genre: gothic | Scribbles & Wanderlust | Page 6

Tag: genre: gothic
- Upcoming Books! [32]
  
  Posted at 10:14 pm by Laura, on August 26, 2012
  
  Title: The Distance Between Us
  Author: Reyna Grande
  Genre: memoir, biography
  Publisher: Atria Books
  Publishing Date: August 28
  Summary: When Reyna Grande’s father leaves his wife and three children behind in a village in Mexico to make the dangerous trek across the border to the United States, he promises he will soon return from “El Otro Lado” (The Other Side) with enough money to build them a dream house where they can all live together. His promises become harder to believe as months turn into years. When he summons his wife to join him, Reyna and her siblings are deposited in the already overburdened household of their stern, unsmiling grandmother.
  The three siblings are forced to look out for themselves; in childish games they find a way to forget the pain of abandonment and learn to solve very adult problems. When their mother at last returns, the reunion sets the stage for a dramatic new chapter in Reyna’s young life: her own journey to “El Otro Lado” to live with the man who has haunted her imagination for years, her long-absent father.
  
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  Title: The Beautiful Mystery
  Author: Louise Penny
  Genre: mystery, thriller
  Publisher: Minotaur Books
  Publishing Date: August 28
  Summary: No outsiders are ever admitted to the monastery of Saint-Gilbert-Entre-les-Loups, hidden deep in the wilderness of Quebec, where two dozen cloistered monks live in peace and prayer. They grow vegetables, they tend chickens, they make chocolate. And they sing. Ironically, for a community that has taken a vow of silence, the monks have become world-famous for their glorious voices, raised in ancient chants whose effect on both singer and listener is so profound it is known as “the beautiful mystery.” But when the renowned choir director is murdered, the lock on the monastery’s massive wooden door is drawn back to admit Chief Inspector Armand Gamache and Jean-Guy Beauvoir of the Sûreté du Québec. There they discover disquiet beneath the silence, discord in the apparent harmony. One of the brothers, in this life of prayer and contemplation, has been contemplating murder. As the peace of the monastery crumbles, Gamache is forced to confront some of his own demons, as well as those roaming the remote corridors. Before finding the killer, before restoring peace, the Chief must first consider the divine, the human, and the cracks in between.
  
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  Title: Splendors and Glooms
  Author: Laura Amy Schlitz
  Genre: children’s, fantasy, gothic
  Publisher: Candlewick
  Publishing Date: August 28
  Summary: The master puppeteer, Gaspare Grisini, is so expert at manipulating his stringed puppets that they appear alive. Clara Wintermute, the only child of a wealthy doctor, is spellbound by Grisini’s act and invites him to entertain at her birthday party. Seeing his chance to make a fortune, Grisini accepts and makes a splendidly gaudy entrance with caravan, puppets, and his two orphaned assistants.
  Lizzie Rose and Parsefall are dazzled by the Wintermute home. Clara seems to have everything they lack — adoring parents, warmth, and plenty to eat. In fact, Clara’s life is shadowed by grief, guilt, and secrets. When Clara vanishes that night, suspicion of kidnapping falls upon the puppeteer and, by association, Lizzie Rose and Parsefall.
  As they seek to puzzle out Clara’s whereabouts, Lizzie and Parse uncover Grisini’s criminal past and wake up to his evil intentions. Fleeing London, they find themselves caught in a trap set by Grisini’s ancient rival, a witch with a deadly inheritance to shed before it’s too late.
  
  Posted in Upcoming Books | 0 Comments | Tagged genre: children, genre: fiction, genre: gothic, genre: mystery, genre: nonfiction, upcoming books
- Book Review: “The Meaning of Night” by Michael Cox
  
  Posted at 5:31 pm by Laura, on July 8, 2012
  
  The Meaning of Night by Michael Cox
  
  After killing the red-haired man, I took myself off to Quinn’s for an oyster supper.
  
  So begins the story of Edward Glyver, booklover, scholar, and murderer. A chance discovery convinces Glyver that greatness awaits him. His path to win back what is rightfully his leads him to Evenwood, one of England’s most enchanting country houses, and a woman who will become his obsession.
  
  I fell in love with the first chapter of this book after reading the summary. It was everything I could ever want in a great novel: Victorian England, gothic setting, murder, mystery, story-telling, love, scandal, the highs and lows of London life — and yet, I could not love this book as much as I wanted to.
  
