s handled well. Here, though, it just felt forced. There was no real emotion driving it. Where was the lonely longing that would force someone to love instantly? Where was the desperation and the sense of isolation? Nowhere.
Robert Louis Stevenson can write much better than this.
Penguin Little Black Classic- 19
The Little Black Classic Collection by penguin looks like it contains alot of hidden gems. I couldn’t help it; they looked so good that I went and bought them all. I shall post a short review after reading each one. No doubt it will take me several months to get through all of them! Hopefully I will find some classic authors, from across the ages, that I may not have come across had I not bought this collection.
July 13, 2020
¡Cuánto tiempo hacía que un cuento no me absorbía de la manera en que “Olalla” lo hizo! Realmente quedé fascinado con la prosa de Stevenson tan emotiva e intensa.
Este es un cuento del que yo creo Stevenson escribió en honor a Edgar Allan Poe, puesto que posee todos esos ingredientes que el maestro de lo macabro utilizaba para sus relatos.
La naturaleza y la ambientación gótica de la mansión española en la época victoriana donde se desarrolla "Olalla" me remite directamente a esos lúgubres palacios en los que Poe desarrollaba sus historias.
Este cuento y especialmente el personaje de Olalla tiene una directa relación con aquellas fèmmes fatales que Poe creó en sus cuentos, más precisamente el cuarteto Ligeia-Morelia-Eleonora-Berenice, verdaderas damas condenadas entre el ardor de la pasión la lúgubre presencia de la muerte omnipotente. También, por momentos me sentí nuevamente deambulando dentro de la mansión de Roderick Usher.
Los personajes principales, el narrador, Olalla misma, su enigmática y lánguida madre y el hermano de Olalla, Felipe forman parte de un círculo de relaciones intrigantes y de un suspenso que contiene un aire viciado, en una atmósfera de sopor persistente.
La madre de Olalla es enigmática, pero encierra un secreto diabólico, bestial, mientras que Olalla es la belleza hecha mujer.
A partir del cuadro que el narrador ve colgado en una pared de la mansión nos encontramos que desde esa poderosa imagen que desprende la mujer del cuadro, todo el linaje se asemeja a ella. Todos los descendientes poseen la misma características, al igual que sucede con los Usher que describe Poe.
Estoy seguro que Stevenson escribió sin quererlo o con intención de homenajear a Edgar Allan Poe y lo logra con creces. Olalla posee todos los elementos del gótico, el pre romanticismo y el romanticismo más emblemático: el enfermo, ese que está desbordado de pasión y envuelto ante un halo de muerte cercana en donde todo puede terminar mal, condenando a los personajes a sufrir los avatares a los que son sometidos.
Vuelvo a entender por qué Robert Louis Stevenson era uno de los escritores preferidos de Jorge Luis Borges y por qué ha perdurado en el tiempo como uno de los más queridos que dio la literatura.
Este es un cuento del que yo creo Stevenson escribió en honor a Edgar Allan Poe, puesto que posee todos esos ingredientes que el maestro de lo macabro utilizaba para sus relatos.
La naturaleza y la ambientación gótica de la mansión española en la época victoriana donde se desarrolla "Olalla" me remite directamente a esos lúgubres palacios en los que Poe desarrollaba sus historias.
Este cuento y especialmente el personaje de Olalla tiene una directa relación con aquellas fèmmes fatales que Poe creó en sus cuentos, más precisamente el cuarteto Ligeia-Morelia-Eleonora-Berenice, verdaderas damas condenadas entre el ardor de la pasión la lúgubre presencia de la muerte omnipotente. También, por momentos me sentí nuevamente deambulando dentro de la mansión de Roderick Usher.
Los personajes principales, el narrador, Olalla misma, su enigmática y lánguida madre y el hermano de Olalla, Felipe forman parte de un círculo de relaciones intrigantes y de un suspenso que contiene un aire viciado, en una atmósfera de sopor persistente.
La madre de Olalla es enigmática, pero encierra un secreto diabólico, bestial, mientras que Olalla es la belleza hecha mujer.
A partir del cuadro que el narrador ve colgado en una pared de la mansión nos encontramos que desde esa poderosa imagen que desprende la mujer del cuadro, todo el linaje se asemeja a ella. Todos los descendientes poseen la misma características, al igual que sucede con los Usher que describe Poe.
Estoy seguro que Stevenson escribió sin quererlo o con intención de homenajear a Edgar Allan Poe y lo logra con creces. Olalla posee todos los elementos del gótico, el pre romanticismo y el romanticismo más emblemático: el enfermo, ese que está desbordado de pasión y envuelto ante un halo de muerte cercana en donde todo puede terminar mal, condenando a los personajes a sufrir los avatares a los que son sometidos.
Vuelvo a entender por qué Robert Louis Stevenson era uno de los escritores preferidos de Jorge Luis Borges y por qué ha perdurado en el tiempo como uno de los más queridos que dio la literatura.
June 4, 2018
"She seemed the link that bound me in with dead things on the one hand, and with our pure and pitying God on the other: a thing brutal and divine, and akin at once to the innocence and to the unbridled forces of the earth."
- Robert Louis Stevenson, Olalla
Vol 19 of my Penguin Little Black Classics Box Set. Those Victorians sure loved their Gothic vampire stories. This one was published in 1885 (Dracula was published in 1897). It shares a couple similarities: castle in the mountains, love, blood, lust, crosses. My prior exposure to this story was very limited, but I enjoyed it. Stevenson tied it all down and put it to bed tightly. It isn't my favorite genre, but I do enjoy Stevenson's craft.
