Today's theme: Goth as Fuck

[bloodygranuaile]

The Monk is everything a Gothic novel should be. Notable for being the first English-language Gothic novel to draw really heavily from the German "Sturm und Drang" (and yes, my fellow HP freaks, I did actually write "Durm und Strang" and have to go back and fix it) tradition, it is full of all sorts of ridiculously cruel and grotesque horrors, some supernatural, some the result of completely unmagical human cruelty in almost unbelieveable degrees. The unmistakable moral message in it is Catholicism Is For Fucktards. It is vastly more readable than, say, The Castle of Otranto, and the narrative flow is much better (none of this giant helmets falling off ceilings totally randomly business). There is actually character development an' stuff. But the drama is still all about people accidentally eloping with ghosts and priests committing all sorts of awful crimes with help from Teh Debil and noble Spanish gentlemens vanquishing covens of murderous brigands and all sorts of crack. The Victorian writing style is really not dense at all, but from a modern perspective seems very quaint and stylized, which is hilarious considering how much sex is in the book. Considering Victorians were not allowed to write sex the way modern authors do, there is a complete lack of anything graphic, and instead a lot of prissy-sounding phrases about "wanton Pleasures" and "rioting". I especially can't decide whether the outdated use of the word "incontinence" (used with its etymologically literal meaning of "loss of control", and always in reference to persons of the cloth breaking their vows of celibacy), or the description of Antonia's breast as "elastic," conjures up the more amusingly inappropriate mental images.

The author seems to be laboring under the firm conviction that All Middle-Aged Women Are Bonkers, because all of the women in the book that are not Young Maids are certifiably bonkers, or at least ridiculously annoying. Elvira is maybe less totally insane, but still a bit weird. Agnes' aunt is my favorite certifiably bonkers character, because she is a ridiculously melodramatic character typifying one of my least favorite kinds of people, "people who are too god damn selfish to even listen to themselves". As much as I hate those people in real life, her scenes were hilarious. I am also a giant dork and was specifically thinking to myself how nice it was to be reading something from a time when people used the word "disinterested" properly, when I hit the bit where Auntie and Raymond have the following scene:

RAYMOND: *reads Auntie the tale of Tristan and Iseult, so she will like him enough to let him marry Agnes*
AUNTIE: Oh, do you think a passion so pure and disinterested can really exist?
RAYMOND: I do! For I have felt it myself!
AUNTIE: OH RAYMOND I LOVE YOU TOO!
RAYMOND: o.O
AUNTIE: *longwinded declaration of how much she lurves him*
RAYMOND: Uh, I'm really sorry, but I wasn't talking about you.
AUNTIE: OMG I HAITZ U I WILL MAKE YOUR LIFE MISERABLE!!!!!111!!1!oneone AND YOUR GIRLFRIEND'S, ONCE I FIND OUT WHO SHE IS.

Yeah, real disinterested a passion there, Auntie.

Despite the outraged reception it got upon publication (it was the Victorians, being scandalized was the only fun they were allowed to have), I actually found this as morally solid a book as a Gothic novel (read: "something this RIDICULOUS") can be. Love (both friendship and the getting married kind), honesty, faithfulness, compassion, forgiveness, and "disinterestedness" save the day. What more wholesome message do you want out of a Victorian novel? They hadn't invented strong female characters yet; I don't know what else you'd freaking want.

On the staring at screens front, Se7en is gory and full of literary/biblical/medieval stuff about sins and Hell! Right up my alley. Crime? Check. Asshole character with hilarious dialogue? Check. Use of old mythology? Check. Blood and violence? Check. Striking visual aesthetic? Check. Deep WTF plot twist at the end that involves people getting shot? Check. You can make good movies with these ingredients, or bad movies with them, but either way I will like them. Seven is twisted and creative enough to be one of the good movies. Also, it's the only time I have ever made a dead baby joke in the middle of a movie, and it turned out to be an accurate prediction of where the movie was going. Whoever wrote this thing was seriously, seriously macabre. I want to be able to write things like that.

We also just finished watching Night Watch, which is based on the Russian novel Night Watch and not the Discworld book of the same name. Movie mostly just gave me a headache, being visually so hyperstylized and full of artsy fast cuts and slow-mo and things shifting around and colors going weird and stuff that it gets hard to follow. Definitely atmospheric, though. And there was enough stuff in it I liked during the bits I could follow that I really would like to read the book, since books are usually better than their movies (and Josh says this one is, he's read it), and even if the book is written in some weird style too, at least the words will probably stay on the page and be legible. At any rate, is very dark fantasy, and involved vampires that are actually scary and more bestial than romantic, which I very much appreciate right around now.

Not a review, but in keeping with the Goth as Fuck theme: Went to Salem today with Liz to pick up Josh. Was only in Salem for an hour or so to have dinner and desert, but still. I went to Salem today! I fucking love Salem! It makes me so happy.

Comments

[skygiants]

Oh The Monk. Ridiculous hearts!

There is kind of a strong female character . . . I mean, as far as Gothics go, Agnes isn't too bad! I feel like 9/10 Gothic ladies would have rolled over and died of shaaaaaaaaame after the whole pregnancy thing, let alone surviving being starved in a dungeon for months. Agnes just jumps right back on their feet and is back to normal in like three days (which is kind of hilarious, but hey, if it works for her!) Also, she mocks the whole nun thing hilariously, so. *waves Agnes fangirl flag!*

[agentclaudia.livejournal.com]

Agnes does have a lot more stamina and resilience than usual for a Gothic novel chick. And a sense of humor, which is quite a plus. But because she spends almost the entire book being a prisoner of some sort and needing her dude to rescue her (although I guess she's a little more active in making and carrying out those sorts of plans than most), I still mentally tagged her as a damsel in distress. But you're right--she is a rather tough damsel in distress, which is pretty good from the Victorians.

[namelessw0nder.livejournal.com]

I was not a huge fan of Night Watch, but I don't remember why. They came out with Day Watch semi-recently, I think. I saw it on the shelves of the video store anyway.

I love Salem too. I hate its orientation to being tourist friendly, but I love the shops.

Se7en is badass. I got to watch it for a serial-killer section we did in my Intro to Behavioral Sciences class in high school.

I cannot be gothy in my literary choices, unfortunately. My brain cannot understand the text very well, in most cases. Victorian literature is pretty much lost to me.

[/random thoughts]

[agentclaudia.livejournal.com]

"Day Watch" does not have the same ring to it. >.< Now I am somewhat curious, although probably not enough to actually go find it.

Salem has awesome shops. And restaurants. Oh man, the restaurants...

You're not missing much... Victorian literature tends to be bad. I read it because I am apparently a masochist.