  Cox certainly needs to be applauded, though! If Wilkie Collins and Charles Dickens were still alive today, I think they would congratulate him on his writing abilities and perfect imitation of literature of the time. Cox wrote this piece as if an editor had discovered a long-lost autobiography, complete with footnotes, snatches of parchment covered in poetry, dreams written down after opium and laudanum intake, and of course, the ability to tell a story in “too many words.” This could certainly have been a serial story if such things still existed today.
  
  However, as brilliant as the writing is and the thorough research put into this piece, I was saddened by my thoughts as I read it. I kept thinking, when will this end? Just get to the point. Collins and Dickens always had surprises and plot twists and sidebars to keep the readers entertained during the major plot, but Cox seemed to lack this. Everything connected together almost too well. After a while I became less and less sympathetic towards Edward Glyver/Glapthorn (his name changes frequently depending on whom he speaks with) and his mission.
  
  My favorite moments were moments of Edward’s vulnerability: his time in Evenwood. Every chapter with him there brings about a certain humanity. It’s more than his love for Emily Carteret, it’s more than his revenge on Daunt, and it’s more than his personal connection to the estate. Something about it makes him more human, more likeable, and more vulnerable. I looked forward to those chapters and relished it — sadly, there weren’t enough of them.
  
  I would recommend this book to history buffs and hardcore Dickens fans, as it contains everything one would love. Sadly, for me, I may have just had extremely high expectations.
  
  Rating: ★★
  Goodreads: 3.64
  
  Posted in books, Reviews 2012 | 0 Comments | Tagged book review, books, genre: adult fiction, genre: fiction, genre: gothic, goodreads, review
- Book Review: “The Thirteenth Tale” by Diane Setterfield
  
  Posted at 4:39 pm by Laura, on March 28, 2012
  
  The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
  
  Biographer Margaret Lea returns one night to her apartment above her father’s antiquarian bookshop. On her steps she finds a letter. It is a hand-written request from one of Britain’s most prolific and well-loved novelists. Vida Winter, gravely ill, wants to recount her life story before it is too late, and she wants Margaret to be the one to capture her history. The request takes Margaret by surprise–she doesn’t know the author, nor has she read any of Miss Winter’s dozens of novels.
  
  Late one night while pondering whether to accept the task of recording Miss Winter’s personal story, Margaret begins to read her father’s rare copy of Miss Winter’s Thirteen Tales of Change and Desperation. She is spellbound by the stories and confused when she realizes the book only contains twelve stories. Where is the thirteenth tale? Intrigued, Margaret agrees to meet Miss Winter and act as her biographer.
  
  As Vida Winter unfolds her story, she shares with Margaret the dark family secrets that she has long kept hidden as she remembers her days at Angelfield, the now burnt-out estate that was her childhood home. Margaret carefully records Miss Winter’s account and finds herself more and more deeply immersed in the strange and troubling story. In the end, both women have to confront their pasts and the weight of family secrets. As well as the ghosts that haunt them still.
  
  I read this book a few years ago and was absolutely in love with it. This is a novel for bibliophiles and neo-gothic lovers! The narrator, Margaret, is constantly lost in books and stories, and is more interested in fictional or dead lives than those of living, breathing humans. So when she accepts Miss Winter’s request, little did she know that she would come to care more and more for human companionship and stories outside of bound pages.
  
  There are so many elements of gothic literature within this work. Even though Miss Winter and Margaret blatantly state and share passions for Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, The Woman in White, The Turn of the Screw, and Dickens and Austen, each of these novels come into play within this book. I read this novel before I’d read Woman in White or Turn of the Screw, and I could still follow along just fine – there is nothing to fear! But after having read all the novels referenced, I had an uncanny feeling every time I noticed the parallels and similarities. It’s shocking, and so subtle that it is woven into the text brilliantly.
  
  The great thing about returning to this novel after a few years was that, once again, I was sucked into the mystery. I could not remember what the explosive ending was. I remembered twins and burning libraries and haunted governesses, and that the author really had something to say and needed to say it before her death. I remembered that Margaret experience episodes similar to that of Victorian women, and that the doctor politely laughed during her condition. And, of course, I remembered all the book love. Everything that is said about books, I wholeheartedly relate to. I’m sure other bookworms can, too.
  
  But the ending! Oh, all the tension and build-up was worth it! To experience that same shock and horror and heartbreak was wonderful. (Can you really say that?)
  
