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Review
'Magnificent set pieces of fastidious sensuality' Ian McEwan 'Angela Carter has extended the life and richness of the fable form itself partly through language that is both pellucid and sensual, but chiefly through imagination of such Ariel reach that she can glide from ancient to modern, from darkness to luminosity, from depravity to comedy without any hint of strain and without losing the elusive power of the original tales' The Times 'The Bloody Chamber's interweaving of retold fairy tales demonstrates Angela Carter's narrative gift at its most mocking and seductive' Observer 'Extraordinary and beautiful' Peter Redgrove
Book Description
Fairy tales retold and interwoven by a master of seductive, luminous storytelling
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
24 of 24 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book is an absolute gem with not a single story feeling out of place or unneccessary. Every story works on its own but the overall collection is fabulous. This is a book for anyone who enjoyed traditional fairy tales as it expands on each of the traditional stories like Bluebeard, Beauty and the Beast and Puss in Boots whilst the adult content ensures that it doesn't feel as if you are re-reading childhood books. This has become one of my favourite books and I would recommend it to anyone whose inner child desires a slightly more intense fairy tale.
47 of 50 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I first came about this collection of stories through the inclusion of two of its works in the Neil Jordan film, the Company of Wolves. From this, I was immediately impressed and intrigued by Carter’s style of writing. In ‘the Company of Wolves’, we saw the ingenious juxtaposition between the varying mythologies of the fairy story, with the natural-sexual awakening of the adolescent. This is the defining factor of these works. Though the stories move from place to place to explore further myths and legends, it is this one consistent thread that anchors the stories together to create a unified work. The writer creates reoccurring motifs of love, lust and sexuality that give the stories a further narrative cohesion, despite being generally fragmented in terms of characters and scope.
The unity of the book, and the sustaining of the literary atmosphere, is also created through the varied textual forms that Carter chooses to chronicle. So, for her examinations here the writer hand-picks legends that have the strongest roots in sensuality... so we have vampirism, werewolves, feral children, and jungle beasts beguiling and defiling a succession of young women in a series of deeply emotional narrative episodes. To go into any great detail about these stories would be a great injustice to readers who are yet to experience Carter’s poetic use of language and deft storytelling capabilities. Needless to say, the stories featured drip with a dense, erotic atmosphere that is occasionally overwhelming... though there is also a strong underlining of horror, tension and mystery; with the reader free to read between the lines and decode the various clues that Carter layers within her work.
The author’s real genius though, is her ability to depict the more mundane aspects of life, and enrich them beyond the realms of everyday literature into a kind of Technicolor majesty through the use of poetic prose, self-referentialism, biblical quotations and more than a hint of metaphorical imagery. She also writes her stories in a beautiful stream of conscious style that is filled with richly constructed details, which brings to life every action in a completely vivid way to further develop the evocative world that is created especially for us. It’s an audacious device, but one that works exceptionally well with this kind of material... so because of this, the continual atmosphere of gothic gloom also helps to lull the reader into an almost hypnotic state in which Carter’s words can re-develop, in order to take on newer, more subjective meanings.
This book takes us on a beautiful, shocking and often frightening journey into realms of innocence and sensuality that few literary works can equate. Carter’s talent as a storyteller and as a poet are greatly under-appreciated by the so-called people in the know (how else can you explain her lack of inclusion in the Big Read’s Top 100?), and, when viewed in the context of this book, becomes something of a sad reminder of what a great talent we’ve lost. Thankfully, this book should succeed in opening your eyes to her genius, since it brilliantly demonstrates her various creative skills mirrored within each of these separate stories.
29 of 31 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Carter's re-writes of traditional European folk/fairy tales bring with them dark aspects of the human psyche that would have existed in the oral tradition but which became sanitised when written down in the 18th / 19th centuries as parables of instruction for children. In this collection Little Red Riding Hood (The Company of Wolves) is not saved by the woodcutter, but instead tames the beast by getting naked and giving vent to her awakening sexuality. Most of the stories in the collection focus on a girl on the cusp of womanhood, who steps off the path and is rewarded with the discovery of a sexuality that is not repressively phallocentric. Strong female protagonists contrast strongly with fairy tale stereotypes. Carter herself said that she was all for putting new wine in old bottles until the pressure of the new wine caused the old bottles to explode. That's about the best definition I can find for this collection of stories. Sexually provocative, gothic and sometimes very funny (Puss in Boots especially), The Bloody Chamber is a must-read book.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Do i laugh, scream or say 'Yuck!' ?
Now im not a feminest and im not from Zimbabwe, so i have no idea what possessed me to read this tosh. Read more
Published 1 month ago by C22man
The Best. Book. EVER
Amazing! I read this for the first time last summer, as I'm studying the book for my English Literature A-Levels. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Lauren M
The Bloody Chamber, a masterpiece
Angela Carter's "The Bloody Chamber and other stories" is masterpiece as the author grasps the reader's attention from the very first word until the last one. Read more
Published 5 months ago by loyan
A Feminist Classic
I bought this because I am teaching it for A'level. It is some years since I read any of Carter's work and I had forgotten how much I liked it the first time around. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Mr. G. Collins Mrs Collins
Fabulous
Such wonderful descriptive writing and fabulous story telling. Imaginative and compelling, I really loved the stories despite not being a fan of short stories in general.
Published 6 months ago by Emily Jane Bronte
Gripping
This is a gripping little book full of beautifully written short stories. They seem very familiar, but at the same time strange. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Ms. P. Stevens-Hoare
Amazing
Bought this for an illustration class assignment but ended up really enjoying the interpretations of some well known tales. Read more
Published 6 months ago by AJW
Twisted Fairytales
A great book to read whether it's for fun or as a student. This is a really nice edition of Angela Carter's best book. Fairytales like you've never seen them before. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Holly
not a fan
First time reader of angela carter. I should have enjoyed this kind of fiction, just my kind of thing but this was patchy to say the least! Read more
Published 7 months ago by E. Leach
Books for A Levels
First place we looked for books needed.
Top notch as always.Really pleased with delivery and seller letting us know what was going on.
Top notch as always.Really pleased with delivery and seller letting us know what was going on.
Published 7 months ago by Linda
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