Nick Groom
Teoksen Introducing Shakespeare tekijä
Tietoja tekijästä
Nick Groom traces the true origins of the vampire: from the Enlightenment, when the creature embodied human fears about the theology, philosophy, medicine, and science, to more recent times, when it emerged as an unlikely hero of the marginalized and exclude.
Tekijän teokset
Associated Works
Merkitty avainsanalla
Yleistieto
- Kanoninen nimi
- Groom, Nick
- Virallinen nimi
- Groom, Nicholas Michael
- Syntymäaika
- 1966
- Sukupuoli
- male
- Kansalaisuus
- UK
- Asuinpaikat
- Dartmoor, Devon, England, UK
- Koulutus
- Bedford Modern School
Oxford University (Hertford College) - Ammatit
- Professor of English Literature
- Organisaatiot
- University of Exeter
- Lyhyt elämäkerta
- Nicholas Michael Groom FRSA (born 1966) is Professor of English Literature at the University of Exeter, an author on subjects ranging from the history of the Union Jack to Thomas Chatterton, has edited several books and regularly appears on television, radio and at literary festivals as an authority on English Literature, seasonal customs, J. R. R. Tolkien, the ‘Gothic’ and ‘British’ and 'English' identities. Due to his extensive work on the Gothic, especially on the history of vampires, he has become known as the 'Prof of Goth' in the media and has written several articles on the Goth scene, including essays on the singer, Nick Cave.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Gro...
Jäseniä
Kirja-arvosteluja
Introducing Shakespeare: A Graphic Guide Tekijä: Nick Groom
Actually it’s quite boring. I expected it to be an intro or a 101 to appreciate the works of the bard. But this was a barrage of facts and trivia meant for researchers and academics interested in Shakespeare. Not my book of choice to get introduced to the works of William Shakespeare.
I thoroughly enjoyed that!
If I say it's 5⭐ then that's from a Tolkienista perspective, so you'll need to judge for yourself how trustworthy you find my rating 😏
Groom has interesting perspectives on Tolkien's process, intent and legacy. I found it most engaging when dealing with Tolkien's life and works, the chapters on other adaptations, principally Peter Jackson's films, marginally less so, though I'll return to the Hobbit films more open-mindedly.
If I say it's 5⭐ then that's from a Tolkienista perspective, so you'll need to judge for yourself how trustworthy you find my rating 😏
Groom has interesting perspectives on Tolkien's process, intent and legacy. I found it most engaging when dealing with Tolkien's life and works, the chapters on other adaptations, principally Peter Jackson's films, marginally less so, though I'll return to the Hobbit films more open-mindedly.
This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress, Blogspot & Librarything by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: The Gothic
Series: A Very Short Introduction
Author: Nick Groom
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Non-Fiction
Pages: 167
Words: 46.5K
Synopsis:
From Libraything.com
The Gothic is wildly diverse. It can refer to ecclesiastical architecture, supernatural fiction, cult horror films, and a distinctive style of rock music. It has influenced political theorists and social reformers, as well as Victorian home décor and contemporary fashion. Nick Groom shows how the Gothic has come to encompass so many meanings by telling the story of the Gothic from the ancient tribe who sacked Rome to the alternative subculture of the present day.
This unique Very Short Introduction reveals that the Gothic has predominantly been a way of understanding and responding to the past. Time after time, the Gothic has been invoked in order to reveal what lies behind conventional history. It is a way of disclosing secrets, whether in the constitutional politics of seventeenth-century England or the racial politics of the United States. While contexts change, the Gothic perpetually regards the past with fascination, both yearning and horrified. It reminds us that neither societies nor individuals can escape the consequences of their actions.
The anatomy of the Gothic is richly complex and perversely contradictory, and so the thirteen chapters here range deliberately widely. This is the first time that the entire story of the Gothic has been written as a continuous history: from the historians of late antiquity to the gardens of Georgian England, from the mediaeval cult of the macabre to German Expressionist cinema, from Elizabethan Revenge Tragedy to American consumer society, from folk ballads to vampires, from the past to the present.
My Thoughts:
This book gives me hope for this series. Of course, it may just be that the author thinks in the same patterns I do and that that is what I found engaging about this book. Whatever it was, this is the VSI book that I'll be comparing the rest of the series to until I find a better one.
I was fascinated with how Groom connects the dots from the Goth tribes (and gives us a glimpse into the fight among historians about what that even means) to the Gothic arctitecture to how that falling out of favor led to the gothic novel and how the ideas behind those novels leads to the music bands of today. I don't know how solidly his workmanship would stand up if I had doctorates of one sort or another, but as an Introduction, this was everything I could have asked for.
