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The Electric Michelangelo
 
 

The Electric Michelangelo (Paperback)

by Sarah Hall (Author)
3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
RRP: £7.99
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Product details

  • Paperback: 352 pages
  • Publisher: Faber and Faber; New edition edition (3 Mar 2005)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0571219306
  • ISBN-13: 978-0571219308
  • Product Dimensions: 19.2 x 12.6 x 2.6 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 79,991 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Product Description

Review
"'Here is a writer of show-stopping genius' Guardian; 'Her prose is rich, clear, cold, full of images and immensely sensual.' The Times 'Hall is a writer to indulge, and her sensuous, poetic prose is every bit as evocative as and poured from a pocket at the end of a holiday.' Daily Mail; 'Her gorgeously embellished prose compels the narrative, along with the beguiling vignettes she conjures up... the effect is intoxicating' Financial Times"

Product Description
Opening on the windswept front of Morecambe Bay, on the remote north-west coast of England, The Electric Michelangelo is a novel of love, loss and the art of tattooing. Hugely atmospheric, exotic and familiar, it is an exquisitely rendered portrait of seaside resorts on opposite sides of the Atlantic by one of the most uniquely talented novelists of her generation.

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Customer Reviews

20 Reviews
5 star:
 (8)
4 star:
 (2)
3 star:
 (4)
2 star:
 (4)
1 star:
 (2)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.5 out of 5 stars (20 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars Much ado about nothing, 31 May 2005
By Is (Tokyo) - See all my reviews
Sarah Hall's second novel is a dance of burlesque characters. The main one is Cy Parks, a tattooist who learns his trade in Morecambe Bay of the 20s under the tutelage of a larger-than-life drunk called Eliot Riley. Later, Cy leaves that seafront resort for its brasher US equivalent, Coney Island.

Both the setting and Cy's profession give Hall an opportunity to linger at the frailty of our bodies and our souls, something she does with a great deal of compassion. Even so, she seems to relish the decline of bodies and of places: it's all dying consumptives, alcoholics, the glamour of the sea-side slipping away. At times, she includes bursts of violence that shock by the extent of their viciousness. The subterranean art of tattoos stands for some deeper struggle, the book suggests; it's part of how we face the world and ourselves.

The first pages of The Electric Michelangelo blew me away. It's written in an astonishing restless, easy flow that reminds me of Zadie Smith at her best, though with less humour and more poetry.

A couple of chapters later, I was falling out of love with the book. Perhaps it was the dearth of dialogue or storytelling drive that was starting to take its toll. A lot is going on - there are illegal abortions, near-death in the quick sands of Morecambe Bay, electrocuted elephants - but somehow these dramatic events are so embedded in descriptions that they seem more of an afterthought than the backbone of the novel. And be honest, when you skip something as you read along, is it dialogue or is it descriptions?

That is not to say that these passages lack originality or beauty. There are many unexpected metaphors to savour, but their impact is lessened by the sheer wordiness of it all. Every single thing is the subject of so much symbolism that the style grows too laboured, in spite of all its bawdy irreverence. Shouldn't good writers work like magicians and conceal their tricks from the world? And shouldn't good writing be easy to read, not make you feel as though you're swimming through jelly?

Suddenly I was reminded of Stella Gibbon's parody "Cold Comfort Farm", where she takes the mickey out of over-literary writers, and once I had seen the book through those goggles, I just couldn't shake it off. After all, sometimes a tattoo is just a tattoo.

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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A captivating experience, 17 Sep 2005
By Green Pixie (Leeds, West Yorkshire United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
Intensely detailed, precisely written, thoroughly absorbing, this is the story of Cyril Parks' journey through life and the 20th century, from childhood and apprenticeship in Morecambe, following his career to Coney Island and back. I became so emotionally involved with the life of this tattoo artist, peppered with incidents of violence that took my breath away and brought tears to my eyes and a lump to my throat.
Hall philosophises on the nature, meaning and art of tattoing, examines the relationship we have with our bodies, and the way identities are expressed through the designs we display on ourselves.
This is a marvellous work, a novel that captivated me and stimulated my imagination. A joy to read, I was sad it had to end.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars An anticlimax, 3 Feb 2005
I have to say I found this book over-hyped and something of an anticlimax. Reading the reviews on the back I was expecting great things, but in the end I found it 'readable' but certainly not 'unputdownable'. I just couldn't really get inside the head of the main protagonist; and it really is quite a melancholy and 'lonely' read. On finishing the book I could only really say to myself "what was the point / what have I learnt", etc. The end of the book was also disappointing. The whole book struck me more like a PhD student's final thesis, or somethng along those lines; it doesn't have mainstream appeal (and no, that doesn't mean I only read 'mass market' stuff - I just didn't find it particularly engrossing!)
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful but frustrating
"The Electric Michelangelo" is a view of the world as seen by Cy Parks, a natural loner and deep thinker, following him through childhood and adolescence in the seaside resort of... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Stealth Reviewer

1.0 out of 5 stars Awful
I had to endure this book as it was part of a book club. This story starts with phlegm, and gets more offensive as it continues. Read more
Published 6 months ago by S. Smith

1.0 out of 5 stars Small type
I have to confess I am writing this review without having read the book. I thought it would be a good read. Read more
Published on 13 Dec 2006 by Jacque

2.0 out of 5 stars Average
This book sets the atmosphere of Morcombe in the early 20th Century well. The characters come alive on the page, and Cy, the narrator, describes his upbringing and life as an... Read more
Published on 11 Jan 2006 by lynetteandrichard

3.0 out of 5 stars Great start, but gets bogged down
It all starts so promisingly. The style of prose is good, if a little overbearing at times. The metaphors are good. The imagery is particularly good around Morecambe. Read more
Published on 3 Nov 2005 by Mark Owen

5.0 out of 5 stars Should have won the Booker
The Electric Michelangelo is the story and philosophies of Cy Parks, and both are well presented and very interesting. Read more
Published on 13 Oct 2005 by Kye van de Silva

2.0 out of 5 stars Stick to storytelling, Hall!
I have only just started reading women authors. Sure, I've had a Banana Yoshimoto here and there- who hasn't, but I normally go for the guys. Read more
Published on 16 Aug 2005 by C. Lowing

2.0 out of 5 stars Curate's egg
Having decided to read all last year's Booker shortlisted novels and come to my own judgment, I'd thoroughly enjoyed four of them, and then moved on to this, my fifth, which I... Read more
Published on 22 Jun 2005 by jfp2006

5.0 out of 5 stars Breathtaking
Not sure why I picked this book to read as it didn't really interest me, well I didn't think it would anyway. Read more
Published on 25 April 2005 by C Tissiman

4.0 out of 5 stars Electrifying in parts
Sarah Hall's second novel is a first-person narrative of Cy (Cyril Parks) chronicling his life as tattooist 'The Electric Michelangelo'. Read more
Published on 4 Mar 2005 by gavinrob2001

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