/lit/ - Literature

I'm not one for genrefagging too much so I don't know if this counts as gothic, but I like this and Dorian Gray for similar reasons.

>>20667624
bump

>>20667624
Pale View of Hills by Ishiguro

bump

>>20667624
How about southern gothic? Try Faulkner, i.e. As I Lay Dying, The Sound and the Fury, and Light in August.

>>20667624
James Hogg, justified sinner.

>>20667624

hmm...

>>20667650
was apparently Kurt Cobain's favorite book. Sorry for ruining it for you.

feel this could be relevant

>>20669583
This one is more specifically Gothic

>>20669578
shut the fuck

Is there any "intelligent" gothic literature? The Picture of Dorian Gray is the closest I've read so far.

The Sorrows of Satan by Marie Corelli. Wilde was supposedly a fan of hers if that means anything to you.

Can gothic lit be written today? How would such a thing be done? With the advent of Twilight even Vampires are norm core now it would seem. Is gothic literature dead bros?

>>20667624
I love gothic /lit/.Turn of the Screw is really good, Dracula, and anything by Shirley Jackson. I Am Legend was really good and similar vibe but it's NOT gothic. It's a similar vibe to gothic but to me it doesn't qualify as gothic also it's a thriller. I highly recommend it and I haven't read anything else of Richard Matheson (I plan to this fall) but it's basically gothic adjacent imo. Virgina Woolf's To The Lighthouse has a similar vibe to gothic as well, but it's not a neat overlap. Rebecca also should be mentioned here, as well as most of Daphne du Maurier's works
>>20671064
Turn of the Screw
>>20672696
Yes absolutely. I think gothic really gets to me because it fits in with so many wonderful experiences of life that I've had today. The core of the aesthetic is stuff that transcends any time context (romantic darkness, environmental focus, complex negative emotions, focus on the past, touching the supernatural through the natural) and I think it's experiencing a resurgence in our culture.

>>20673493
Thats a really thoughtful response. Thanks dude. have to admit I think I just outgrow my edge lord phase. I enjoy older buildings more and I favor darker colours in terms of clothing but as the real reason I write what I write, I just like vampires and werewolves. Now of course thee is room for a nice conversation to had with these tropes or themes but that is purely secondary to me.

>>20673724
I think it's a very adult genre, because it deals with things that you don't experience until adulthood but slowly become "dark" universal human experiences. Stuff like decay, loss, longing, the past, sanity, loneliness, spirituality, and it's a celebration or romanticizing of these "darker" features of life. I genuinely think it's helpful and healthy because it teaches you about this stuff and it's personally given me a lot more depth in my life because I have a better relationship with the experiences that may happen to me when I'm in my worst moments in life. When I go through a traumatic experience, a loss, or see myself and other decay, it leads to better wellbeing if you can incorporate that into the "narrative" of your life. There's something really special about that, it's not delusion or unrealistic, it's essentially full acceptance of the bad experiences. I think that's why I don't view it as "edgy" because there's a certain maturity in that: to fall deeper into the experience of life rather than alienate yourself into a hopeless apathy. Wistfully romancing my life in this way might seem silly to the edgelords (because they're hopeless) but ultimately it's much more emotionally, psychologically, and socially intelligent.

I will say too that it has broadened my depth of empathy for others as well, like I feel I have a better understanding of muddy emotions or I'm able to sit with them in the darkness of their heart. Sadness is a very human experience and I think that's mostly why it confers these benefits, I think gothic hits sadness better than any other genre.

>>20673810
If you don't mind me replying to this you again I would say I see what you mean although I will confess to having edgelord tendencies myself at least in the fact that I'm hopeless. I don't want to be but I don't see the point in anything anymore. Contrarily when I began this thought process no matter how unintentional on my end I have never wanted to write more than I have during this time at my life, when it would mean the least.

>>20673810
great post

>>20673981
No YOU'RE a great post!

>>20673902
Oh ok, I mean books aren’t gonna fix what therapy needs to do for you, unless it’s a book on cognitive behavioral therapy or some sort of depression self help. Basically things have purpose because you decide your values and also because they’re stuff you like. My career for example doesn’t ((actually)) matter cosmically but it has meaning within the context of my life and that’s what really matters, imo. Like you can still enjoy love and sex and whatever, a movie isn’t less enjoyable because I know it’s finite or just people pretending. From dust to dust isn’t a bad thing inherently, it means we’re going through a fun little experience where we can fuck around and find out and you’re not REALLY beholden to anything. But that’s all just my opinion and your hopelessness is better suited for a therapist or /adv/.

