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DAE have unusual taste or trouble relating to popular book culture? DAE like older "gothic" fiction?

judepage123

New Member
I am new to this site, and one of the reasons I joined was because I had trouble finding people with similar interests as me on the other forum I was using.

It is a bit hard to describe my taste in fiction. It could almost be summed up by the word "gothic". But that word now seems to have many connotations that I do not find appealing at all. I am not at all interested in anything to do with Vampires or anything excessively paranormal, for example.

I like some gothic literature from the Romantic Period, for example, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley and The Castles of Athlin and Dunbayne by Ann Radcliffe. But I have mostly been reading stuff that is not that old, but follows after that tradition. My favorite authors right now are Daphne Du Maurier, Victoria Holt, and Phyllis Whitney. (I have heard that Mary Stewart, Dorothy Eden, and Anya Seton could fall into the same broad category. I have not read anything by any of them yet, but I plan to.)

I am also interested in certain novels that could be called "gothic", but are not the typical "gothic romance". Examples of these that I have read and enjoyed are Beasts by Joyce Carol Oates, First Love (also by JCO), and We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson. I have recently discovered Angela Carter and believe I will like her once I finish something by her.

I think one of my problems in relating is the fact that most of what I read isn't within-the-last-few-years-contemporary. I have heard that newer authors like Susanna Kearsley and Kate Morton follow after the more classic gothic tradition. But I don't have the money to buy new books (electronic or physical), and I never find their stuff in the used store I always go to.

I would like to find people with similar taste in books. I need someone to talk to because I drive my boyfriend crazy sometimes with my book talk. I would also be interested in learning about different authors which I might like. Thanks for reading!

p.s. I also love Medieval literature. One example: Beroul, The Romance of Tristan. I also like Thomas Hardy for some reason, though he is so different and definitely not "romantic".
 
Welcome,
None of those are especially up my alley, but I am sure you can find people here to help steer you.
P.S. Hardy might be a hint to broaden out. There's plenty of good reading out there in oother genres. :rolleyes:
 
Hi judepage123, I know what you mean when you say you love gothic novels, but you're not really into vampires and paranormal. I like Bram Stoker's classic and some literary novels about zombies, but I'm not into pop fiction about the paranormal.

You'll find gothic fans among crime fiction readers who like to hang out in B&R's Murder, We Schmoozed (I suggest asking janebbooks to suggest gothics she likes). Many of us love writers such as Edgar Allan Poe, Daphne du Maurier and Wilkie Collins (his novels The Woman in White and The Moonstone are gothic classics). Have you read Brontë's Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights, Henry James's Turn of the Screw, Stevenson's Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Alcott's A Long Fatal Love Chase; Dickens's Oliver Twist, Bleak House, and Great Expectations? For more modern gothics, I'd suggest Joyce Carol Oates's The Accursed, set at Princeton (I don't need to tell you how much fun JCO is to read; you can find more of her books listed here). Great southern fiction writers such as Eudora Welty, Walker Percy, Flannery O'Connor and William Faulkner have gothic elements in their books. You might also like noir author Daniel Woodrell, who wrote Winter's Bone and The Death of Sweet Mister. I'm not very familiar with Barbara Michaels, S. J. Bolton or Kate Morton, but they have many fans. (I couldn't get into the one Morton I tried, The Forgotten Garden (perhaps it was my mood at the time), but many people I know loved it.)

Most of the books I mentioned above should be available in a public library.

We're happy to meet you.
 
Hi judepage123, I know what you mean when you say you love gothic novels, but you're not really into vampires and paranormal. I like Bram Stoker's classic and some literary novels about zombies, but I'm not into pop fiction about the paranormal.

You'll find gothic fans among crime fiction readers who like to hang out in B&R's Murder, We Schmoozed (I suggest asking janebbooks to suggest gothics she likes). Many of us love writers such as Edgar Allan Poe, Daphne du Maurier and Wilkie Collins (his novels The Woman in White and The Moonstone are gothic classics). Have you read Brontë's Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights, Henry James's Turn of the Screw, Stevenson's Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Alcott's A Long Fatal Love Chase; Dickens's Oliver Twist, Bleak House, and Great Expectations? For more modern gothics, I'd suggest Joyce Carol Oates's The Accursed, set at Princeton (I don't need to tell you how much fun JCO is to read; you can find more of her books listed here). Great southern fiction writers such as Eudora Welty, Walker Percy, Flannery O'Connor and William Faulkner have gothic elements in their books. You might also like noir author Daniel Woodrell, who wrote Winter's Bone and The Death of Sweet Mister. I'm not very familiar with Barbara Michaels, S. J. Bolton or Kate Morton, but they have many fans. (I couldn't get into the one Morton I tried, The Forgotten Garden (perhaps it was my mood at the time), but many people I know loved it.)

