Found: the ultimate Gothic

[rachelmanija]

Kit wouldn't rest until she exorcised the spirits of her scornful ancestors from the mammoth house which she now possessed. Or so she thought, until the house strangely began to take possession of her. In the mysterious attics which spread like tentacles over the roof, legends of the past came to life. Somewhere there lurked what remained of her lost, unrequited love, and he was coming to claim her kin.

-- Back cover of Trelawny, by Isabelle Holland.

Oh boy oh boy, this is going to be great!

Comments

[coffeeandink.livejournal.com]

Oh! I think I have read this one.

[oyceter]

AWESOME!

[gwyneira.livejournal.com]

That sounds fab! I love the attics-like-tentacles bit.

[fresne.livejournal.com]

Ultimate Gothic --- but, but, but... what about "The Monk" by Matthew Lewis?

On the other hand, more Gothic, all Gothic, all the time = winningly blood curdling streams across the night. Now with bat action.

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

Please describe the plot of The Monk in more detail. Is the Monk a ghost? Is there a monastery? Is he a Vampire Monk?

[fresne.livejournal.com]

Hmmm... well, the plot's a bit hard to describe as it goes into more digressions than Grandpa Simpson, but it has in no particular order:

~A Spanish Monk (Ambrosio) who gets seduced (Seduced I say) to the will of Satan
~A pretty boy who turns out to be a girl, who turns out to be a succubus
~Magical seduction/rape
~The ghost of a bleeding nun - who haunts people who have sex outside of marriage and is generally annoying when characters try to get it on.
~Evil priests
~Evil nuns
~Demonic pacts
~Incest
~The Wandering Jew (gotta get him in)
~And as you might expect, the Spanish Inquisition

It was written by a 19 year old and published in 1796. It has everything. Of it Byron said basically, "Satan would be scared to be in your head" and the Marquis de Sade gave it a critical thumbs up.

[shewhohashope.livejournal.com]

I heard of it from the latest Northanger Abbey adaptation, but this made me want to read it!

Even Satan's self with thee might dread to dwell, And in thy skull discern a deeper hell

[faithhopetricks.livejournal.com]

Aww, The Monk! I read that in a Gothick Seminare! It was awesome. How much do I love that he stood for Hindon? THIS MUCH.

[tekalynn.livejournal.com]

I think much of The Monk can be described as "So, the Devil farts in my face once more." Also a very nice digression on why the Bible is not suitable reading for proper young ladies.

[faithhopetricks.livejournal.com]

this young Lady is discovered reading -- the holy scriptures are her study -- but she studies them in a manuscript of her mother's compilation; because, as we are gravely told, the sacred book itself is too full of gross indelicacy and indecency to be put into the hands of a virtuous young woman! What a pity that the author has not followed up this notable discovery, by presenting the world with a new edition of the Bible, purged of its immoralities by his own chaste hand, or that he had not at least referred us to those passages which in his opinion are so likely to pollute the mind of youth!

//cackles

[oursin.livejournal.com]

Yes, but do the mammoths play any significant role, or are they just symbolic?

[vom-marlowe.livejournal.com]

Maybe they are the Pygmy Mammoths so recently discovered? That would be cool.

[oursin.livejournal.com]

Oooh yes, pygmy mammoths are what every gothic novel needs!

[sam-t.livejournal.com]

No, wait, I've got it: her ancestors lived in a mammoth-house, so logically they must be mammoths. Therefore the heroine is at least part-mammoth, or perhaps an elephant, depending on how far back the mammoths were. This may be a new departure in gothic novels.

Perhaps the legends of the past involve some sort of prehistoric zookeeper.

(Also, I've just noticed that house apparently has its attics above the roof. Evidently when they turned into tentacles they crawled out of the chimneys, or something.)

[gwynnega]

Bonus points for the tentacles.

[loligo.livejournal.com]

Here are valancourtbooks recs for the 10 Weirdest Gothics Ever (http://valancourtbooks.livejournal.com/93979.html), if you might be interested in that.

[sam-t.livejournal.com]

Wait, what? She's living in ... a mammoth with tentacles?

[faithhopetricks.livejournal.com]

...wait wait wait what. I just clicked thru on the author tag -- Isabelle Holland? Isabelle "author of Love, Death and Other Journeys" Holland, one of my favourite books as a kid and which I tried to find for decades and finally got in hardback a couple years ago?

//BOGGLE