- Robert Louis Stevenson, Olalla
Vol 19 of my Penguin Little Black Classics Box Set. Those Victorians sure loved their Gothic vampire stories. This one was published in 1885 (Dracula was published in 1897). It shares a couple similarities: castle in the mountains, love, blood, lust, crosses. My prior exposure to this story was very limited, but I enjoyed it. Stevenson tied it all down and put it to bed tightly. It isn't my favorite genre, but I do enjoy Stevenson's craft.
August 12, 2020
La verdad no esperaba mucho de este libro.
May 21, 2017
A great gothic novella by Robert Louis Stevenson on a weekend!
Before starting, while I was going through the reviews on goodreads many people gave it only a single star complaining about a disappointing climax and weak hints of Vampirism. I was a bit wary thus. But for the first time, I have a complete different experience than the first three reviews I read of the book on goodreads and really liked it.
For a fellow escapist of the tropical heat as I am, the story takes you to picturesque mountains of a long lost untouched Spanish countryside being described through the rationality of an English gentleman of good senses. The story sits in the borderline of complete gothic horror as was Beam Stocker's Dracula and a more human touch is given to those whom we deem inhuman, as incestuous ancestry and superstition may argue with their own set of logics. I like this aspect of Stevenson's idea of a story dealing with Vampirism or merely animalistic behaviour as some might argue. This banished family of lost aristocracy and surreal similarity in facial features through generations are not complete brutes and are not burned on touching the cross as happens on most gothic horrors written even today's after almost 200 years of Count Dracula. The neighbouring 'kirktons' are ever wary of the evil that bodes there in the perishing castle amidst the mountains and that, sitting at this age of reason, make you feel really bad for Olalla, Felipe and their 'unbalanced' mother.
One can see the magic of Robert Louis Stevenson's writing as the climax draws to a close. In a world still not that 'scientific', the ending is plausible. I would have perhaps brought a few experts to Olalla but sadly in 1885 sitting in a war-torn Europe, that would have been too much of an overstatement. All was well, only I found the sudden overwhelming love of the narrator for Olalla defying his usual air of being reasonable. But such is gothic fiction! So, let's learn if deal with it and savour the great writing of Stevenson that plays minds with words and created tremors with it.
Happy reading! :)
For more such reviews and else, please visit : www.dbthetablesareturned.blogspot.in
Before starting, while I was going through the reviews on goodreads many people gave it only a single star complaining about a disappointing climax and weak hints of Vampirism. I was a bit wary thus. But for the first time, I have a complete different experience than the first three reviews I read of the book on goodreads and really liked it.
For a fellow escapist of the tropical heat as I am, the story takes you to picturesque mountains of a long lost untouched Spanish countryside being described through the rationality of an English gentleman of good senses. The story sits in the borderline of complete gothic horror as was Beam Stocker's Dracula and a more human touch is given to those whom we deem inhuman, as incestuous ancestry and superstition may argue with their own set of logics. I like this aspect of Stevenson's idea of a story dealing with Vampirism or merely animalistic behaviour as some might argue. This banished family of lost aristocracy and surreal similarity in facial features through generations are not complete brutes and are not burned on touching the cross as happens on most gothic horrors written even today's after almost 200 years of Count Dracula. The neighbouring 'kirktons' are ever wary of the evil that bodes there in the perishing castle amidst the mountains and that, sitting at this age of reason, make you feel really bad for Olalla, Felipe and their 'unbalanced' mother.
One can see the magic of Robert Louis Stevenson's writing as the climax draws to a close. In a world still not that 'scientific', the ending is plausible. I would have perhaps brought a few experts to Olalla but sadly in 1885 sitting in a war-torn Europe, that would have been too much of an overstatement. All was well, only I found the sudden overwhelming love of the narrator for Olalla defying his usual air of being reasonable. But such is gothic fiction! So, let's learn if deal with it and savour the great writing of Stevenson that plays minds with words and created tremors with it.
Happy reading! :)
For more such reviews and else, please visit : www.dbthetablesareturned.blogspot.in
September 11, 2015
A man is invited to a dilapidated castle in the Spanish mountains to recover from an illness or something. The family who own the house are aristocrats who’ve fallen on hard times. The son is a bit of a simpleton, the mother is quietly crazy (until she isn’t), and the daughter, Olalla, is eerily beautiful. Nothing happens, then the narrator falls for Olalla but they can’t be together and then it’s over.
Also, they’re… vampires?!
Robert Louis Stevenson’s 1887 short story is so damn subtle, finding out from other sources that this is supposedly a Gothic horror and that the aristocratic family were vampires (or something) completely threw me. Yes, it’s Gothic - crumbling castle in the mountains, check, very atmospheric - but horror and vampires - what?!
They walk about in daylight just fine, don’t drink anyone’s blood, there’s no clue that Stevenson’s hinting they’re vampires at all. I guess that explains why they live in a castle and the townsfolk fear them? But that in itself doesn’t necessarily mean they’re vampires either.
I don’t mind subtle storytelling and open-ended endings, for me, are the best but you’ve got to give the reader something and Stevenson gives the reader nothing at all with Olalla. The narrator doesn’t even have a name, we don’t know why the aristocratic family have fallen on hard times, there’s no story whatsoever, and it’s told in such a detached way as to be almost dreamlike. Give me a reason to care, show me something, anything besides our narrator wandering the halls!
