Ghost-Watching American Modernity: Haunting, Landscape, and the Hemispheric Imagination by Maria del Pilar Blanco

This monograph argues that we should be more attentive to the ways in which modernity haunts American literature; not with outright ghosts, but with two landscapes that uncannily exist simultaneously. Blanco makes a point of noting that her argument is not a generic one: often these hauntings transcend the genres of the gothic (in US literature) and the magically real (in Latin American literature). Blanco starts with a chapter on the hemispheric imaginary of haunting, before moving into three chapters that read specific scenarios: desert hauntings, urban hauntings, and transnational hauntings. She stakes a position as a close reader of texts (and thus, less interested in placing them in their historical contexts). The readings were not bad, but I found the theory of haunting more useful.

New American Gothic by Irving Malin

This book takes a psychoanalytic or Freudian approach to six American writers of the mid-twentieth century who produced gothic fictions: Flannery O'Connor, J.D. Salinger, Carson McCullers, Truman Capote, James Purdy, and John Hawkes. Malin argues that these gothic fictions start with a narcissistic protagonist, disruptive to community. There are often family problems: self-absorbed parents and isolated children. Three typical gothic figures (the haunted castle, the voyage into the forest, and the reflection), which were "mere props" in British gothic, become more psychologically important--and show how these American gothic fictions reflect a community disrupted. This book could have been much more persuasive; it was organized thematically (chapters on the narcissistic self, the family, and the three images), rather than by author, and the argument felt rushed (although part of it may have been my lack of familiarity with many of the authors and titles discussed). I also felt the psychological approach was limiting--many times the analysis seemed forced or overdone.

Grit Lit: A Rough South Reader edited by Brian Carpenter and Tom Franklin

This anthology collects short stories, excerpts of novels, and excerpts of autobiographical writing from what the editors describe as the rough south or grit lit genre. Indeed, the anthology shines in its generic formulation: the introduction and headnotes to each story help clarify what rough south means. In this case, it's contemporary (so Faulkner and O'Connor aren't here), it tends to be white and poor and created by outrageous autobiographical stories instead of academic training (although some of the later writers have participated in various MFA programs and other forms of higher education--and this experience raises ambivalent feelings in them), and it often features a kind of toughness or grit. I enjoyed the stories; some were better than others, but it was a fairly engaging collection all in all. Harry Crews's and Dorothy Allison's writings stand out as gems.

The Collected Stories of Eudora Welty by Eudora Welty

This book collects forty-one of Welty's stories including the collections A Curtain of Green, The Wide Net, The Golden Apples, and The Bride of Innisfallen and two previously uncollected stories. The Golden Apples hung together the best for me--they're almost all set in or around Morgana, Mississippi and feature the same characters at various points in their lives. I also enjoyed the stories that revisited historical events like the Burr plot and the Medgar Evers assassination. The stories are dense--there's a lot of meaning compressed into small actions, but the prose and the characters are both beautifully realized.

Let the Dead Bury Their Dead by Randall Kenan

This collection of short stories, mostly set in the fictional neighborhood of Tims Creek, North Carolina, delights with its beauty, humor, and meta-fictional commentary. The stories feature a wide range of protagonists, and gradually set out a depiction of a community with memorable characters. I particularly loved "Clarence and the Dead (and What do they tell you, Clarene? and The Dead Speak to Clarence)," "Things of This World ; or, Angels Unawares," and "Let the Dead Bury Their Dead; Being the Annotated Oral History of the Former Maroon Society called Snatchit and then Tearshirt and later the Town of Tims Creek, North Carolina [circa 1854-1985]." The stories show the magic inherent in everyday life and satirize academic attempts to interpret or explain the community.

Beautiful Redemption by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

This book still suffers from some of the problems that plague earlier books in the series: clunky Southern accents, fake-sounding Latin, a magic system that is difficult to parse, and (although this might be new I can't remember) bad poetry supposedly written by one of the protagonists. However, I thought the plot worked really well--it had a nice shape and I finally understood what was at stake in the Caster world. I wish we had seen more of the power structure and understood more of what goes on in the Far Keep earlier. I found starting with Ethan in a between-place after death refreshing, and I liked that the story forced its characters to make sacrifices and suffer the consequences of their choices. I think I would have liked this series better if I could have read the books one right after the other instead of each as they were being published, so the fact that they're all out now should be a boon for future readers.

