What do you think of when you hear the word – Gothic? Music? Dress Style? A dark foreboding? A semi-ruined castle complete with the rustle of bats and a full Moon? Or do you think of ancient proud peoples trading with and occasionally fighting the Romans at the edge of their Empire? Or do you think of medieval architecture and its revival in the 19th century that was responsible for so much monumental (and arguably hideous) buildings in major cities across the globe?
All of these aspects of ‘the Gothic’ are covered in this delightfully entertaining and informative little volume. The Gothic spirit (pun intended) seems to have been around for millennia and has embedded itself into the very bones of western culture from buildings, books, movies, music, fashion and art. It invades our lives through the love of things that go bump in the night, to the frisson of ersatz terror and the almost visceral feeling that there might be something sitting there, waiting and watching just beyond the edge of the light.
The Goth, in all its form, represents the dark side of the human psyche, the non-rational, superstitious, animalistic side of our nature. As science and rationalism progressed throughout the west the Gothic progressed too by using the latest technology – printing, film, sound recording – to keep itself alive and ever present in the shadows of the flickering candle, the gas light and even the electric bulb. It is not surprising that some of the first novels and the earliest examples of cinematography had explicit Gothic themes as both media seemed to be the natural home for this richly complex idea.
Shining muted lighting into the dark corners of this wide ranging cluster of genres this book is indeed an excellent introduction to the idea of the Gothic. More importantly maybe it has an excellent bibliography that I shall, no doubt, be digging real future gems from – though only during a full Moon of course!
4 comments:
I'm currently watching "Civilisation" (the book version I read prior), and just started the Gothic period today. I'm not altogether sure what it means -- I can recognize a structure as gothic based on pointed arches, flying fortresses -- but the general feeling is...'spooky'? The castles are forboding, and gothic fiction described is always horror and fantasy based. This is one I'd be interested in reading, just to get some idea of the style.
When I initially saw this I thought it was a VSI guide to the Goths. Now THEY were fun.
Do you mean the Goths as in the Northern European barbarians lustily killing Romans or the kids you see walking around dressed all in black with lace and stuff and dark make-up?
The barbarians, of course! Moody kids are no fun at all. I once saw a t-shirt that had some fun with the idea of being a 'real' Goth, though I've been unable to turn it up again.
Oh, and only 1 more VSI book in this batch to go (my break reading whilst at my Mum's recently) then back to a bit more substantial reading.... [grin]
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