The absence of a story coupled with Stevenson’s overwrought, paragraph-long sentences left me completely indifferent to this minor work from the writer of Treasure Island and Jekyll/Hyde. I’ll have to take it at others’ words that this is a vampire story because I saw nothing of the sort myself. Sheridan Le Fanu’s Carmilla, a female vampire story that was published 15 years before Olalla, is far better and more satisfying a tale.
Also, they’re… vampires?!
Robert Louis Stevenson’s 1887 short story is so damn subtle, finding out from other sources that this is supposedly a Gothic horror and that the aristocratic family were vampires (or something) completely threw me. Yes, it’s Gothic - crumbling castle in the mountains, check, very atmospheric - but horror and vampires - what?!
They walk about in daylight just fine, don’t drink anyone’s blood, there’s no clue that Stevenson’s hinting they’re vampires at all. I guess that explains why they live in a castle and the townsfolk fear them? But that in itself doesn’t necessarily mean they’re vampires either.
I don’t mind subtle storytelling and open-ended endings, for me, are the best but you’ve got to give the reader something and Stevenson gives the reader nothing at all with Olalla. The narrator doesn’t even have a name, we don’t know why the aristocratic family have fallen on hard times, there’s no story whatsoever, and it’s told in such a detached way as to be almost dreamlike. Give me a reason to care, show me something, anything besides our narrator wandering the halls!
The absence of a story coupled with Stevenson’s overwrought, paragraph-long sentences left me completely indifferent to this minor work from the writer of Treasure Island and Jekyll/Hyde. I’ll have to take it at others’ words that this is a vampire story because I saw nothing of the sort myself. Sheridan Le Fanu’s Carmilla, a female vampire story that was published 15 years before Olalla, is far better and more satisfying a tale.
January 23, 2023
Relato gótico, me ha recordado en algunos momentos a Poe.
October 15, 2021
Sensacional narració fantàstica de R. L. Stevenson amb una prosa exuberant, poètica i preciosista que ens fa traginar entre el costumisme, el romanticisme, la fantasia i el suspens. A més, sent curta com n'és, esdevé un autèntic plaer. Molt recomanable.
June 27, 2017
Oh I do love a Gothic horror story. :)
I treat myself to 4 of the Penguin little black classics and this novella was the first I picked to read.
It's a story that purportedly influenced Bram Stokers Dracula.
I like the quote on the first page which says 'is it me you love, friend or the race that made me?'
This was a wonderful novella, at once scary, romantic, threat and actual horror are all depicted here.
I thought his descriptions of the mountains, the sky, the black wind and the mournful, wailing cries were very good, also of the residencia falling into ruins in parts and the rooms where only spiders and ants now live.
Was it a story of vampires or madness, inbreeding or all of these?
3.5 * but go on then I'll make it 4.
I treat myself to 4 of the Penguin little black classics and this novella was the first I picked to read.
It's a story that purportedly influenced Bram Stokers Dracula.
I like the quote on the first page which says 'is it me you love, friend or the race that made me?'
This was a wonderful novella, at once scary, romantic, threat and actual horror are all depicted here.
I thought his descriptions of the mountains, the sky, the black wind and the mournful, wailing cries were very good, also of the residencia falling into ruins in parts and the rooms where only spiders and ants now live.
Was it a story of vampires or madness, inbreeding or all of these?
3.5 * but go on then I'll make it 4.
October 18, 2020
Bu kadar kısa bir kitabı bu kadar zor bitireceğimi düşünmemiştim hiç. Gotik bir atmosfer yaratılmış, başlangıçta ilginizi de çekiyor ama genelinde karakterlere ve hikayeye bir türlü ısınamadım. Sevmedim.
January 17, 2023
More than a horror story, "Olalla" by Stevenson is a doomed love story at heart. Don't get me wrong - it is indeed an eerie and unsettling fable and in a few particularly ghastly and quietly terrifying scenes, scenes that only the author of "Dr. Jeykill & Mr. Hyde" can render so convincingly, it really leaves the reader shivering in cold sweat and morbid fear. The atmosphere, too, suitable for the subtly sinister milieu, the rough and windy Spanish countryside, is both mesmeric and moody, both scenic and somber. And yet, deep down, as already implied and hinted at the beginning, this is a haunting love story that seems almost predestined to fall apart and self-destruct in the end. At least that is the only seemingly predictable part of a story as rich as this - everything else either is or not what it seems.
The fable is narrated by an anonymous British soldier wounded in some unnamed conflict in the continent and recommended by his well-meaning doctor to recover fully in the asylum of an old residencia belonging to the decadent ancestry of an old family that has fallen from grace and greatness. The soldier, with the typical curiosity of his race, is alternately enchanted and mystified by his experiences and encounters with the last of this accursed brethren. The untamed beauty of the terrain helps him to recover his spirits fully but his refuge and the people inhabiting it are even more bewildering. The son, a peasant boy with a crude spirit of pastoral youth and impulsive energy, impresses upon him a portrait of imbecilic innocence; the mother, an old, redolent hostess, is content to spend all her time basking in the dusty sunlight that falls on the old courtyard. And that leaves only the daughter, Olalla, to meet the soldier someday soon...
