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A review by fredsphere
Gothicka: Vampire Heroes, Human Gods, and the New Supernatural by Victoria Nelson
5.0
Nelson has done a great thing. This book includes an erudite history of the Gothic in books and film. It also reviews a great many recent additions (and no other book has inspired me to consume so many books and movies reviewed). Most impressively, Nelson offers a tentative prediction for where the Gothic is heading. It's a bold prediction: that the Gothic will lead to the development of a neo-Gnositc American-based world religion in the 21st century.
Nelson really knows the genre, but what's especially impressive is her understanding and sympathy for the whole wide world of religious impulses. She admits to her biases, but I see them very little here; I'm pretty sure she and I disagree, but "my side" gets a rare fair hearing. She truly has the heart of a great reviewer, which always begins with sympathy and enthusiasm for the artist's intent.
For this topic, getting religion right is essential. Nelson understands that "Gothick" is, at heart, a religious venture. I don't share her optimism for the long-term success of Gnosticism--I think it's radical subjectivity is self-defeating--but she's dead-on to see its rise in Gothic (and general American) culture, and I feel like I've learned a lot from her insight. Her theories even explain the otherwise mystifying popularity of [book:Twilight|41865], with its well-known artistic limitations. It fits in the trend, advanced first by Anne Rice, of reforming and sort-of-redeeming vampires and other Gothic monsters.
Finally, I'd just like to mention one more delightful personal detail: I found this book the old fashioned way, by pulling it off the shelf while browsing a library. It wasn't covered in cobwebs, and the library's resident ghost didn't cackle as I touched it, but somehow, that detail seems very right.
Anyone interested in religion, Gothic literature (or really any genre), and modern trends in genre evolution and repurposing, really needs to read this book.
Nelson really knows the genre, but what's especially impressive is her understanding and sympathy for the whole wide world of religious impulses. She admits to her biases, but I see them very little here; I'm pretty sure she and I disagree, but "my side" gets a rare fair hearing. She truly has the heart of a great reviewer, which always begins with sympathy and enthusiasm for the artist's intent.
For this topic, getting religion right is essential. Nelson understands that "Gothick" is, at heart, a religious venture. I don't share her optimism for the long-term success of Gnosticism--I think it's radical subjectivity is self-defeating--but she's dead-on to see its rise in Gothic (and general American) culture, and I feel like I've learned a lot from her insight. Her theories even explain the otherwise mystifying popularity of [book:Twilight|41865], with its well-known artistic limitations. It fits in the trend, advanced first by Anne Rice, of reforming and sort-of-redeeming vampires and other Gothic monsters.
Finally, I'd just like to mention one more delightful personal detail: I found this book the old fashioned way, by pulling it off the shelf while browsing a library. It wasn't covered in cobwebs, and the library's resident ghost didn't cackle as I touched it, but somehow, that detail seems very right.
Anyone interested in religion, Gothic literature (or really any genre), and modern trends in genre evolution and repurposing, really needs to read this book.