skygiants | (no subject)

I do really dig The Gothic as a genre so I did take it as more or less a given that I was going to enjoy the most blockbuster Gothic novel of recent years, Silvia Moreno-Garcia's Mexican Gothic, and about this I was correct! I don't really have a ton to say about it because it pretty much did what I expected it to do: take the base Gothic plot of "girl meets sinister house populated by sinister men keeping a WILD secret" and commit to it enthusiastically, while also pulling firmly on the threads of racism and sexism that run through the genre to ensure that the reader doesn't forget about them while enjoying the wild ride of the book.

The premise: glamorous Mexico City socialite Noemi Taboada's beloved cousin Catalina has married into a weird and reclusive British family that built themselves a very British manor in a remote Mexican mining town. Now the beloved cousin has more or less disappeared except for one very unnerving letter, so Noemi's father has sent plucky Noemi to investigate what's going on.

What's going on: the family is very weird and very creepy and definitely kind of eugenicist! Catalina is definitely not okay! There were some very dramatic murders in the past? Everyone in the village is scared?? There might be something kind of gross in the walls??? Noemi is determined to stick it out and not be intimidated away until she's achieved some kind of concrete results wrt Catalina; this may be a mistake! Run, Noemi!

If you clicked on this cut I assume that either a.) you read the book and want to talk about it or b.) you haven't yet read the book yet but want to know what the eventual dramatic reveal is about what makes the house so sinister. And you are right to, because it's phenomenal. The answer is: MIND CONTROL MUSHROOMS GROWN IN THE LIVING CORPSE OF THE FAMILY PATRIARCH'S FIRST WIFE WHO LIVES IN THE BASEMENT. God, I love the Gothic.

I do wish that Catalina had had an opportunity to be a little more of a person with a present personality that we cared about rather than a dazed cipher that Noemi needs to rescue, but I do understand that there was a lot going on elsewise with the MIND CONTROL MUSHROOMS.

I also have to admit that my extensive Gothic reading misled me a little here because I was CONVINCED that sweet gormless Francis was going to turn out to be the worst of the horrible lot, because the boring but perfectly nice love interest in a Gothic always turns out to be the worst of the lot. Anyway, it is a terrible idea for Noemi to continue dating Francis after they've all escaped but I'm fairly sure the book also does think it's a terrible idea from that 'can we ever really escape' last dialogue so I'm mollified somewhat.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

genarti

I commented about this to you in person, but I will say it again here: I found the language fascinating, because as far as I'm aware it was written in English from the start (though I know nothing about Moreno-Garcia's writing process), but it very much reads as if it was translated into English, to me. Lots of words and phrasings that aren't quite the standard way to put it, and so forth.

And if this were, indeed, translated from Spanish to English by a translator, I would have opinions about that choice! (And others would have very different opinions and we could have an enthusiastic back-and-forth about it; I don't mean to say that my opinions would be the officially correct ones or anything, just that I would have them.) But as far as I know it's not, which means it's the original author's choice to have it read to the original English-reader audience like this, so that's intriguing and complex.

I did, personally, find it a somewhat distancing choice. But maybe that's Moreno-Garcia's intention! It would certainly be the height of irony for me, a white Anglo descendent of colonizers, to sit here and complain that this book was insufficiently targeted to and centered on me.

(On another note, I agree about sweet gormless Francis and my assumptions of him.)

From:

izilen

I may have to read this for the express purpose of talking to you about this writing choice! I have many thoughts and feelings about *gestures vaguely* this sort of thing.

From:

genarti

If you do end up reading it, I would be very much interested in hearing your thoughts and feelings on it!

From:

skygiants

I also would love to hear your thoughts and feelings about this!

From:

skygiants

I told you this already, but I'm glad you commented here about this, as I think it's an interesting point and I might not have noticed it if you hadn't brought it up!

