Gothic novels
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charlottes-odd 
Posts: 175
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 Posted: 03:52PM Aug 27, 2012 |
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Hey everyone, im currently reading "The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde", and id love to start this topic to talk about gothic novels. Whats your favourite gothic novel? Why is it your favourite? I'm also going to read "Dracula" and i'm going to re read "Frankenstein", and i'd like to have discussions about these books and other gothic novels 
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LogicalRoger 
Posts: 2441
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Posted: 08:45PM Sep 2, 2012 |
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Unfortunately I've only really read the novels you've listed. They're all interesting in their own rights and long lasting in the public mind, but I feel like I should read more. I do recall renting out a CD of eerie old tales one of which involved a frightening tale of rats, though. Rats and a hanging judge.
I'm not really sure of my favourite. Possibly Dracula. It's also interesting how all of these listed are also all epistolary novels.
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charlottes-odd
Posts: 175
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Posted: 06:51PM Sep 22, 2012 |
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That cd sounds really interesting i know Wuthering Heights is a gothic novel but ive never read it and i dont know much about it either
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LogicalRoger
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Posted: 08:53PM Sep 22, 2012 |
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Unfortunately, I forgot the CD's name. But it does feel nice to listen to something chilling.
I've only read some of Wuthering Heights and can say it has a similar atmosphere to other Gothic novels: dark tones of longing and tragedy. I haven't read much of it, but I have seen a film version. It's about an orphan, loss, and cruelty. [Probably an oversimplification, though, and quite vague.]
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dolphingurl12
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Posted: 11:36AM Sep 23, 2012 |
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Jane Eyre is my favorite gothic novel! I also like Frankenstein.
19th Century gothic novel writers were so obsessed with epistolary novels. The novel was moving from gothic to realism, so the writers wanted to make it seem like the events could really happen. It's such an interesting point in literature...
I've read Wuthering Heights (and I'm about to have to read it again for class) and I hate it. I just hate it. Maybe I'll like it better this second time around. I don't know.
Writing is the only thing that, when I do it, I don't feel I should be doing something else. - Gloria Steinem |
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AnimeLuvr
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Posted: 11:33AM Sep 24, 2012 |
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All of the Gothic Novels I had read were online. horrormasters.com had some good ones that were written by just regular people. They also had other ones like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde but most of them were really original. Try out that site. Wuthering Heights was okay. I'm reading it for school but it's not the best book ever.
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charlottes-odd
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Posted: 06:35PM Sep 27, 2012 |
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I read somewhere that wuthering heights is one the most over rated books ever, i might read a bit of it to see what its like though
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LogicalRoger
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Posted: 07:40PM Sep 27, 2012 |
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I can think of plenty more books that are far more overrated than it. It's probably best to read it over to see if it's your thing first, though.
19th Century gothic novel writers were so obsessed with epistolary novels. The novel was moving from gothic to realism, so the writers wanted to make it seem like the events could really happen. It's such an interesting point in literature... I quite like that about them, too. If I might be allowed to mix high and low forms of art, I would say that their style reminds me of the POV horror films popularised by the Blair Witch Project and still thriving to this day. It adds a touch of realism to keep the viewer intrigued and wondering how they might fair in such a case, and also is able to interject different perspectives. When using multiple different entries, it adds suspense and, at certain times, a long-deserved balance of comic relief.
Since I would say the constant amateur videos influenced the prevalence of POV horror films, I would wonder, since I haven't studied the history of Gothic novels, if perhaps the press or letters influenced a similar surge of creativity. I recall reading Hogg's Confessions of a Justified Sinner and remember how it made a point to provide support for its factuality by using newspaper clippings, real locations, and the author himself. Perhaps with larger access to literacy came letters and newspapers and new systems of expressing oneself, just as much as vlogs allow such new freedom. It sounds incredibly obvious, but whenever there is a new form of media someone will eventually use it to write fiction and, eventually, to write horror or romantic tragedies. I wonder what kinds of stories new media can tell.
Right, I know the term "Gothic" isn't synonymous with "horror" but I wonder just how broad it is, really. Often it has, but is not limited to, supernatural phenomenon, exotic locations, Byronic heroes, and, in general, a dark setting. How many horror films are Gothic, then? Maybe there aren't too many Byronic heroes as the leads, but there are often supernatural happenings, an eerie atmosphere, and often a large far-off manor or a strange small town where the visitor enters. I'm curious, as I definitely enjoy a Gothic atmosphere, but I also enjoy horror fiction and films that would likely be far from Gothic. I'm just curious as to what everyone else's opinions, or a good rule of thumb, would be.
I've been thinking of writing modern Gothic horror ever since early September. Ugh. I just wish my own writing matched up to my vision. Writing is easy. Writing well is difficult.
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dolphingurl12
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Posted: 03:31PM Sep 28, 2012 |
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Yeah, not all horror films are gothic, but many of them are.
I have literary bias, so I tend to think of gothic in the way that makes a novel gothic. All of the things you mentioned pretty much make a gothic novel. The setting is pretty much always a castle, monastery, abbey, or some such thing. The literary movement is tied to gothic architecture. In the time when gothic novels were becoming popular, it was also popular to build new buildings as if they were old, giving the allusion that you lived in an ancient abbey-turned-house, when it was really just a newly built house. That idea kind of mindset sort of applies to gothic novels in the traditional sense. You pretty much need the spooky place setting to have the spooky events.
Gothic novels are very much about the mind and perception. A lot of times, the characters work themselves up into fear, thinking something is scary and ghosty, when it has a practical reason (though maybe equally disturbing) for happening. I think this distinction keeps a lot of horror movies out. Gothic usually doesn't mean a ton of blood spewing everywhere and such.
As far as mixing low and high art, that's not necessary a distinction. The novels we read now as classical literature were just trying to get sold back then, purely for entertainment. So yesterday's low art is today's high art.
Writing is the only thing that, when I do it, I don't feel I should be doing something else. - Gloria Steinem |
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charlottes-odd
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Posted: 06:38PM Sep 28, 2012 |
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Gothic novels also combine elements of horror with romance, i think its a beautiful blend of two things really
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