"Olalla" is, at a first glance, a marked departure from the usual location of Stevenson's short fiction - moving away from Scotland and England, this story sees him strolling and wandering wistfully across the sun-drenched contrast of Spain. And yet, beyond the change of location, there are all those qualities of a fascination with nature, the effect of its alternating tranquility and terror on the human spirit as well as a vivid sense of imagination, of romanticism and suspense that always felt his so uniquely. "Olalla", for all those unmistakable times when it makes the flesh creep by turning in the screw of apprehension, is quite a wistfully tender story; the author describes the background as stirringly as always and also enriches with a strain of rich romantic passion into the proceedings.
That strain is what lifts it head and shoulders above the usual realm of the horror story genre - a streak of such palpable love that would be inherited by his distant nephew (who else than my favourite storyteller?). The sudden romance that the soldier stumbles upon with, first, the mysterious lady in a portrait in his apartment and then the full-blooded love of obsession that blooms between him and the titular heiress of the family is chronicled not only with rousing drama, evocative of the Gothic romance genre but also a deep sense of human resonance. This is very clearly a love born out of invisible fascination and then at first sight but the eloquent force of the attraction between the soldier and Olalla is fleshed out so beautifully that we never doubt for a moment the truth of this feeling of love. And thus, when the end arrives, and the sinister secret of Olalla's brethren is revealed at least fleetingly, the inevitable dissolution of this love story is all the more devastating.
Rather than giving an easy conclusion that would explain away entirely the mystery behind this already elusive family, Stevenson skilfully lets the mystery linger even beyond its closing image of penitence and submission. Vampirism is only hinted at subtly and we are more strongly reminded of decadence, of not just a family but also an entire race which further brings an unexpected dimension of nuance to the story. The element of Catholicism in the end (Stevenson was frightened by his strict Calvinistic teaching at childhood) also darkens the atmosphere not too unlike Greene's thrillers in the subsequent century. "Olalla" ends brilliantly with a note of utter desolation and despair that refrains from the urge to explain or even decipher the maddening complexity of things and people that both fascinate and repel us and the mystery of our reactions to the same.
The fable is narrated by an anonymous British soldier wounded in some unnamed conflict in the continent and recommended by his well-meaning doctor to recover fully in the asylum of an old residencia belonging to the decadent ancestry of an old family that has fallen from grace and greatness. The soldier, with the typical curiosity of his race, is alternately enchanted and mystified by his experiences and encounters with the last of this accursed brethren. The untamed beauty of the terrain helps him to recover his spirits fully but his refuge and the people inhabiting it are even more bewildering. The son, a peasant boy with a crude spirit of pastoral youth and impulsive energy, impresses upon him a portrait of imbecilic innocence; the mother, an old, redolent hostess, is content to spend all her time basking in the dusty sunlight that falls on the old courtyard. And that leaves only the daughter, Olalla, to meet the soldier someday soon...
"Olalla" is, at a first glance, a marked departure from the usual location of Stevenson's short fiction - moving away from Scotland and England, this story sees him strolling and wandering wistfully across the sun-drenched contrast of Spain. And yet, beyond the change of location, there are all those qualities of a fascination with nature, the effect of its alternating tranquility and terror on the human spirit as well as a vivid sense of imagination, of romanticism and suspense that always felt his so uniquely. "Olalla", for all those unmistakable times when it makes the flesh creep by turning in the screw of apprehension, is quite a wistfully tender story; the author describes the background as stirringly as always and also enriches with a strain of rich romantic passion into the proceedings.
That strain is what lifts it head and shoulders above the usual realm of the horror story genre - a streak of such palpable love that would be inherited by his distant nephew (who else than my favourite storyteller?). The sudden romance that the soldier stumbles upon with, first, the mysterious lady in a portrait in his apartment and then the full-blooded love of obsession that blooms between him and the titular heiress of the family is chronicled not only with rousing drama, evocative of the Gothic romance genre but also a deep sense of human resonance. This is very clearly a love born out of invisible fascination and then at first sight but the eloquent force of the attraction between the soldier and Olalla is fleshed out so beautifully that we never doubt for a moment the truth of this feeling of love. And thus, when the end arrives, and the sinister secret of Olalla's brethren is revealed at least fleetingly, the inevitable dissolution of this love story is all the more devastating.
Rather than giving an easy conclusion that would explain away entirely the mystery behind this already elusive family, Stevenson skilfully lets the mystery linger even beyond its closing image of penitence and submission. Vampirism is only hinted at subtly and we are more strongly reminded of decadence, of not just a family but also an entire race which further brings an unexpected dimension of nuance to the story. The element of Catholicism in the end (Stevenson was frightened by his strict Calvinistic teaching at childhood) also darkens the atmosphere not too unlike Greene's thrillers in the subsequent century. "Olalla" ends brilliantly with a note of utter desolation and despair that refrains from the urge to explain or even decipher the maddening complexity of things and people that both fascinate and repel us and the mystery of our reactions to the same.
October 20, 2015
This was an interesting little novella. The hints of vampirism are incredibly subtle (possibly a little too subtle?), and the writing is quite verbose at times, but overall the mood and tension that Stevenson evokes here is very well done. The film adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula came to mind while reading this.
Although I found the ending to be quite disappointing, not amounting to much, I enjoyed this little tale for what it was. I wouldn't re-read it though, and if you want a really good vampire novella from a similar time, then I would recommend Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu instead.