From:

chestnut_pod

I too thought Francis would be the worst of the lot! I still think he is, as my grandmother would say, no better than he ought to be *stern eyebrow*

From:

skygiants

INDEED. I have great sympathy for 'raised in a horrible mushroom cult' but there were Many Ways to Avoid the Escalation of the Situation!

From:

whimsyful

The reveal was amazing! I knew something was going on with all the mentions of the mold in the wallpaper, but my guess was more along the lines of hallucinogenic mold, not hive mind magical mushrooms co-opted by a racist for his own ends.

Catalina was very faded and pale as a character at first, but I liked that she was trying to warn others and fight the Doyles, in her own way, despite having been trapped and exposed for much longer than Noemí. Also by the end she'd (rot13 fgenvtug hc fgnoorq gjb thlf va gur snpr), which was pretty great.

Yeah, Francis is sweet, but I'm half convinced that Noemí's going to break up with him six months after she's back in Mexico City.

From:

skygiants

This is TRUE I did appreciate that, and I'm glad she survived to the end of the experience -- I was very concerned that she wouldn't!

Noemi absolutely ought to break up with Francis six months after she's back in Mexico City. I might accept the endgame romance after they've both lived rich lives, married other people, and reconnected in their forties as people who've shared a uniquely horrible experience that others simply don't understand but please, kids, date around some first!

From:

kore

WOW

From:

skygiants

The backstory is A LOT which is exactly the way a Gothic ought to be!

From:

sophia_sol

I am personally a bit too much of a wuss for the intensity of gothics but I am DELIGHTED to know the wild things this book is doing and I love it! mind control mushrooms!!

From:

skygiants

Many of the seventies Gothics I find funnier than scary, tbh, but this one definitely had some high-key horror vibes!

From:

lirazel

I also enjoyed the book (though not as much as many people did) and loved how much it committed to the Gothic tropes!

From:

skygiants

If the final twist doesn't leave you going "?!?!?!?!?!" can it truly be called a Gothic?

From:

izilen

As soon as I saw someone mention 7 Seeds in relation to this I wondered if it was, indeed, mushrooms.

From:

skygiants

No one is ever going to utilize horrible mushrooms as successfully as Yumi Tamura and we all have to accept this ....

From:

glitteryv

I too thought Francis was gonna turn out to be the ultimate villain. FWIW, I am unsure if prior familiarity with the gothic genre enhances the experience or not (in my case, I certainly did.)

This author has be one of my discoveries this year. I am on the long queue for Untamed Shore and cannot wait to read it!

From:

skygiants

This is the first book I've read by her too, and I'm definitely excited to explore more of her work!

From:

glitteryv

Gods of Jade and Shadow was my first book by her and I liked it a lot. My one niggle with that book is that the author + the marketing sort of shrugged off the YA angle.

In any case, this author deffo switches genres. Which makes for more entertaining reading.:)

From:

sandrylene

I read one of Silvia Moreno-Garcia's other works this year, Gods of Jade and Shadow, and quite enjoyed it, so was strongly considering reading this one, since it seemed to get good reviews, etc. I chickened out, though, when I clued to the genre and was afraid it might be too scary... You know me reasonably well - do you think I should try to read it, or would I run, gibbering, into the night? :D?

I haven't looked at your spoilery section, and what I could glean from the non-cut section doesn't tell me if I would share your joy. :)

From:

skygiants

Hmmmmm, I'm trying to decide! Gothic is different than horror, but it doesn't have none horror vibes ... but I also haven't gotten the impression that it's significantly more intense than Gods of Jade and Shadow, honestly -- can you give me a sense of what the scare levels are in that one, or calibration?

From:

sandrylene

I'm good at replying in a timely fashion. <_< So Gods of Jade and Shadow was really pretty standard fantasy tropey and not scary at all. It's a bunch of "we need to find these things, and this may involve dealing with people we don't like," and is pretty much just a hero's journey thing, and IMO there was nothing other than "it's minorly creepy this book starts out with skeleton dude coming to life." So effectively I don't think reading that book means anything about reading her other stuff, at least for this gothic one, because it's just not even the same genre.