October 2023 in review
The funniest Gothic tale I ever did read
Dear Reader,
Happy November!
I hope you had a lovely October. I don’t necessarily want time to pass quickly, but November is my favourite month of the year. I don’t like the cold weather, but I do love that it leads into the festive season and the festive season is my favourite time of year. So here we are, another year almost over. I hope it’s been a good one for you, dear reader.
Here is what I read in October. Please let me know in the comments what you read.
Edgar Allan Poe is credited with writing the first detective stories. The Paris Mysteries is a collection of three short detective stories set in Paris, featuring detective Auguste Dupin. While I enjoyed reading these Paris-based mysteries, they were a little slow for me. There was too much talking about the cases, and not enough action (ie running around to solve the murders). But these stories spawned countless other detectives, such as Sherlock Holmes. So we do owe a debt of gratitude to Poe.
The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole (1717-1797) is considered the first Gothic novel. Walpole invented the themes of terror found in many later gothic novels. The plot in The Castle of Otranto is ridiculous. Conrad, the son of Manfred, prince of Otranto, dies early on in the novel. Manfred takes it upon himself to marry his late son’s fiancee, Isabella. This is because Manfred is terrified that a catastrophe will befall him if he doesn’t have more sons (his wife cannot give him more heirs). Rightfully so, Isabella does not want to marry Manfred. She runs away from him and spends the rest of the novel in hiding. She is either hiding in dark, dank basements or in caves. Manfred goes on a crusade to find her and to force her into marrying him. Dear reader, I spent the entire first chapter laughing.
Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa is a charming novella set in the book district of Tokyo. The main character, Takako, loses her boyfriend and her job all at once. She enters into a depressive state and nothing can get her out of it. But one day, her maternal uncle telephones her and asks her to move into his bookshop. Takako hasn’t spoken to her uncle in years and seems confused by his kindness. But to try and get back on her feet, she moves into a room above his bookshop. There she learns to fall in love with reading. She also starts working at the bookshop, getting to know her uncle and his customers. While it’s a charming tale of trying to find happiness again, I was a little surprised that the novella ended up focusing more on Takako’s uncle and his estranged wife. It ended up being a very good read with a satisfying ending. It just wasn’t what I thought it was going to be. Pick it up if you are keen on reading a charming, feel-good tale set in a bookshop in Tokyo.
I also listened to a collection of personal and comedic essays read by the author David Sedaris. David Sedaris: Live at Carnegie Hall is a short audiobook of Sedaris’s live reading. The essays are based on his family. He has a biting wit that I found too sarcastic for my taste, but I’ll probably read more of his work. I do enjoy that he pokes fun at his Greek family, for obvious reasons.
As always, thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading and being here. I appreciate your time and the space you make for me in your inbox.
Have a wonderful weekend!
H.P. Lovecraft's comments on the importance of The Castle of Otranto are worth revisiting:
https://www.hplovecraft.com/writings/texts/essays/shil.aspx
I have a copy of The Castle of Otranto, but have never read it. This line of HPL's about it has stuck with me, lo these many decades: "... the lad, by the way, having been crushed by the preternatural fall of a gigantic helmet in the castle courtyard." My cinematic imagination of that scene, just based on those few words, is so good, and has remained with me in all its purity for so long, that I am afraid that actually reading the book would ruin it.
I would love to read more gothic romance in the new year. I have some Ann Radcliffe lined up and Castle of Otranto is also on my list. I'd like to visit Walpole's house next year too, Strawberry Hill. It looks wonderful, have you been? I think it's fairly easy to get to from central London.