The Complete Stories by Flannery O'Connor

This volume gathers all of Flannery O'Connor's published short stories. They are nothing short of brilliant. Every time I read "A Good Man Is Hard to Find," I see new details to admire and enhance my reading of the story. I think one of the reasons I admire these stories so much, is that O'Connor is so good at getting inside a person's head and exploding all his or her prejudices, bigotries, and limitations for the reader. It's not like she has a great deal of sympathy for these characters: she really doesn't hold back on her criticism, but on the other hand, she knows them so well that you have to think that she must like some part of them at least a little bit. Really magnificent: these stories are the work of a master of the form and the human condition.

Israel Potter by Herman Melville

This book is Melville's reworking of the historical story of Israel Potter, a private at the battle of Bunker Hill who quickly finds himself taken away from his new country and, after a series of intrigues, spends most of his life in poverty in London. This text is marked by Melville's interest in animal metaphors, the extreme gothic tropes (Potter is buried alive in a hidden room in an English house, for instance), and the story's lack of reward for a life well lived--even as Potter experiences one disappointment after another, things keep getting worse. It was initially published serially, which accounts for its episodic nature.

Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness

This book picks up where A Gathering of Witches left off: Matthew and Diana travel back in time to Elizabethan England to look for a manuscript known as Ashmole 782 which promises to reveal secrets about witches, vampires, and demons. Matthew was still a bit heavy handed for my tastes, but we did get to see more of Diana's power--and just as importantly--to get some explanation of why she has the powers she does. We also got a number of historical cameos, including Queen Elizabeth I, Kit Marlow (who has been both daemonized and demonized in this retelling), and, all too briefly, William Shakespeare. There was a lot of historical detail (it probably doesn't hurt that Deborah Harkness is an esteemed historian of seventeenth century England in addition to writing novels and blogging about wine), which added to the atmosphere of the piece. At times it felt like obstacles were thrown up and then almost immediately brushed away (for example, when Matthew takes Diana to his family home in France, Matthew's father Philippe insists that Matthew and Diana are not married and should not marry, but by the end of the section, less than a month later, throws them a lavish wedding). The mysteries of the Ashmole 782 only continue to grow; even though we get to see it again, the reader is left with questions instead of answers--but now it seems that the book is more an object or possession than a book. It's all setting things up for the third and final volume of the trilogy.

The Prisoner of Heaven by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

This book fills in some of the gaps left by The Shadow of the Wind and The Angel's Game, but it is nowhere near as complex, richly developed, or entertaining as the first two books in this remarkable series. Whereas both of the other books had surprising twists that developed the plot, this one was fairly straightforward. There weren't as many hoops to jump through. Still, I think without the first two books, it might be a difficult read all the same. I do think this volume left the door open for the fourth book in the cycle, and I think there's definitely room in the world for another rich volume, so I'll be looking for that with interest.

The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

This book is set in the same world as The Shadow of the Wind--marked especially by the Cemetery of Forgotten Books--but it is set a generation earlier. David Martín is a successful author of lurid gothic tales; many of his friends feel he is wasting his talents, but he's locked into a long-term contract with a publisher who's especially interested in only the lucrative side of his talent. An interested (and apparently rich and influential) publisher, Andreas Corelli, offers to get him out of his contract in order to sign another deal. As Martín delves into the work though, he notices disturbing similarities to the life of his old house's previous owner (a lawyer-turned-writer). Many of the twists in the story were shocking, and I loved its thorough investigation of what we give up when we sell our talents. There were great layers of moral complexity in this story.