  Rating: ★★★★
  
  Goodreads: 3.9 of 5
  
  Posted in Reviews 2012 | 4 Comments | Tagged book review, genre: adult fiction, genre: fiction, genre: gothic, goodreads, review
- Book Review: “Dracula” by Bram Stoker
  
  Posted at 3:14 pm by Laura, on March 25, 2012
  
  Dracula by Bram Stoker
  
  Count Dracula has inspired countless movies, books, and plays. But few, if any, have been fully faithful to Bram Stoker’s original, best-selling novel of mystery and horror, love and death, sin and redemption. Dracula chronicles the vampire’s journey from Transylvania to the nighttime streets of London. There, he searches for the blood of strong men and beautiful women while his enemies plot to rid the world of his frightful power.
  
  Today’s critics see Dracula as a virtual textbook on Victorian repression of the erotic and fear of female sexuality. In it, Stoker created a new word for terror, a new myth to feed our nightmares, and a character who will outlive us all.
  
  Nothing like I thought it would be! I was expecting endless detail of blood and murder and a stalking vampire, enough to frighten me in my dreams and turn them into nightmares!
  
  However, I am not saying that this novel was not chilling. There were moments of pure terror that I had to put the book down for a few minutes and turn on lights. Everything about this novel involves repression – of sexuality, sensuality, religion, science – and I can certainly say the some of the most terrifying images involved these repressions. Take blood transfusions: we do this all the time in order to test for disease, disorders, and give blood to another to save lives. However, in 1897, this was extremely new and controversial; blood types were not yet discovered, and one false transfusion would involve death! Luckily this did not happen in the novel, but I was intensely fearful that the act of transferring blood from one person to another would lead to a vicious death. Another image was also extremely erotic and dually disgusting: Dracula’s act of ripping off his shirt so that Mina would suck the blood from his chest. While an extremely sensual image – and well-acted in various plays when the Dracula character is played by an attractive young man – it is also revolting, for Dracula is an old, withering, smelly aristocrat with hairy palms.
  
  This is quite the adventure novel, as well! Old World meets New World, science meets religion, the most advanced technology of the time (phonographs to record diary entries, women learning to type, blood transfusions) meets folklore – it’s all here. This novel can easily be adapted to modern times, and I think this is why our fascination with vampires (particularly Dracula) continues today.
  
  Rating: ★★★★
  
  Goodreads: 3.87 of 5
  
  Posted in Reviews 2012 | 0 Comments | Tagged book review, genre: classics, genre: fiction, genre: gothic, goodreads, review
- Book Review: “The Flight of Gemma Hardy” by Margot Livesey
  
  Posted at 10:06 pm by Laura, on March 6, 2012
  
  The Flight of Gemma Hardy by Margot Livesey
  
  Fate has not been kind to Gemma Hardy. Orphaned by the age of ten, neglected by a bitter and cruel aunt, sent to a boarding school where she is both servant and student, young Gemma seems destined for a life of hardship and loneliness. Yet her bright spirit burns strong. Fiercely intelligent, singularly determined, Gemma overcomes each challenge and setback, growing stronger and more certain of her path. Now an independent young woman with dreams of the future, she accepts a position as an au pair on the remote and beautiful Orkney Islands.
  
  But Gemma’s biggest trial is about to begin . . . a journey of passion and betrayal, secrets and lies, redemption and discovery that will lead her to a life she’s never dreamed.
  
  There will be two parts to this review: 1) a review of this book as a stand-alone novel, and 2) a review as a partner/homage to Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. I am extra critical for this, as I had to pay close attention to the book for academic purposes.
  
  Part One
  I quite enjoyed this historical fiction, coming-of-age, romance novel! Livesey paints a beautiful picture of the Scottish landscape. Scottish and Icelandic histories are scattered throughout, connecting each bit of the story together. I also found Gemma’s fascination with birds to be more than symbolic – they were very educational and meaningful as well. Her rough childhood in the late 1950’s boarding schools, through her years as a nanny in the 60s truly developed into a maturing experience. Gemma is an intelligent, strong-willed, lonely character. She knew many people, and people were friendly to her, but she always felt like an outsider. Some of my favorite parts included Scottish and Icelandic folklore, the blurred boundaries between reality and fantasy.
  
  My only complaint would be Gemma’s reasons for leaving first Hugh and then Archie. Livesey could have fleshed out the excuses more clearly. I did not get the sense that Gemma felt love for Hugh in the first place – fascination, maybe, but not love – and her reason for leaving him seemed hypocritical, naïve, and silly. She was unwilling to forgive him for a tiny slip-up in his past, which did not make sense to me whatsoever. Archie, however, appeared to actually love her, despite what Gemma thought. She seemed to love him too, or at least more so than Hugh – and her excuse to leave him (he lacked “passion”) also seemed miniscule. In fact, what she did to test him almost seemed risqué, childish, and far too forward. Passion is not the same as lust, and with Livesey’s lack of detail in describing Gemma’s innermost thoughts did not help in distinguishing the two.
  