Although I found the ending to be quite disappointing, not amounting to much, I enjoyed this little tale for what it was. I wouldn't re-read it though, and if you want a really good vampire novella from a similar time, then I would recommend Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu instead.
October 16, 2020
Un relato gótico como los que a mí me gustan. Lleno de misterios y muy bien narrado.
Perfectamente podría ser atribuible a Poe por la historia, lo lúgubre de la ambientación en la casa, los personales raros y misteriosos. Y Olalla, una chica muy especial. No digo más, que se lee en un rato, no os perdáis esta maravilla.
Perfectamente podría ser atribuible a Poe por la historia, lo lúgubre de la ambientación en la casa, los personales raros y misteriosos. Y Olalla, una chica muy especial. No digo más, que se lee en un rato, no os perdáis esta maravilla.
March 21, 2020
Stevenson düğün davetiyesi yazsa okurum...
May 10, 2024
Nothing groundbreaking, but it's a short and solid read if you want some gothic vibes. Some elements in the story reminded me of The Fall of the House of Usher. With that being said, now I really want to read more Gothic fiction that takes place in Spain!
June 21, 2018
I see that this seems to be getting quite a bit of hate, so I'm going to do my bit and try and explain why I actually thoroughly enjoyed Olalla.
This piece is said to have greatly influenced Bram Stoker's Dracula which was written over a decade later, so automatically I found it a very interesting read. It's the epitome of Gothic fiction at its conception; set in distant times and Catholic countries before its transition to the city and even the human psyche itself - because such horrors were supposedly removed from their audience (Protestants, mainly) and things like this could obviously only happen in 'less civilised' ages and places. It's a story of diabolical revenges and family curses set in an ancient aristocratic mansion full of proud and corrupt Spanish nobles. Although the family whom the story concerns are never explicitly exposed as 'vampires', there's a pretty obvious theme of blood, both in the literal gushing sense but also with a biological emphasis - hereditary taints... like vampirism, mwah ha ha!!
As always, Robert Louis Stevenson's writing was glorious and incredibly powerful. The lush Spanish setting and the imagery was absolutely stunning. I would have loved it even more had it been written as a full-length novel. Okay, maybe not full-length, that's not really Stevenson's thing, but just a tad chunkier.
I can see why this isn't as well known as The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, but I think it deserves a bit more recognition and a higher average rating because it really is a decent, enigmatic little book and well worth the read.
This piece is said to have greatly influenced Bram Stoker's Dracula which was written over a decade later, so automatically I found it a very interesting read. It's the epitome of Gothic fiction at its conception; set in distant times and Catholic countries before its transition to the city and even the human psyche itself - because such horrors were supposedly removed from their audience (Protestants, mainly) and things like this could obviously only happen in 'less civilised' ages and places. It's a story of diabolical revenges and family curses set in an ancient aristocratic mansion full of proud and corrupt Spanish nobles. Although the family whom the story concerns are never explicitly exposed as 'vampires', there's a pretty obvious theme of blood, both in the literal gushing sense but also with a biological emphasis - hereditary taints... like vampirism, mwah ha ha!!
As always, Robert Louis Stevenson's writing was glorious and incredibly powerful. The lush Spanish setting and the imagery was absolutely stunning. I would have loved it even more had it been written as a full-length novel. Okay, maybe not full-length, that's not really Stevenson's thing, but just a tad chunkier.
I can see why this isn't as well known as The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, but I think it deserves a bit more recognition and a higher average rating because it really is a decent, enigmatic little book and well worth the read.
October 27, 2022
Tenía mucha curiosidad por leer esta novelette ambientada en España en el siglo XIX y que se considera una rareza dentro de la producción escrita de Stevenson, a menudo comparada con la obra de Edgar Allan Poe. La verdad es que la ambientación cumplió con todas mis expectativas de relato gótico/macabro de terror. Sin embargo, la trama y el misterio que circundan a la familia protagonista prometía más de lo que finalmente me dio, sobre todo porque esta novela corta tiene uno de los finales más abiertos que he leído, tremendamente sutil a la hora de resolver el misterio y muy abierto a interpretaciones. Quizá, por tratarse de un texto tan breve, hubiera preferido un final un poco más aterrizado y más climático, pero no deja de ser una excelente opción si lo que buscas es una buena ambientación terrorífica.
RESEÑA COMPLETA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXnP6...
RESEÑA COMPLETA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXnP6...
June 20, 2020
❣Como protagonista un oficial escocés herido en batalla al que su médico le recomienda reposo y un cambio de clima para una larga convalecencia.
❣Así va a parar a un recóndito caserón español,de una estirpe venida a menos ,habitada solamente por una madre y sus hijos:Felipe y Olalla.
❣El alojamiento tiene una condición:se le prohíbe tener contacto con la familia.
❣Un libro muy atmosférico, inquietante, misterioso .
❣Temas interesantes en menos de 100 páginas y una muy buena historia:endogamia,superstición, religión.
☑Como curiosidad:Stevenson estuvo enfermo de tuberculosis desde joven y viajo mucho en busca de un clima favorable para su mejoria y...nacio en Escocia. ¿Verdad que es curioso pensar en las posibles inspiraciones de estos genios dedicados a la escritura?.
❣Así va a parar a un recóndito caserón español,de una estirpe venida a menos ,habitada solamente por una madre y sus hijos:Felipe y Olalla.