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

This book takes the reader on a delightful journey into a gothic world: Spain in the years after the Spanish Civil War. Daniel Sempere, aged 10, is taken by his father to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books and allowed to pick one to take and to care for. His choice, The Shadow of the Wind by Julián Carax, will shape the rest of his life. The story is gothic in the best sense: it's full of creepy old houses, mistaken identities, and misunderstandings. Even if you think you have a handle on who is who, there are all sorts of twists before everything is finally sorted out. There's also a deep love of literature embedded in its plot: it's a story about how stories are told and why they move us. It's definitely the kind of book I want to read again and again.

Emmanuel Appadocca, or, Blighted Life: A Tale of the Boucaneers by Maxwell Philip

This novel focuses on Emmanuel Appadocca's attempt to avenge himself and his mother on his father, who abandoned them both. It has elements of both the gothic and sentimental romances. Appadocca sees his piracy in a Robin-Hood light; he avoids stealing from those who have made their money honestly. An intriguing tale of adventure on the high seas.

The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym by Edgar Allan Poe

This novel follows the adventures of Arthur Gordon Pym, after he stows away on a whaling ship and finds himself in the midst of one disaster after another. Mutiny, piracy, cannibalism, and betrayal are all part of this story. Although the plot is wild, this book is more interesting for its unconventional form. At times narrative, at times journal, it ends abruptly--apparently the death of Pym himself (an event too well-known, according to the editorial "Poe" voice, to need further explanation) has cut off the explanation of how Pym and Dirk Peters escape their latest predicament (and why the color white is so terrifying on Antarctica). While the story is a little out-of-control (one problem piles onto another), it poses some very interesting questions about race, community, and narration.

The Heroic Slave by Frederick Douglass

This novella tells the story of Madison Washington, an enslaved man who leads a rebellion on the Creole while being sent from Virginia to be sold in New Orleans. Although the story is based on true events, the life of Washington before the mutiny is fictionalized. The story never adopts the perspective of Washington; events are narrated first through the lens of Mr. Listwell and then sailors who had been on the ship. There are some gothic moments in this otherwise sentimental story.

A Good Man is Hard to Find and Other Stories by Flannery O'Connor

This collection of short stories is Flannery O'Connor at her finest. The stories are simple at first brush--but through the simple plot, she really gets into the heart of the characters. The stories don't shy away from the grotesque or the human heart at its best and worst. I found this collection incredibly moving, and I know I'll come back to these stories again.

Crimes by Moonlight: Mysteries from the Dark Side edited by Charlaine Harris

This collection of stories focuses on crimes with a supernatural element. The first story ("Dahlia Underground" by Charlaine Harris) and the last story ("Taking the Long View" by Tori Kelner) worked the best for me; the rest seemed to vary in quality and originality. At times many of the stories in the collection seemed to take the easy way out--with a supernatural twist--rather than giving a satisfactory, fully-worked up ending.

Down These Strange Streets edited by George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois

This anthology contains short stories loosely united by what the editors call urban fantasy. I enjoyed the Lord John story in this anthology ("Lord John and the Plague of Zombies" by Diana Gabaldon) more than any of the other Lord John stories (and really, more than most of the recent Outlander books). "Death by Dahlia," a new Charlaine Harris story set in the Sookie Stackhouse universe was also entertaining. There was a story that featured Dashiell Hammett and another that seemed a clear take on The Maltese Falcon. I enjoyed the stories set in Rome (there were two). There was also a good one about a jazz musician. A few had mythological worlds so complex, it was hard to figure out what the rules were in the course of the story. Overall a very entertaining collection.

The Vampyre by John Polidori

This book was originally attributed to Lord Byron, but it was actually written by his physician, John Polidori. It tells the story of a young aristocrat, Aubrey, who finds himself attracted by the mysterious Lord Ruthven. When he discovers that Ruthven is a brute committed to destroying women's reputations and lives, Aubrey tries to pull away, only to have the vampire Ruthven take his revenge on Aubrey's family. Sensationalist and lurid, this book is one of the earliest vampire stories.

Our Vampires, Ourselves by Nina Auerbach

This book looks at the development of vampires in popular culture during the 19th and 20th centuries. It contends that vampires change generationally and that they can help us track cultural preoccupations at a given moment. I found this book to be better written and more convincing than most academic accounts of vampires I've read recently.