  I can overlook this because only at the end does Gemma state plainly and directing that her reasons for fleeing both men were immature. I only wished that Livesey gave more reasonable excuses earlier in the book so that, as a reader, I wouldn’t be left wondering and bothered (in an annoyed way) throughout. This history, the detail, and Gemma’s character growth kept me going – I wanted to see what happened next on her journeys!
  
  Part Two (***contains spoilers***)
  As far as a homage to Jane Eyre, I could definitely see the similarities. The opening lines, in fact, are nearly the same: referring to not taking a walk that day. The first third of both stories involve a poor childhood in a boarding school, but succeeding in studies despite the hardships. The second portion of both books deal with governess-like positions for a rich, older man in a massive, lonely house; the man has a secret; there’s a family crisis. The third portion of both books show a state of independence, each woman given a new home with two women and a man, and a love ordeal with that man; then later, of course, fleeing back to the older man at the manor. The End.
  
  So, in short, Gemma Hardy and Jane Eyre contain the same skeleton of a story. Jane Eyre is my favorite novel, so of course I’m going to judge Gemma Hardy a bit harshly simply because so many rave reviews say it’s just like the classic. To which I have to say: no, it’s not.
  
  Jane is quiet, observant, respectful of herself and others, a moral compass not through religion but by her own actions, a woman desiring independence and seeking equality among friends. She sought family ties, wanted to repay debts, and did not scour for money only to be rich but to live as simply as possible without starvation. She loved Rochester and Rochester loved her – she only fled him because he was asking far too much of her: to become his mistress while his wife was still alive. For Jane, that is a huge moral and personal disrespect. She also had a platonic relationship with St John, and wanted to travel to India as a sister or friend, not as a wife, because in her eyes a wife is someone to love, not someone to only work alongside the husband.
  
  Gemma is loud, but still observant. She defends herself against attackers but seems to not have any self-respect or hesitation when it comes to new men. She desires independence and friendship as well, but it all seems to be about networking and money. She wanted to know more about her family history, yet somehow it came back to inheritances. Gemma claims to have loved Hugh, but in truth she seemed more infatuated and lustful than in love – there are descriptions of her looking at him, wanting to be kissed by him, doing everything she can to get his attention. She flees Hugh because he switched his WWII draft with a distant cousin, and she can’t marry a “liar.” But then, when she flees, all she does is lie and steal and harm others. Archie loves her, or at least I felt so, but she tested him by unbuttoning her shirt, claiming that if he doesn’t do the same then he has no passion. I would disagree. Archie and Gemma were more equals than Hugh and Gemma.
  
  I also found difficulties seeing this as a modern gothic novel. Yes, there were muddled family histories, but nothing as shocking as a wife locked in the attic. Yes, there were ghosts, but all of them were friendly. There was a manor, but it was not haunted, nor did it have a spooky past.
  
  (***no more spoilers***)
  
  Despite my criticism in Part Two, I stand by what I said in Part One. Gemma Hardy was an enjoyable read, a good adventure, and I liked it very much.
  
  Rating:
  
  Goodreads: 3.7 of 5
  
  Posted in Reviews 2012 | 0 Comments | Tagged book review, books, genre: adult fiction, genre: fiction, genre: gothic, genre: history, genre: romance, goodreads, review
- Book Review: “Carmilla” by Sheridan Le Fanu
  
  Posted at 8:34 pm by Laura, on February 28, 2012
  
  Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu
  
  A young Anglo-Austrian woman living at her father’s castle is the narrator of this novella. When a mysterious and beautiful stranger is stranded at the castle in odd circumstances and becomes a guest, the heroine quickly forms a close bond with her —but she subsequently discovers that her “friend” has a dark and lethal secret.
  
  I read this in two hours, standing still in the kitchen as my housemates cooked and ate around me. Time did not seem to pass at all, I was so engrossed.
  
  A classic vampire novella (and in recent light, a lesbian vampire novella apparently), this chilling, tale offers readers a whole new experience and conception of “vampire.” With the Twilight series, we’ve romanticized and de-villainized the vampire to a laughable degree. Anne Rice sexualized and humanized the vampire. Bram Stoker offered a classic capable of reworkings for every decade since – the fear of contagion, fear of AIDs, fear of homosexuality – that allows the reader to be awed and terrified of and attracted to the vampire ideal.
  