❣El alojamiento tiene una condición:se le prohíbe tener contacto con la familia.
❣Un libro muy atmosférico, inquietante, misterioso .
❣Temas interesantes en menos de 100 páginas y una muy buena historia:endogamia,superstición, religión.
☑Como curiosidad:Stevenson estuvo enfermo de tuberculosis desde joven y viajo mucho en busca de un clima favorable para su mejoria y...nacio en Escocia. ¿Verdad que es curioso pensar en las posibles inspiraciones de estos genios dedicados a la escritura?.
May 28, 2018
This is pretty much everything I want from a classic novella.
There is poetic, but still understandable and on point, language, you feel like you're in another time and place when reading it and there is some strange humor to it.
I also liked the mystery surrounding this place and the way the people were described by the protagonist, with a strange fascination for them, and by the doctor, who totally judges them.
I normally would criticize the love at first sight trope, but his attraction felt fitting in this situation and with 55 pages, how much time is there to fall in love?
I absolutely adored reading this :)
There is poetic, but still understandable and on point, language, you feel like you're in another time and place when reading it and there is some strange humor to it.
I also liked the mystery surrounding this place and the way the people were described by the protagonist, with a strange fascination for them, and by the doctor, who totally judges them.
I normally would criticize the love at first sight trope, but his attraction felt fitting in this situation and with 55 pages, how much time is there to fall in love?
I absolutely adored reading this :)
May 10, 2016
I think I would have enjoyed this better if the narrator wasn't such a snob. He really, really is a snob. One of those British long nosed, look down on everyone types. Quite frankly, Poe does this type of thing much better.
September 20, 2020
¿3,5? ¿4 por lo atmosférico y lo bien escrito?
March 16, 2022
3.5
Bardzo mroczne, gotyckie opowiadanie, napisane w niepokojący sposób.
Bardzo mroczne, gotyckie opowiadanie, napisane w niepokojący sposób.
September 10, 2015
A short story reproduced in full in this Penguin Little Black Classic.
'A Gothic vampire story' is the short summary.
First published in 1885, I was surprised how much I enjoyed the writing style. It is a very busy, wordy style, but it invokes great descriptive atmosphere, and sets the scene well.
There is a fair bit of criticism of the story going nowhere, or the story not really having an ending, but I didn't find this to be the case. I considered that the story played out quite well, and that there was sufficient closure at the end. True some aspects were left open, and there were some pacing issues (quite a long buildup to the action, and a fairly abrupt ending) but not terrible.
Spoiler about vampires:
'A Gothic vampire story' is the short summary.
First published in 1885, I was surprised how much I enjoyed the writing style. It is a very busy, wordy style, but it invokes great descriptive atmosphere, and sets the scene well.
There is a fair bit of criticism of the story going nowhere, or the story not really having an ending, but I didn't find this to be the case. I considered that the story played out quite well, and that there was sufficient closure at the end. True some aspects were left open, and there were some pacing issues (quite a long buildup to the action, and a fairly abrupt ending) but not terrible.
Spoiler about vampires:
March 25, 2020
Dün gece uyumadan önce bir oturuşta bitirdim; fakat sevmedim. Halbuki Dr. Jekyll ve Bay Hyde'ı heyecanla ve keyifle okumuştum.
Olalla bana Stevenson'ın bir roman taslağı gibi geldi; çünkü ciddi anlamda boşluklar olduğunu düşünüyorum. Özellikle karakterler bazında benim açımdan ciddi sıkıntı vardı, hiçbirinin derinine inilmemişti. hal böyle olunca olay örgüsünden de keyif almadım.
Olalla bana Stevenson'ın bir roman taslağı gibi geldi; çünkü ciddi anlamda boşluklar olduğunu düşünüyorum. Özellikle karakterler bazında benim açımdan ciddi sıkıntı vardı, hiçbirinin derinine inilmemişti. hal böyle olunca olay örgüsünden de keyif almadım.
November 15, 2017
Olalla è il racconto di una famiglia composta da madre, figlio e figlia (la Olalla del titolo), che vive in una residencia un po’ sinistra tra i monti di una regione spagnola, le cui coordinate rimangono vaghe. Presso questa famiglia va a stare in convalescenza un soldato ferito, su consiglio del suo medico. Lo scopo è quello di rifocillare il suo spirito e il suo sangue.
Nel racconto prevale l’evocazione, e i toni affettati e morbidi, come pennellate di un impressionista, lo rendono molto inquietante. Scopriamo, attraverso la descrizione del giovane, come questa famiglia un tempo appartenesse alla nobiltà. Adesso una sorta di depravazione se ne sta impadronendo, evocata attraverso il ritratto di Felipe, il figlio mezzo scemo, e la madre, una signora che dorme tutto il giorno ed è stranamente silenziosa. L’unica a conservare dei tratti gentili, ritratta in mezzo a torri di libri e mentre scrive poesie, permeata da una religiosità quasi infantile, è Olalla, di cui il narratore-soldato presto si innamora. Ma come tutti gli amori romantici, anche l’amore per Olalla è condannato alla non vita. Subito la ragazza gli intima di andar via, trascinando nella voce un rauco lamento, come l’ululato di un lupo solitario. Ma il soldato non capisce il perché. Fino a che una sera, disperato per questo rifiuto, si ferisce a un braccio con il vetro di una finestra: sulla scena, l’unica vividamente descritta in tutto il racconto, arrivano Felipe e la madre. La signora, alla vista del sangue, come in preda a un violento spasmo ancestrale, si getta sul soldato, mordendolo. Solo Felipe riuscirà a separarli. Sebbene Stevenson non usi mai il termine vampiro, e non lo voglia usare nemmeno io, se non altro per la volgarizzazione progressiva che ha subito la letteratura vampiresca negli anni, la donna appare una specie di vampiro. E in noi, mentre leggiamo, si fa strada un sentimento di oscura repulsione. Quella condizione di ferinità, o di umanità degenerata, conserva la nostalgia della condizione di partenza, di beltà e nobiltà, ma in nessun modo questa potrà mai ritornare.
