The New Critical Idiom : Gothic
Botting expertly introduces the transformations of the gothic through history, discussing key figures such as ghosts, monsters and vampires, as well as tracing its origins, characteristics, cultural significance and critical interpretations.
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The key is patience,
I bought this book knowing that I’d need some sort of critical analysis for a gothic literature module of my degree course. I bought it on a hunch and by reading the short yet enticingly positive ‘blurb’.
On first reading I simply lost a lot of the information due to the excess amounts of difficult terminology. Whilst being an introductory text to the gothic as a genre it definitely does assume a prior knowledge to some elements of history and literature in general.
However, as my course studies developed I found this book increasingly helpful in explaining aspects to what my course had previously covered.
The key to reading this text is definitely to take it in short doses otherwise the sheer amount of (incredibly useful) information will be overwhelming.
Whilst David Punter’s ‘Literature of Terror’ covers more ground with respect to actual textual analysis, Botting’s work more than makes up for this with in-depth analysis of ‘Gothic’ expanding far beyond literary confines.
Once got to grips with, this textbook proves to be essential reading and incredibly useful in explaining difficult concepts and offers a variety of angles to analyze literary texts in the gothic genre.
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|Sound and Thorough Introduction,
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I came to this book as part of my research for teaching Dracula to A-level students, and have found it to be an extremely useful text to have beside me while reading that and other Gothic novels.
The other reviewer of this novel (who sadly has not left their name, which is unfortunate because their thoughts are eminently sensible and insightful), observes correctly that Botting is not preoccupied with close textual analysis, but with general trends in Gothic from its inception to the end of the twentieth Century. That said, the book by no means lacks detail, rather preferring to examine themes and discourses that the reader can then themselves apply to those texts which they have to study.
It seems that this review is becoming a reposte to that already posted, but it is necessary to answer one criticism made by that writer. They are concerned that the book lays on the critical terminology a bit thick in the Introduction, but I found this a refreshing bonus. To be treated as an intelligent reader, but not to be overwhelmed with meaningless critical posturing, was flattering, and Botting knows his subject well enough (and believes sufficiently in its merits) to find no need for hollow rhetoric.
This is at times a challenging book, and it demands commitment and perception from its reader, and it seems squarely aimed at second or third-year undergraduates who have some grounding in the vocabulary of critical theory. Given that caveat, this is a solid and worthwhile book.
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|An essential tool,
On first look this text seems pretty dense, with a lot of specific terminology that students (or readers) new to the genre will struggle with. However, this is a book to be dipped into rather than read, and as a guide for A-level students, teachers, lecturers and undergraduates this is comprehensive and invaluable.
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