Book Review: Gothic by Fred Botting (First edition)

 

Starting of this blog with a review of one of my all time favourite books “Gothic” by Fred Botting which is part of the new critical idiom series. If you, like me, have any love for literary theory then this series is definitely worth you checking out. But even if you are not a literary nerd I would still recommend this book if you like any of the gothic classics, whether it be “Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde”, “Dracula”, “Wuthering Heights” or even the classic tales of Sherlock Holmes. So without further ado let me tell you why this book is so amazing that I have read it about 10 times.

 

Whenever I sit down to read a non-fiction book, my worst fear is that it is going to be dreadfully dry and slow to get through. No matter how passionate I am about a subject not every book, documentary or lecture is going to handle said subject in an interesting and engaging way. Fortunately this book does not fall into this trap, as Botting clearly is not only an expert in the field, but he also exhibits a love and understanding for the genre. He handles the texts and authors in the book with such expertise and appreciation that you want to go out and buy them all, just so you can experience all the greatness (and silliness) of those stories yourself (and yes, many gothic stories are a bit silly, but that just adds to their charm). I personally felt a tickling of butterflies in my brain when he discussed books I had read, and it was very interesting to get a more in-depth perspective on them. Not to mention that I got a bit of a head start in some of my literature classes at Uni. But reading this book also made me realize that my bookshelf lack books from the early years of the genre, I do intend to mend this in due time.

 

The second fear I often have when picking up non-fiction is the prospect of information overload; the kind of overload where your brain shuts off after three pages for the risk of overheating. But once again Botting expertly guides you through the mist and down the path of gothic literature with an ease that makes reading this book a joy and not a chore. The book is perfectly structured to take the reader through the history of gothic literature, with each chapter covering books, authors and the historical context. Botting possesses the skill of cramming a lot of information into a limited number of pages without making the reader overwhelmed. The book is only just 200 pages long and the amount of information fitted into those pages are positively overwhelming, but as mentioned above Botting has an effortless flow to his writing making what could be an information-dump a well paced read instead.

 

Over the years this book has become a go-to read for me; whether I need something to read on the train, before I go to bed or if a sleepless night cannot be mended by Twin Peaks or endless browsing on the internet. It has reminded me of my love for literature in times when peril has made me stray away from and forget what gives my life that certain spice and fun. It reminds me why I love writing (in any genre) and why I love studying at Uni. I know I hold this book in high regard, but I guess we all have that special little something to keep us to the flame, be it a book, movie or something else. In the end I will recommend this book to anyone who has a love for and an interest in the gothic genre; be it in literature, movies or somewhere else. It is a fun read, a relatively easy read and it gives you a solid foundational understanding of the genre (you can use that understanding/knowledge however you want; to be a know-it-all among your friends or to get an A on your next paper, the choice is yours).

 

And with that I will leave you for now. The next two blog posts are going to be lighter in subject matter before I upload the first of my own short stories to the site. Hope you will return next week!

 

Xoxo Christina