Updates......
I have read two interesting novels recently - the first is Perfume, by Patrick S?, about a serail killer of young girls in 18th Cntury Paris. The killer, Grenouoille, is a perfumer who has no personal odour, in a world where everyone and everyone stinks, and he kills girls for their scent.
That is right! - no personal odour at all, so it is not precisely a realist novel, in case that is what you might prefer.
It was enjoyable in its way, though I think I preferred Silence of the Lambs and Patrick Mc Graph's approach to the gothic in, say, Asylum.
Another really good read for me was Beyond Black, Hilary Mantel. This describes a world I once knew, of the psychic and mystic fayres of the Home Counties. The heroine is a medium who sees her mission as spreading good cheer from the Beyond, but in fact, we might not envy her experience of Spirit, which is less than benign (I never did understand the snobbery of those mediums who worked primarily from 'spirit,' as it seemed to me that there was a nastiness and pettiness from the messages coming through a lot of people might be better off without.)
But Hilary Manton might best be appreciated for depicting the cultural trends and changes taking place within England - it is a very English sort of a book. As an expat, it almost made me nostalgic for England, except that it also made me realise that the banality of the England she describes does not appeal at all and the new idiosyncracies in accents (making every sentence a question, heavy PR nuances) would bring out my most grumpy and intolerant reactions. Her rendition of public reactions to Diana's death was hilarious, as was the bullying 'weakest link' approach taken to pyschic sittings post milennium. Is it really like that in the UK now?
CD-wise I also bought myself the latest Theatre of Tragedy album. Alas, they have gone ever more metally, though the subtle moments of post.goth Tragedy are still there. Last year, of course, I was actually immersed with 'Smile' - a real blast from the past but then I have acutally encountered the occasional surfing goth too.
