Is The Castle of Otranto the Clumsiest Classic Novel?

No British writer from the 18th century is harder to pin down than Horace Walpole? Walpole espoused conventional religious views, but atheists cite him as one of their own. His political affiliations were even more misleading: Walpole represented a district in Parliament, but he never stepped foot in it. He appeared to live a celibate life, but many now…