Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Published 2020 · 366 pages · 93,117 words · about 7 hours at an average pace · Historical Fiction, Horror

How hard is Mexican Gothic to read?

Mexican Gothic scores 56 out of 100 for difficulty on ReadingRate, making it quite demanding. The score is a weighted composite of nine measures: four of how hard the prose is to parse, five of how hard the meaning is to extract.

Vocabulary: 48 out of 100
Moreno-Garcia employs a descriptive vocabulary appropriate for the gothic setting, including terms related to architecture (bay windows, newel post), fashion (rebozo, calotte hat), and the natural world (bougainvillea, acanthus). While not overly specialized, the language evokes a specific time and place. This is less complex than *The Great Gatsby*, but more so than *Beach Read*.
Sentence structure: 55 out of 100
The sentences in *Mexican Gothic* are generally straightforward, with a mix of short, declarative statements and longer, descriptive passages. Paragraphs can be lengthy, but the syntax remains navigable. This is similar to *Pedro Paramo* in its blend of directness and descriptive detail, though less extreme than the long paragraphs of *2666*.
Abstraction: 52 out of 100
The novel primarily focuses on concrete narrative events, such as Noemí's investigation and interactions with the Doyle family. However, it also explores themes of social class, colonialism, and the psychological effects of isolation. This is a step above *Atomic Habits* in its thematic depth, but less abstract than *The Great Gatsby*.
Information density: 58 out of 100
The novel presents a moderate amount of information per page, balancing plot development with descriptive details and character interactions. While the setting and historical context are important, the narrative remains relatively focused on Noemí's experience. This is more dense than *The Housemaid*, but less so than *Lolita*.
Narrative indirection: 68 out of 100
The narrative relies on Noemí's perspective, but the reader must infer the true nature of the Doyle family and the events unfolding at High Place. Clues are scattered throughout the text, requiring the reader to piece together the mystery. This is similar to *The Great Gatsby*, where Nick's narration shapes the reader's understanding, but less indirect than *Pedro Paramo*.
Symbolic density: 62 out of 100
Motifs such as the house itself, the mist, and the recurring image of the serpent eating its tail carry symbolic weight, representing decay, isolation, and cyclical patterns of oppression. While not as overtly allegorical as *Moby-Dick*, the novel uses symbolism to enhance its themes. The symbols are less pronounced than in *The Great Gatsby*.
Ironic distance: 40 out of 100
There is some ironic distance in the portrayal of the Doyle family and their antiquated beliefs, but the novel primarily engages with its themes in a sincere manner. The reader is invited to sympathize with Noemí's perspective and share her growing unease. This is less ironic than *The Great Gatsby*, but more so than *Diary of a Young Girl*.
Resolution withholding: 70 out of 100
The novel maintains a sense of mystery and suspense throughout, withholding key information about the Doyle family's secrets and Catalina's condition. While the plot reaches a climax, some questions remain open to interpretation, leaving the reader to ponder the full implications of the events at High Place. This is less ambiguous than *2666*, but more so than *Beloved*.
Structural complexity: 45 out of 100
The novel follows a relatively linear narrative structure, with limited flashbacks or shifts in perspective. The primary complexity arises from the unreliable nature of the characters and the gradual unveiling of the truth. This is similar to *The Great Gatsby* in its use of retrospection, but less complex than *Midnight's Children*.

How Mexican Gothic is regarded

Mexican Gothic holds a literary regard score of 42 out of 100, weighing its place in the canon, its critical reception, its influence on other writers, and the standing of its author. Regard is measured separately from difficulty: a demanding book is not necessarily an admired one.

Prizes

Where Mexican Gothic sits in Northrop Frye's Anatomy of Criticism

Placed by a full reading of the text (167 passages), not from reputation. Each verdict quotes the passage that earned it. On the axis from myth to irony, Mexican Gothic scores 60 out of 100. A second mythos, irony, pulls at it with a weight of 0.25. About the map of stories.

Mode: Low Mimetic
Noemí, like any good socialite, shopped at the Palacio de Hierro, painted her lips with Elizabeth Arden lipstick
Symbol: Mythical (archetypal)
“The snake eats its tail. The infinite, above us, and below.”
Mythos: Romance iii (Quest), with demonic undertone (romance iii)
“Sleepwalker,” she whispered. “Time to open your eyes.”
Genre: Romance + Novel
she felt, for once, like one of Catalina’s characters in their childhood tales.

Where the story of Mexican Gothic takes place

  • A mountain town in Mexico, 1950s (1950 to 1955), the main setting
  • English cave-cult origins of the Doyle fungus (gloom vision) (1600 to 1700)
  • High Place and the Doyle mine, 1885-1915 (1885 to 1915)
  • Mexico City and High Place, Hidalgo, 1950

5 things that are true of Mexican Gothic, with the passage for each

  1. Noemí Taboada is twenty-two years old.

    But it isn’t like you should have to make up your mind about everything at twenty-two, she thought.

  2. The Doyles do not speak Spanish at High Place.

    we don’t speak Spanish at High Place.

  3. High Place has had electric lighting since 1909 but relies on candles and oil lamps.

    Electrical lighting was installed in 1909.

  4. The Doyle mausoleum carries a Latin inscription.

    The name Doyle was carved in capital letters above this doorway along with a phrase in Latin: Et Verbum caro factum est.

  5. Noemí shoots Howard Doyle twice with a gun she takes from Francis.

    Noemí raised the gun and shot Howard twice.

Scenes in Mexican Gothic that Frye would name

48 sightings of Frye's terms in the text. The strongest:

Anagnorisis, untitled
A long time ago, Howard, he found a fungus which is able to extend human life quite a bit. Francis explains the gloom and bloodline, which retroactively explains everything Noemí has seen.
Sparagmos, untitled
crimson and black and the child torn apart and they were eating him. The founding rite is a tearing-apart and eating of a child's body.
Anagnorisis, untitled
“They buried her alive,” Noemí said. Noemí discovers that Agnes is the gloom and the source of the haunting.
Alazon, untitled
What are your thoughts on the intermingling of superior and inferior types? Howard, the pseudo-scientific braggart, interrogates Noemí about race while claiming superiority.
Demonic imagery, untitled
One of his legs was hideously bloated, crusted over with dozens of large, dark boils. Howard's rotting, fruiting body is the book's central demonic image.
Agon, untitled
Once, twice, three times, blade meeting flesh, and the woman did not cry out. Noemí slashes the possessed maid Mary in the climactic physical struggle against the house's servants.

Books that share these scenes with Mexican Gothic

About the author

Silvia Moreno-Garcia