La famiglia, lo stato quasi ferino di alcuni suoi componenti, la residencia solitaria, la decadenza, i ritratti impassibili degli avi, la scena madre del morso, la tristezza velata e la gentilezza e la bellezza ammorbata di Olalla, che sente quasi arrivare al suo orecchio le urla selvagge che scuotono la residencia di notte e reclamano il suo nobile spirito, e il suo gesto implorante la partenza del soldato per non consegnarlo al destino di depravazione che sembra aspettare solo lei oramai, sono tra i colpi, oso dire, più paurosi che Madre Letteratura abbia picchiato alla nostra porta.
Nel racconto prevale l’evocazione, e i toni affettati e morbidi, come pennellate di un impressionista, lo rendono molto inquietante. Scopriamo, attraverso la descrizione del giovane, come questa famiglia un tempo appartenesse alla nobiltà. Adesso una sorta di depravazione se ne sta impadronendo, evocata attraverso il ritratto di Felipe, il figlio mezzo scemo, e la madre, una signora che dorme tutto il giorno ed è stranamente silenziosa. L’unica a conservare dei tratti gentili, ritratta in mezzo a torri di libri e mentre scrive poesie, permeata da una religiosità quasi infantile, è Olalla, di cui il narratore-soldato presto si innamora. Ma come tutti gli amori romantici, anche l’amore per Olalla è condannato alla non vita. Subito la ragazza gli intima di andar via, trascinando nella voce un rauco lamento, come l’ululato di un lupo solitario. Ma il soldato non capisce il perché. Fino a che una sera, disperato per questo rifiuto, si ferisce a un braccio con il vetro di una finestra: sulla scena, l’unica vividamente descritta in tutto il racconto, arrivano Felipe e la madre. La signora, alla vista del sangue, come in preda a un violento spasmo ancestrale, si getta sul soldato, mordendolo. Solo Felipe riuscirà a separarli. Sebbene Stevenson non usi mai il termine vampiro, e non lo voglia usare nemmeno io, se non altro per la volgarizzazione progressiva che ha subito la letteratura vampiresca negli anni, la donna appare una specie di vampiro. E in noi, mentre leggiamo, si fa strada un sentimento di oscura repulsione. Quella condizione di ferinità, o di umanità degenerata, conserva la nostalgia della condizione di partenza, di beltà e nobiltà, ma in nessun modo questa potrà mai ritornare.
La famiglia, lo stato quasi ferino di alcuni suoi componenti, la residencia solitaria, la decadenza, i ritratti impassibili degli avi, la scena madre del morso, la tristezza velata e la gentilezza e la bellezza ammorbata di Olalla, che sente quasi arrivare al suo orecchio le urla selvagge che scuotono la residencia di notte e reclamano il suo nobile spirito, e il suo gesto implorante la partenza del soldato per non consegnarlo al destino di depravazione che sembra aspettare solo lei oramai, sono tra i colpi, oso dire, più paurosi che Madre Letteratura abbia picchiato alla nostra porta.
September 15, 2017
Olalla es un cuento de terror gótico escrito en deliciosa prosa e inspirado en uno de los sueños casi lucidos que tuvo Stevenson. Nos relata la historia de un oficial escocés, que viaja a un paraje rural en España, para recibir los aires puros de la montaña. Se hospeda en una casona vetusta y sombría, sus anfitriones son una familia de noble linaje en declive compuesta por la madre y sus hijos: Felipe y Olalla. El paraje es opaco y nebuloso; en ciertas noches, cuando la luna está en su apogeo y sopla una neblina que estremece, el soplido se hace espantoso y unos aullidos desgarran la noche.
El narrador de la historia queda prendado de Olalla, de su hermosura y su linaje; le confiesa su amor y le propone huir. La chica decanta sus proposiciones y le invita a irse lo más rápido posible, se entiende que una extraña enfermedad invade los genes de la familia y ella decidió poner fin a la maldita estirpe, aún a costa de abrazar la soledad. La ambientación me recordó a “La caída de la casa de Usher” de Poe. El relato está plagado de descripciones de sitios decadentes y escabrosos, un hilo de suspenso conduce la trama que se trastoca por una historia de amor para dejar una reflexión final sobre la aceptación de la muerte; los críticos han querido ver en este símbolo la aceptación del propio destino de Stevenson debido a su enfermedad. Otro cuento notable en la extensa producción literaria
El narrador de la historia queda prendado de Olalla, de su hermosura y su linaje; le confiesa su amor y le propone huir. La chica decanta sus proposiciones y le invita a irse lo más rápido posible, se entiende que una extraña enfermedad invade los genes de la familia y ella decidió poner fin a la maldita estirpe, aún a costa de abrazar la soledad. La ambientación me recordó a “La caída de la casa de Usher” de Poe. El relato está plagado de descripciones de sitios decadentes y escabrosos, un hilo de suspenso conduce la trama que se trastoca por una historia de amor para dejar una reflexión final sobre la aceptación de la muerte; los críticos han querido ver en este símbolo la aceptación del propio destino de Stevenson debido a su enfermedad. Otro cuento notable en la extensa producción literaria
September 26, 2020
Me ha gustado mucho esta novela de terror gótico, el suspense se palpaba en cada página..., algo terrible estaba por llegar, esto unido a la narrativa sencilla de Stevenson hacen de este relato, una delicia.
