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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
| Synopsis: |
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.
| My Thoughts: |
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
Now, this sounds like it could be a way in for a novice like me….
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This was a true “introduction” to the idea of Gothic meant for the everyman Joe like ourselves.
this is how the series SHOULD be, even while I doubt it will BE that way…
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I love medieval Gothic architecture. there are plenty of nice examples in my city 🙂 Simple, yet majestic, impressive and beautiful. That’s when the best cathedrals were build! And castles. Neo-gothic buildings from the XIX cent. are also quite nice, not as authentic, but technology was better, so the results are often great.
And then there are all the other inspirations, in literature, music… where would we be without the Gothic?
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We would be a much poorer society without the wide ranging influencing of the Gothic….
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Well, I love all things Gothic so I may have to check this out. 🙂
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Well, so far, out of the WHOLE 3 that I have read, this Very Short Introduction has been the best 😀
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Glad this entertained you to some degree. I have tried out some Goth Metal, but can honestly say, I do not feel it is for me tho. Might be because I had no history lesson in how it was supposed to all fit in toghether (or not at all).;..
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The links from the people to the modern music is nebulous, but it is there. Even the author says The Gothic isn’t one monolithic whole…
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Hopefully the rest of the Very Short Introduction series will have at least some benefit! I’m glad this one was much better than the first one you read.
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I hope so too. I’m reading these to broaden my mind, even if just the teeniest bit.
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That’s always a good thing! Too few people keep seeking out learning once they leave school.
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This is fabulous. I love most Gothic stuff (except vampires), and I love the overuse of the word “the” as well.
I knew the word had many different senses, but it never occurred to me that someone would try to find a common thread in all their meanings.
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It was a great read. I actually enjoyed some non-fiction 😀
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Fascinating indeed: from barbarian tribes to modern music bands – this might very well be a hint for one of your six-grades-of-separation posts! 🙂
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I hadn’t thought of that, but you’re right, this IS a 6degrees style of connections 😀 That would certainly explain why I liked it so much 🙂
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That’s a pretty linear historical approach to demystifying The Gothic! I too do wonder if it was “that” simple but I’m glad to hear that it was indeed fascinating and expanded your knowledge on the matter. 😀
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I doubt it was that simple. But as an introduction, it showcased all the various aspects of Gothic and gave a taste of each. And with the additional reading suggestions in the back, this would be a good stepping stone if one is serious about the subject.
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Can I ask you a WordPress question? How do you make a group-link to “All my OOOO reviews”? I can’t figure out how to do it on the new editor. Sorry to post this here.🙄
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Not a problem.
Do you have a common tag that you put on all your Reviews of OOOO? in another tab, open up your page and find a review with that tag. Click it and that will bring up all the reviews with that Tag. Highlight and copy that url in the browser address.
Now, back in your review that you want to include the “All My OOOO reviews” link, Type out “All My OOO Reviews”. I’m guessing that that will be in the “paragraph” block. Highlight the text “All My OOO Reviews”. A mini-toolbar should appear above the highlighted text. Click on the Link one (it looks like a link of a chain, or it is supposed to anyway) and a pop under box will appear. Paste the address from before into that. Then hit the “enter” key and you should be good to go.
Let me know if you need some more info…
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That’s brilliant, thank you very much!
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Glad that worked. I’m JUST getting into forcing myself to use the block editor for certain posts, so I still have a LOT to learn
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I didn’t know how to do that on the original editor so thanks for the tip. You are using the new one? Are you serious?.. I never thought I’d see the day😏
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I am trying, again. I figure if I try enough times, at some point it will stick…
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I’m *still* getting used to it. It’s temperamental at times; also annoying. But there are things I like about it, too.
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Would you mind elucidating some of the positives? I’d really like to hear something positive about it right about now…
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🤔😒🙄 Let me get back to you on that…
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No rush….
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What was the question again?..
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What is something positive you like about the block editor?
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Oh yeah. Time to be serious. I like the move a block up or down feature. Also the image features have been expanded. It’s fairly easy to insert a new block anywhere…
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