The Dark but Enchanting World of Edward Gorey.

Many years ago  a Spanish friend of mine gave me a present which was an anthology of work by Edward Gorey which I immediately flipped out about. These morose little stories written in a type of prose marrying with each beautifully drawn caption are just fabulous. His inspiration can be seen in the works of film directors and writers like Like Tim Burton and Neil Gaiman.  

There is an Edwardian Anglophile sense of an inbred uber class of dark neuroses beautifully executed in a multitude of textured compositions. Apparently Gorey would only use one type of very fine felt tip pen which he bought in huge quantities to make sure he would never run out. 

It's a real joy to browse through his works and become enveloped in the manner and craftsmanship of his hatching and texture driven compositions.

------------------------------------------------------------

The reading exercise below is an B2 - C2 level with an emphasis on pronunciation and a delve into the sombre palette and humorous works of master craftsman. 

OBJECTIVE - This reading would normally be read with  me as the teacher and as we go through the article, I would stop and investigate the style of the writing and the use of metaphors with the student. There is also a lot of tricky vocabulary and the article is written in  a manner to suite the style of the artist. 

Vocabulary - to traipse - to walk in a tired way, devour - consume a great amount of something, elongated \ adj\ -- longer than normal, genre - type of movie or book etc, macabre - morbid

Adjective + noun - cultural omnivore, sombre palette 

Pronunciation - doubtful \ dout'fel\ , silent \ si ' lant\ , macabre - \ma'ka' bra\ 

The mysterious, macabre mind of Edward Gorey - BBC Culture

  www.talkingculture.es