We didn't get to celebrate Halloween the way we usually do --I mostly just had a car ride in a cutesy summery-french-river-picnic-inspired witch outfit and a naked face and then ended the day with Jack and ginger ale, but it was what it was. So when Halloween ended and November came in and everyone with their peppermints and their reds and greens --I refused to let go of the spooky autumn vibe that I felt I hadn't really had the time to enjoy (it also didn't help that I had just finished watching the new season of Castlevania on Netflix, and it made me feel a little nostalgic and inspired).
So! Of course I had to research Gothic literature, and I've got myself a lineup of things to read to keep the creepy cold feeling alive! There are some novels and some short stories, and even some poetry, I think..but these are the tales that appealed to me, and so here is my November mood reading/tbr:
The desire to pick up Carmilla is 100% inspired by Castlevania, and looking into it, the story is older than Dracula, so of course I have to read it. And then Dracula is going to be a reread, but I was skimming through it earlier this spring (a friend was writing a paper on it), and there's so much more in it than I remember, so this is the perfect time to venture and rediscover. And the last novel is Radcliffe's The Italian, which I am picking up simply because there may be a villainous religious man and a love story, I don't know.
The list of short stories & poems consists of:
- A Terrible Vengeance, by Gogol
- Viy, by Gogol
- "Demon" by Lermontov
- "The Bridegroom" by Pushkin
- The Queen of Spades, by Pushkin
This list also encourages me to give Gogol another chance --he's always described to me as a surrealist who writes about class differences (which doesn't appeal to me much) --but if you sell him to me as a fantastic & Gothic type of writer, then maybe that will hit me much harder, yes?
And seeing Lermontov's name, I wonder if I ought to include a reread of A Hero of Our Time. That has a strange atmosphere to it as well.
On a completely different note, there's another novel, Putney, that has caught my eye that seems to be Nabokov-inspired, but it focuses mostly on a person's agency, which interests me. So if I end up purchasing it, I may use it as a little breather from all the Gothic lit (Also, the colors on the cover are just perfect?).
Although, I should also still try to find comfy-cozy reads for Christmas, too..It's all a mess, really..
Okay, well I suppose that's it for now, I don't know when the next time I'll write (this old laptop is actually really terrible to write with now..), but I'll try to find the patience for it again sometime soon, I hope! Bye. x
Love, Lizzie. x
