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Title: The Gothic
Series: A Very Short Introduction
Author: Nick Groom
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Non-Fiction
Pages: 167
Words: 46.5K
Series: A Very Short Introduction
Author: Nick Groom
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Non-Fiction
Pages: 167
Words: 46.5K
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Synopsis:
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From Libraything.com
The Gothic is wildly
diverse. It can refer to ecclesiastical architecture, supernatural
fiction, cult horror films, and a distinctive style of rock music. It
has influenced political theorists and social reformers, as well as
Victorian home décor and contemporary fashion. Nick Groom shows how
the Gothic has come to encompass so many meanings by telling the
story of the Gothic from the ancient tribe who sacked Rome to the
alternative subculture of the present day.
This unique Very
Short Introduction reveals that the Gothic has predominantly been a
way of understanding and responding to the past. Time after time, the
Gothic has been invoked in order to reveal what lies behind
conventional history. It is a way of disclosing secrets, whether in
the constitutional politics of seventeenth-century England or the
racial politics of the United States. While contexts change, the
Gothic perpetually regards the past with fascination, both yearning
and horrified. It reminds us that neither societies nor individuals
can escape the consequences of their actions.
The anatomy of
the Gothic is richly complex and perversely contradictory, and so the
thirteen chapters here range deliberately widely. This is the first
time that the entire story of the Gothic has been written as a
continuous history: from the historians of late antiquity to the
gardens of Georgian England, from the mediaeval cult of the macabre
to German Expressionist cinema, from Elizabethan Revenge Tragedy to
American consumer society, from folk ballads to vampires, from the
past to the present.
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My
Thoughts:
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This book gives me hope for this series. Of course, it may just be
that the author thinks in the same patterns I do and that that is
what I found engaging about this book. Whatever it was, this is the
VSI book that I'll be comparing the rest of the series to until I
find a better one.
I was fascinated with how Groom
connects the dots from the Goth tribes (and gives us a glimpse into
the fight among historians about what that even means) to the Gothic
arctitecture to how that falling out of favor led to the gothic novel
and how the ideas behind those novels leads to the music bands of
today. I don't know how solidly his workmanship would stand up if I
had doctorates of one sort or another, but as an Introduction, this
was everything I could have asked for.
I used the word “fascinating”
and I think that pretty much describes my reaction to the whole book.
Groom explores the ideas and philosophies behind each phase of The
Gothic (and you know how weird it sounds to add the capital “The”
every time? Makes me feel that I need to sound a trumpet and shout
“The Gothic” has entered the room!”) and how one slowly melded
into the next. The whole cause and effect is what I liked about this
book.
In short, a top notch entry in the VSI series and a great read even
if you have no interest in …. (wait for it.... * trumpets *) The
Gothic!
★★★☆½
