Gothic: Four Hundred Years of Excess, Horror, Evil and Ruin (Paperback)

~ Richard Davenport-Hines (Author) "Vesuvius has always evoked terror..." (more)
Key Phrases: rococo gothic, gothic imagination, gothic imagery, Salvator Rosa, Strawberry Hill, Horace Walpole (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Though separated by time, place and vocation, Neapolitan landscape painter Salvator Rosa, English novelist Mary Shelley and American filmmaker David Lynch all belong to the same exclusive club. So argues Davenport-Hines (Auden), often persuasively, in his sweeping examination of modern Western culture's fascination with the dark side. Davenport-Hines holds that a coherent antirationalist tradition can be traced through the work of figures as diverse as Francisco Goya, the Duke of Argyll, Lord Byron, Theodor Adorno and 1980s rock singer Robert Smith of the Cure. He deftly situates the gothicAbroadly defined here as a nonconformist sensibility marked by a morbid fascination with death, decay and the uncannyAin a history that includes the barbarian invasions of Rome and the nature-defying hubris of medieval European architecture. Of course celebrated gothic novelists such as Ann Radcliffe, Matthew "Monk" Lewis and Horace Walpole receive treatment, but more interesting is the author's identification of gothic elements in the work of artists seldom placed in the gloom-and-doom tradition, such as Alexander Pope's carefully planned, and to the 20th-century eye almost kitschy, gardens. The book's efforts to make spiritual confreres of figures as apparently unrelated as Pope and Ian Curtis, the suicidal frontman of gloomy rock group Joy Division, accounts for much of its appeal. And, indeed, the clear delight Davenport-Hines takes in making bedfellows of poets and pop stars, philosophers and splatterpunks, indicates his own penchant for the bizarre and subversive. Although his definition of the gothic becomes at times too elastic, this richly illustrated survey is no less enjoyable and informative for its author's ambition. (June)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

The enduring interest in Gothic and macabre images and stories has drawn the attention of contemporary scholars and critics. Departing from recent volumes that analyze the Gothic in contemporary culture and arts, British critic Davenport-Hines (Auden, Pantheon, 1996) has produced a comprehensive survey of Gothic themes in art, architecture, literature, and film since the early 17th century. Arranged in a sometimes disjointed combination of historic and thematic exposition, the book traces the Gothic imagination: its roots, the 18th-century "Gothic revival," the 19th-century classics (such as Frankenstein and Dracula) that epitomize the genre, the American Gothic, and manifestations of the Gothic in popular culture and film. The level of detail is sometimes excessive, and some chapters seem to lose their focus, but overall, this work provides an informed and readable survey of the genre. Unfortunately, the notes are difficult to use, and the in-text citations are not always clear or explicit. For larger public libraries.AJulia Burch, Cambridge, MA
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: North Point Press; illustrated edition edition (June 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0865475903
• ISBN-13: 978-0865475908
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,243,729 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Hines investigates why we love to be afraid of the dark!, August 3, 1999

By	[e-mail] or Clint Bryant (Florida, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gothic: Four Hundred Years of Excess, Horror, Evil and Ruin (Hardcover)

Using all his powers of perception Richard Davenport-Hines draws the black curtains back and reveals why humans have this odd fascination with anything gothic. Though insightful and often thorough to a painful degree, Hines seems to hit all the highlights in what is a most difficult topic to cover completely. Far from objective Hines gives his opinon on the greater and lesser talents of the Macabre, from Lord Byron to Poppy Z. Brite, Hines speaks about his subjects with passion or with ambivalence, depending on his preferance. Though the start is slow, tracing the history of English Gardens the book gradually builds up steam until the end, in which with great love he speaks of English modern artists. Throughout Hines is insightful and his style of writing mixed with the sordidness of the subject matter leads to a good informative book with plenty of appeal for those interested in the Gothic tradition.

14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Don't finish this book, September 29, 2000

By	"s-ray" (Synchronous City) - See all my reviews

This book was excellent, and would have had a fifth star had it not been for the last horrible chapter. Lacking the structure and finesse of the previous text (deadline panic?), the final chapter, which covers the most recent gothic trends, overlooks much obviously important contemporary gothic work. Perhaps the most overlooked item is Neil Gaiman's Sandman comic, a highly intelligent and powerful work of art that elevated the gothic genre higher than most any other piece in recent history. And focusing on the imitative, excremental writing of Poppy Brite, whose emotional infantilism employs gothic's worst tropes, undermines much of Davenport-Hines' previous text. Film-wise, much was passed over from Freaks up until David Lynch. Even Blade Runner, though sci-fi, emphasizes gothic conventions. And musically, where was the mention of the likes of the Damned, or the Misfits, or even Skinny Puppy, who upped the ante on Alice Cooper's theatrics, who himself was heavily influenced by the non-theatrical reality of Iggy Pop's nihilism? Artwise, the Surrealists--and the Dadaists--questioned the value of life and society in ways that perpetuated gothic ideas. What about Artaud, and the Grand Guignol theater? Mentioning Damien Hirst and the Chapman brothers reeks of name-dropping and filler more than it does the gothic aesthetic. Although these artists are fascinating in their own macabre fashion, they hardly embody the very gothic qualities the author himself spent the rest of the book building (excepting perhaps the Brothers' recreation of Goya's drawing). Do we really need to know about Hirst's restaurant? The last chapter should have been the strongest considering its temporal proximity to the present, but instead was its weakest. A book like this can't be expected to detail everything, but the closer the timeline came to contemporary culture, the bigger the gaps. The rest of it, however, was so strong and fascinating in its own right that the sins of the end can be forgiven. Avoid the last chapter and remain satisfied.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must for everyone interested in gothic, July 9, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Gothic: Four Hundred Years of Excess, Horror, Evil and Ruin (Hardcover)

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It is both exitingly written and scholarly convincing which is rare indeed. This is a must for everyone interested in gothic,it covers everything from 18th century gothic garden architecture to horror films and modern gothic fiction. An ample dose of "excess, horror, evil and ruin"...