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Jan. 25th, 2014
Gothic novels for kids?
Jan. 25th, 2014 08:51 pmAn interesting challenge from my parents: to suggest a gothic novel suitable for a teenager, preferably one already on the shelves of my bedroom in Coventry — pater's random selection from the library, Nancy Holder's Hot Blooded, having been rejected out of hand. Without knowing more about the context of the request — it was for a school homework assignment — it was hard to know exactly what to request, not least because gothic covers such a multitude of sins.
Mentally reviewing the contents of the shelves, I plumped for the obvious: Bram Stoker's Dracula. Gothic, readable, and with a solid plot that may still appeal to a teenage mindset, might just tick the required boxes. I rejected the more gothic end of Iain Banks' output — The Wasp Factory, Complicity, and Use of Weapons as too dark & disturbing — whilst also ruling The Crow Road as too much like a family saga. Rebecca was also out, partly because I didn't think it'd engage and partly because I wasn't sure where it was, and I really don't think he'd get the more recent gothic of, say, The Secret History.
But as an alternative I suggested that the boy might want to dip into Lovecraft's short stories, which certainly possess the febrile & overwrought atmosphere of gothic, although I'm not sure whether HPL's characteristic way with language might not get the better of him. I also suggested Edgar Allan Poe's short stories, although on reflection I'm not sure whether they'd really grab a teenager either, and I'm not entirely sure whether short stories match the spirit of the brief — which, presumably, is to encourage reading...
Mentally reviewing the contents of the shelves, I plumped for the obvious: Bram Stoker's Dracula. Gothic, readable, and with a solid plot that may still appeal to a teenage mindset, might just tick the required boxes. I rejected the more gothic end of Iain Banks' output — The Wasp Factory, Complicity, and Use of Weapons as too dark & disturbing — whilst also ruling The Crow Road as too much like a family saga. Rebecca was also out, partly because I didn't think it'd engage and partly because I wasn't sure where it was, and I really don't think he'd get the more recent gothic of, say, The Secret History.
But as an alternative I suggested that the boy might want to dip into Lovecraft's short stories, which certainly possess the febrile & overwrought atmosphere of gothic, although I'm not sure whether HPL's characteristic way with language might not get the better of him. I also suggested Edgar Allan Poe's short stories, although on reflection I'm not sure whether they'd really grab a teenager either, and I'm not entirely sure whether short stories match the spirit of the brief — which, presumably, is to encourage reading...