The 300 Club

Yesterday, I paid a visit to the public library again. I borrowed Peter Straub's Koko, Michael Slade's Headhunter and the 2-disc DVD BBC production of Gormenghast based on Mervyn Peake's trilogy of Gormenghast novels--Titus Groan, Gormenghast and Titus Alone. Before plunging deep into contemplation about any of these paintings of imaginative horrors, however, I went with my fiancée to watch, or rather, soak my eyes in the Titus Andronicus-like, comic book / cinematic gore of 300 last night. The movie was nothing short of Spartan in its cruel and intractable power to hold its viewers in the deep grip of fear and pity, while staving off any expectation of purely mindless spectacle.