La historia comienza cuando un soldado escocés por recomendación de su médico acepta hacer hacer reposo en un caserón en España, y ser huésped de una familia bastante peculiar, como única condición le imponen que no tenga ningún tipo de relación con los integrantes de dicha familia.....
La historia comienza cuando un soldado escocés por recomendación de su médico acepta hacer hacer reposo en un caserón en España, y ser huésped de una familia bastante peculiar, como única condición le imponen que no tenga ningún tipo de relación con los integrantes de dicha familia.....
October 25, 2022
yazarın dr. jekyhll and mr. hyde isimli eserini okuduktan sonra ve oradaki psikolojik çözümlemelerini çok beğendiğim için diğer kitaplarını da okumaya karar vermiştim lakin sanırım bu maceram baya kısa sürecek. çünkü maalesef kurgu çok zayıftı. zweig'ın kendini sürekli tekrar eden kurgularını eleştirdikten sonra, hiç oturmamış bir metni okumak keyifli olmadı açıkçası.
yola çıkış noktam psikolojik kurgu okumaktı, yazar yine bunu yapmış. bunu yaparken detaylandırmaya da çalışmış tamam ama metnin edebi bir nitelik taşıması adına başka hiçbir girişimde bulunmamış sanki. çevre tahlilleri çiğ kalmış, oluşturmaya çalıştığı gotik hava yarım kalmış, kullandığı metaforlar anlamsız olmuş. neyse ki kısacık bir kitaptı yoksa bitirme ihtimalim olmazdı.
ratingimin ikincisini vermemin tek sebebi ise çeviriydi. celal üster bazı cümleleri ve durumları öyle güzel çevirmiş ki; türkçeye kazandırmak deyimi gerçekten yerini bulmuş. kitabı alırken veya okurken hiç dikkat etmemiştim çevirmene, okuma yaparken kendini hissettirdiği için teşekkürü borç bilirim.
yola çıkış noktam psikolojik kurgu okumaktı, yazar yine bunu yapmış. bunu yaparken detaylandırmaya da çalışmış tamam ama metnin edebi bir nitelik taşıması adına başka hiçbir girişimde bulunmamış sanki. çevre tahlilleri çiğ kalmış, oluşturmaya çalıştığı gotik hava yarım kalmış, kullandığı metaforlar anlamsız olmuş. neyse ki kısacık bir kitaptı yoksa bitirme ihtimalim olmazdı.
ratingimin ikincisini vermemin tek sebebi ise çeviriydi. celal üster bazı cümleleri ve durumları öyle güzel çevirmiş ki; türkçeye kazandırmak deyimi gerçekten yerini bulmuş. kitabı alırken veya okurken hiç dikkat etmemiştim çevirmene, okuma yaparken kendini hissettirdiği için teşekkürü borç bilirim.
April 9, 2018
A quick and easy read (or listen, in my case), but pretty uneven in its effect. Stevenson knows how to pile on the gothic atmosphere – we've got the mysterious old house, the degenerate descendants of a once-noble line, a creepy portrait with hypnotic effects, mysterious screams in the night and of course the mysterious title character who is unseen for the first half of the story.
But the writing itself is overdone, especially as the narrator describes his immediate love for Olalla once he finally meets her. The dialogue between the two is almost unbearable. Long stretches of the story seem unnecessary to the plot – yet at the same time the plot itself seems truncated and rushed.
The elements are all here for a terrific early gothic horror novel, but Stevenson instead writes a tantalizing and entertaining story that simultaneously leaves too much and too little unsaid.
But the writing itself is overdone, especially as the narrator describes his immediate love for Olalla once he finally meets her. The dialogue between the two is almost unbearable. Long stretches of the story seem unnecessary to the plot – yet at the same time the plot itself seems truncated and rushed.
The elements are all here for a terrific early gothic horror novel, but Stevenson instead writes a tantalizing and entertaining story that simultaneously leaves too much and too little unsaid.
May 24, 2015
It’s fascinating how Stevenson both plays with and embraces the gothic form. When our narrator receives the strange invitation to go and stay with the odd family in the residencia in the Spanish hills, the reader obviously knows that terrible things await. However Stevenson initially delays these expectations, giving us instead a lonely man wandering about, being somewhat intrigued but mostly irritated by those family members he meets. It’s only when ‘Olalla’ suddenly raises itself into a passionate love story that the sense of terror takes over. And then, of course, the stakes are raised as it’s not merely a sad man who is threatened, but a pure and all-consuming romance.
An unsettling tale from a master storyteller, which intimately knows the tropes it’s playing with, but manages to embrace them without pandering to them.
An unsettling tale from a master storyteller, which intimately knows the tropes it’s playing with, but manages to embrace them without pandering to them.
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