Customer Reviews

Gothic (The New Critical Idiom)

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This book is fabulous if you are looking for a historical survey of Gothic which does not lose itself in the labyrinth of feminist theory. However, I think Botting spreads himself a bit too thin in attempting to cover works like Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper" in one sentence. I loved this book for bringing out the evolution of Gothic from early works to the present.

This book is a pretty good read. It goes further in depth than the previous Gothic lit book which I reviewed. This particular book goes into better detail and begins to get more specific, while citing specific details and excerpts from classic Gothic texts. This book was required for one of my lower level English lit classes so I had to purchase it, I don't regret purchasing and will probably keep it after the class is over.

This is a wonderful book but has one major problem no index. There are many blank pages in the rear of the book where an index should be printed. Without the index next to impossible to find specific information. The book contains useful information. Had I realized I would have returned but now it is too late. I have the 2005 edition, I purchased about 1 month ago from Amazon.

This is the perfect introduction to a study of both Gothic Literature and, by extension, 20th Century horror literature and cinema. The author walks a fine line between academic and accessible and keeps things moving along at a nice pace, covering 250 years in under 200 pages. The book is part of the Routledge "New Critical Idiom" series that sums up concepts from literary and critical theory in nice digestible servings. If you are an undergrad looking for a place to start your research or a non-academic who isn't afraid to get a little theoretical, I'd recommend this book highly.