I used the word “fascinating” and I think that pretty much describes my reaction to the whole book. Groom explores the ideas and philosophies behind each phase of The Gothic (and you know how weird it sounds to add the capital “The” every time? Makes me feel that I need to sound a trumpet and shout “The Gothic” has entered the room!”) and how one slowly melded into the next. The whole cause and effect is what I liked about this book.
In short, a top notch entry in the VSI series and a great read even if you have no interest in …. (wait for it.... * trumpets *) The Gothic!
★★★☆½… (lisätietoja)
Title: The Gothic
Series: A Very Short Introduction
Author: Nick Groom
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Non-Fiction
Pages: 167
Words: 46.5K
Synopsis:
From Libraything.com
The Gothic is wildly diverse. It can refer to ecclesiastical architecture, supernatural fiction, cult horror films, and a distinctive style of rock music. It has influenced political theorists and social reformers, as well as Victorian home décor and contemporary fashion. Nick Groom shows how the Gothic has come to encompass so many meanings by telling the story of the Gothic from the ancient tribe who sacked Rome to the alternative subculture of the present day.
This unique Very Short Introduction reveals that the Gothic has predominantly been a way of understanding and responding to the past. Time after time, the Gothic has been invoked in order to reveal what lies behind conventional history. It is a way of disclosing secrets, whether in the constitutional politics of seventeenth-century England or the racial politics of the United States. While contexts change, the Gothic perpetually regards the past with fascination, both yearning and horrified. It reminds us that neither societies nor individuals can escape the consequences of their actions.
The anatomy of the Gothic is richly complex and perversely contradictory, and so the thirteen chapters here range deliberately widely. This is the first time that the entire story of the Gothic has been written as a continuous history: from the historians of late antiquity to the gardens of Georgian England, from the mediaeval cult of the macabre to German Expressionist cinema, from Elizabethan Revenge Tragedy to American consumer society, from folk ballads to vampires, from the past to the present.
My Thoughts:
This book gives me hope for this series. Of course, it may just be that the author thinks in the same patterns I do and that that is what I found engaging about this book. Whatever it was, this is the VSI book that I'll be comparing the rest of the series to until I find a better one.
I was fascinated with how Groom connects the dots from the Goth tribes (and gives us a glimpse into the fight among historians about what that even means) to the Gothic arctitecture to how that falling out of favor led to the gothic novel and how the ideas behind those novels leads to the music bands of today. I don't know how solidly his workmanship would stand up if I had doctorates of one sort or another, but as an Introduction, this was everything I could have asked for.
I used the word “fascinating” and I think that pretty much describes my reaction to the whole book. Groom explores the ideas and philosophies behind each phase of The Gothic (and you know how weird it sounds to add the capital “The” every time? Makes me feel that I need to sound a trumpet and shout “The Gothic” has entered the room!”) and how one slowly melded into the next. The whole cause and effect is what I liked about this book.
In short, a top notch entry in the VSI series and a great read even if you have no interest in …. (wait for it.... * trumpets *) The Gothic!
★★★☆½… (lisätietoja)
England is a country of traditions, some of which have their roots racing back 1000 years or more. And in this book, Groom seeks to unravel those that are still around today and uncover those that have sadly disappeared.
He starts with time, and how the months and days of a year have changed and moved over millennia, before reaching the main concern of any book on England, and a chapter on the weather, and how this ever changing entity has given us saints days, folklore and most of all something to always talk about.
Beginning then with spring, he moves through the seasons. He weaves songs and poems and prose, and highlights the fairs and festivals that punctuated each season. He has gone back to find the origins of these, from pagan celebrations, Christian holiday and there are even the odd one or two that can be traced back to the Roman period. Some of these are still celebrated, like May Day and Guy Fawkes night, but there are some he discovers in his research that have now been lost.
Well written throughout, and extensively researched, Groom has give us a book that will stand as a reference point for all those who are interested in the history of the English culture.… (lisätietoja)
He starts with time, and how the months and days of a year have changed and moved over millennia, before reaching the main concern of any book on England, and a chapter on the weather, and how this ever changing entity has given us saints days, folklore and most of all something to always talk about.
Beginning then with spring, he moves through the seasons. He weaves songs and poems and prose, and highlights the fairs and festivals that punctuated each season. He has gone back to find the origins of these, from pagan celebrations, Christian holiday and there are even the odd one or two that can be traced back to the Roman period. Some of these are still celebrated, like May Day and Guy Fawkes night, but there are some he discovers in his research that have now been lost.
Well written throughout, and extensively researched, Groom has give us a book that will stand as a reference point for all those who are interested in the history of the English culture.… (lisätietoja)
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