  Carmilla contained several popular ideas of the modern idea of vampire – being staked, puncturing humans with the teeth, sleeping in coffins – while dismissing other notions such as bursting into flames in the sun; Carmilla was perfectly capable of walking in the daylight.
  
  The history behind Carmilla’s character is haunting as well! The most intense image that is still seared into my brain is of her in her coffin, laying in a pool of blood several inches deep, eyes wide and skin healthy. So terrifying! Le Fanu wonderfully crafted thrilling images and suspenseful events in this short Gothic tale!
  
  Rating: of 5
  
  Goodreads: 3.79 of 5
  
  Posted in Reviews 2012 | 0 Comments | Tagged book review, books, genre: adult fiction, genre: classics, genre: fiction, genre: gothic, genre: horror, genre: mystery, goodreads, review
- Book Review: “The Woman in White” by Wilkie Collins
  
  Posted at 12:48 pm by Laura, on February 22, 2012
  
  The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
  
  The story begins with an eerie midnight encounter between artist Walter Hartright and a ghostly woman dressed all in white who seems desperate to share a dark secret. The next day Hartright, engaged as a drawing master to the beautiful Laura Fairlie and her half sister, tells his pupils about the strange events of the previous evening. Determined to learn all they can about the mysterious woman in white, the three soon find themselves drawn into a chilling vortex of crime, poison, kidnapping, and international intrigue.
  
  English Victorian literature: my favorite genre! I would have read this even if it was not assigned for my Gothic Literature course.
  
  Collins was a friend and pupil of Charles Dickens, and it shows in his writing style. At a time when authors were paid by the word and published serially in journals, long episodic novels such as this was the fashion. With each journal publication, a few sections of Woman in White would be published and read, much like TV episodes air weekly. The characters closely analyze situations from different angles, almost to the point of repetition – which serves as a reminder of this novel’s literary and historical context: the readers needed those reminders once in a while.
  
  Collins also employed a technique that was new in literature for the time, and rather common today: a story told from different narratives. For several chapters, the mystery was given by Walter Hartright, then his pupil Marian, followed by the villain, lawyers, and other characters whose roles become vital to the plot. For this particular story, which the law cannot legally touch, multiple narrators was necessary and skillfully done.
  
  This book was chilling, fascinating, and slow-paced. It cannot be read quickly. Very critical moments occurred without my noticing until after the fact. Gender roles blurred, the line between fantasy and reality was crossed, and intrigue kept the plot moving.
  
  One of literature’s most gender-bending characters, Marian Halcombe, starred alongside one of literature’s most lovingly hateful villains, Count Fosco. I thoroughly enjoyed their accounts in the narrative. Marian, with her mustache and desire for male independence, stealing out into the night and climbing across mansion roofs; Fosco, enormously obese yet light on his feet, cruel and charming all at once – their character depth drove the story forward. They constantly tip-toed around one another, analyzing the other’s every move like a chess game.
  
  And of course, there’s the mystery of the woman in white…which will only be revealed when read!
  
  Rating: of 5
  
  Goodreads: 3.97 of 5
  
  Posted in Reviews 2012 | 2 Comments | Tagged book review, books, genre: adult fiction, genre: classics, genre: fiction, genre: gothic, genre: mystery, goodreads, review
- Gothic Literature
  
  Posted at 8:41 pm by Laura, on January 6, 2012
  
  This semester, in my final literature course, we’re focusing on the Gothic elements! My favorite genre. Here’s what we’re reading starting next week!
  
  Bram Stoker’s Dracula and Wilkie Collins’s The Woman in White
  
  Great Horror Stories, a compilation with Stoker, Poe, and Lovecraft; Sheridan Le Fanu’s In a Glass Darkly; and Classic Ghost Stories, another compilation that includes Dickens!
  
  Posted in books, Update Post | 0 Comments | Tagged books, genre: adult fiction, genre: classics, genre: fiction, genre: gothic, genre: horror
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- Hello, I’m Laura!
  
  I'm a bookish bookworm and book hoarder. By day I'm a literary agent, and by night I'm forever rearranging my bookshelves. I could talk your ear off about Gothic literature, and in my past life people thought I'd become a professional musician. I have a fluffy black cat named Rossetti, I love to travel, tea is my drink of choice, British TV is the best, and I'm always down for chips-and-queso nights. Welcome to Scribbles & Wanderlust! Grab your favorite hot beverage and let's chat books!
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