>>20674404
>you’re not REALLY beholden to anything
God, I hate nihilism.

But I must confess, I love your genuine approach to this whole thread, fren. The world needs more of it.

Different person, btw, if that wasn't obvious

>>20675027
thanks

>>20675664
>Nothing in life matters
Why bother then? That's all I want to know. My therapist can't answer me properly, I can't bring myself to believe in god and if nothing matters later why would it matter now either? Why write a book, I'm just going to die.

>>20676289
Because its so much fun, why play games or eat tasty meals, when you could stare at a wall and eat grule every day. Just because iys meaningless doesnt mean it has to suck, have a grand ol'time and then that's that.

>>20676317
Okay first off let me be clear I'm not arguing with you here I just think if I write it out and think about it something will click and so to that point think you all for indulging in my existentialist dread. So as for your comment, I thought I could d that. Thats why I wanted to write for a while and it's why I wanted to learn to cook and play piano and not hate myself anymore. But something just happened gradually and those things were no longer ''enough'. It's not spiritual, it's not materialistic money doesn't really matter to me anymore either. All I want to know is why am I here? Why am I of all people alive? And what if I ignore this? what if I say I'll write the book and do what I've always wanted? And what if even with that done, when I've achieved unforetold wealth and do indeed live in abject wealth and luxury and notoriety... what if that's enough. What if the feelings I have now still persist? Thank you for hearing me out I'll shut up now and P.S. if anyone here has read Mysteries of Udolpho, was it any good? I want to buy it but it loos a bi too full? as in full of filler?

>>20676289
This is the image I wanted to post yesterday that was similar to the image I ended up posting and sort of delineates your question.
>Why bother then? That's all I want to know.
Why not? The point of "it doesn't matter" is that there are no rules, you go from societal pressure to absolutely no pressure your desire is the limit. Like I said before stuff like books and movies have meaning and give me enjoyment even though they're "ultimately meaningless" and I think fiction is a great example of this. I cannot control that the sun is going to explode sometime in the future or that I was born here and now to a regular family and not oligarchs. That does not mean my experiences were any less meaningful growing up or my family "doesn't matter" they do, even if ((we)) don't matter on the grand scale. These are two separate and tangential ideas and in my eyes they give MORE definition to each other. The fact that my family dramas or work politics can feel deeply meaningful and then there's this contrasting reminder of "well not really" doesn't make the feeling or experience less real, it simply removes the negative feelings of pressure that can be brought on by the situation. You can respect both that to my individual life, my wellness and desires in this short blip I have this stuff is meaningful while also letting go of the absurd notion of cosmic significance. It's like how when you were little and played a game with your friends (outdoors like manhunt or kickball or something) it wasn't worse off because it was meaningless. It's literally all just play and that's so beautiful, like we came from dust and will return to dust and I can have this overwhelming bounty of experiences in the meantime.
>Why write a book, I'm just going to die.
Why NOT write a book? You're going to die (can't control that) and you can write one now (can control that). You definitely can't write one when you're dead. You ARE going to die, so you can either sit in a room and wait for it or fuck around and have a good time before then in the limited amount of time you have to have a good time. Things don't need to have meaning to be enjoyable, there's no god sitting at the end of the universe saying
>oh he read lord of the rings! *checkmark*
but that doesn't make it any more or less of an enjoyable experience.
>>20676363
>All I want to know is why am I here?
When facing this question you have to bet down and assume there is no reasoning, because it only goes up from there.
>What if the feelings I have now still persist?
You get to a core issue that a lot of people don't have the fortune to be cognizant of before getting a little ways into life here. Your feelings and wellbeing matter more than anything else, which is why stuff like mental health, enjoying time with friends and family, exercise, work/life balance are so important. Your life is ultimately meaningless and your enjoyment of that life is at a base base level facilitated by all these things.

>>20669578
I like Nirvana. Kurt was a bit of a cringe lord, but I really don't care. I separate the art from the artist.

Is The Secret History gothic?