Most of the books I mentioned above should be available in a public library.

We're happy to meet you.
Thank you. Yes, I am definitely interested in reading many of the things you suggested. Wilkie Collins, especially, since I've read that both Daphne Du Maurier and Victoria Holt were fans of his. (He was a man, right?)
I have read about two thirds of Jane Eyre, but I unfortunately found it to be a little bit drawn-out and boring. So I watched a movie version of it to see how it ended. Of course, while watching the movie I realized that I was just about to get to the good part - where you discover Mr. Rochester's secret. I also tried Wuthering Heights, but found that Catherine and Heathcliff's behavior was really getting on my nerves. And it is difficult for me to enjoy a book when I don't like the characters. But I guess if I want to call myself a gothic fan, I should get over it and finish both of those. And, of course I know that the Brontes were a huge influence on Daphne Du Maurier as well.
I never knew that some of Charles Dickens' novels could be considered gothic. Thank you for mentioning that.
And The Accursed by JCO is definitely on my want-to-read list, as is pretty much everything by JCO, even the non-gothic stuff.
I have read some short stories by Eudora Welty and enjoyed them. But I am more interested in novels than in short stories. The only novel of her's I have ever seen anywhere is The Optimist's Daughter. Is that a gothic novel?
Thank you so much for your suggestions. I did learn a few things.
 
Welcome,
None of those are especially up my alley, but I am sure you can find people here to help steer you.
P.S. Hardy might be a hint to broaden out. There's plenty of good reading out there in oother genres. :rolleyes:
I don't know why I like Thomas Hardy so much - probably because his novels (0r the ones I've read, at least) are dark, though in a more realistic rather than gothic / romantic kind of way.
But I've definitely read plenty of non-gothic and non-romantic novels - some that I liked well enough, and others that were very hard to get through. A few years ago, however, I took a certain literature class and learned about the Romantic Period. It was then that I realized that most of the literature that I did enjoy was romantic. And it was because of that class that I realized that I have a romantic worldview.
At this point I'd say that I have a pretty well-rounded range of experience with what is out there. And I just want to indulge in what I know I like best
I have tortured myself enough reading authors like Emile Zola, who obviously had a very pessimistic view of humanity, life, and the world in general. Hardy's redeeming characteristic, I think - though his novels are bleak - is that his characters are lovable and relatable (instead of just a bunch of jerks). And his critical focus is more on society than on humanity, which to me means that there is hope.
You probably didn't want to hear all of that, but I know what you mean. I'm sure some day I will branch out more again. For now I just want to indulge in what I like and enjoy reading.
 
Yes, Collins is a man. I think you'll enjoy his books.

I also think you'll enjoy Welty's The Optimist's Daughter, which earned her a Pulitzer, although it's a short novel of about 200 pages. It involves a woman's return to her Mississippi hometown, the death of her father, and her interactions with her father's coldhearted younger wife. Memory, family, and loss.

Since you enjoy books with a romantic worldview and medieval lit, I'm wondering if you like King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. Some suggestions are T. H. White's Once and Future King series, Rosemary Sutcliff's King Arthur trilogy, Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur, and if you like Tolkien and a head-spinning read, John Cowper Powys' contribution to the Arthurian canon, Porius: A Romance of the Dark Ages.
 
Yes, Collins is a man. I think you'll enjoy his books.

I also think you'll enjoy Welty's The Optimist's Daughter, which earned her a Pulitzer, although it's a short novel of about 200 pages. It involves a woman's return to her Mississippi hometown, the death of her father, and her interactions with her father's coldhearted younger wife. Memory, family, and loss.

Since you enjoy books with a romantic worldview and medieval lit, I'm wondering if you like King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. Some suggestions are T. H. White's Once and Future King series, Rosemary Sutcliff's King Arthur trilogy, Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur, and if you like Tolkien and a head-spinning read, John Cowper Powys' contribution to the Arthurian canon, Porius: A Romance of the Dark Ages.
Yes, Le Morte d'Arthur is one of the things I'm reading now. I love Arthurian stuff. And thank you for the other suggestions.
 
Hello Judepag
I find your book taste very cool. Not my taste exactly. Though I love Poe and really enjoyed Jane Eyre; I enjoy Goth architecture more than Goth literature.
Still, I think you may be able to connect with other readers here.
Welcome!!
 
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