A Writer of Weird and Ghostly Things
This past week I finished The Italian by Ann Radcliffe, meaning that I’ve finally read the Big Three of her novels, the other two being The Mysteries of Udolpho and The Romance of the Forest.
At some point, I’d like to talk about these three in comparison, as well as the consider The Italian alongside more contemporary writing, but I thought it would make sense to start out with a brief review.
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This is a picture of Bran Castle in Romania, taken by PMatlock.
This past weekend, when I was touring my book in Michigan, I had the first opportunity in a couple years to visit Detroit.
Of course, the city’s national and international reputation has been legendary for most of its existence, and most recently by its bizarre status as a sort of non-America within America; a disempowered place with almost a million residents, terrible statistics for crime, poverty, and abandonment, and so on. Naturally, the Great Recession and government bailout of the Detroit Three automakers has only solidified this reputation.
Additionally, however, the city looms large on America’s Gothic landscape, perhaps moreso than any other city in the U.S. (although New York and New Orleans will give anyone a run for their money).
From today’s vantage point, Detroit’s Gothic status is artistically-driven. Gothic inflections are visible in muscular but cavernous churches, factories, and mansions, many of them abandoned. In the public art and sculpture which evokes either an impassioned enlightenment and calculated power. And most eloquently, in the city’s music scene, which is as colorful and dynamic as the economy is bleak.
The new Smashing Pumpkins project, Teargarden by Kaleidyscope… is it Gothic?
Post your opinion as a comment!
Check back tomorrow for my own interpretation.
at amazon.com
