Read Wieland only. ( )

wow.

Weird story about a tight-knit group of classically-minded friends whose lives change for the worse when they admit a mysterious man into their circle. I agree with the reviewer who wrote that he/she thought it will never end. ( )

The language of this story, as well as the narrator's (& author's?) need to share every little detail, made this story a slow read. The story is a little skewed since the narrator gives every detail about Latin pronunciations or plays the group puts on, but glosses over the scary parts of who's hiding in her closet. The ending is a deus ex machina, and a major letdown as far as whodunit goes. I guess this can be looked past, since it IS the first American mystery, but it's not worth the read outside of class. If I hadn't been reading it for a class, and therefore discussing every little aspect, I wouldn't have had a clue of what was going on, and would have been even angrier at trooping through the whole book for such a crappy ending. ( )

This is a fascinating, though admittedly strange, tale that I read as an undergraduate. It is chock full of atmosphere and suspense, though the plot device that drives the work seems pretty flimsy. If you can get beyond that point, the book is an interesting study in gothic writing from an American author. ( )