2009 Reading #105: The Magic Toyshop

[snurri]

Books 1-10.
Books 11-20.
Books 21-30.
Books 31-40.
Books 41-50.
Books 51-60.
Books 61-70.
Books 71-80.
Books 81-90.
Books 91-100.
101. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures by Anne Fadiman.
102. Brown Harvest by Jay Russell.
103. Dab Neeg Hmoob: Myths, Legends and Folk Tales from the Hmong of Laos, Charles Johnson, editor and Se Yang, associate editor.
104. Summer of '49 by David Halberstam.

105. The Magic Toyshop by Angela Carter. I have come somewhat late to Carter; up to this point I have only read a bit of her short fiction. Her writing scares me in a way similar to the way Samuel R. Delany's does--her control of her imagery and the precision of her language speak of a frightening intelligence behind it all. Somewhere along the way someone told me that Carter's novels were not as good as her short stories, but they were wrong. This is a deliriously good book, gorgeous and horrifying and mythic and firmly grounded in the real, a coming of age story with a fairy tale wound uncomfortably tight around it. If anything outside of Latin America deserves to be called Magical Realism, this would be it. Highest recommendation; those last five pages will stay with for a long time.

Comments

[czakbar.livejournal.com]

That's one of my absolute favorite novels, in general, and of hers.

Nights at the Circus is amazing, too.

There are a few of her novels that, while good, aren't *as* good as this novel or NatC or many of her short stories. So, whoever said her novels aren't as good as her short stories may have encountered some of her best short story work and some of her good but not outstandingly awesome novel work.

[snurri.livejournal.com]

Good to know; I have the collected shorts, so that'll be the next thing I read by her, but I'll keep an eye out for Night at the Circus.

You have such good taste, I should just read everything you recommend :-)

[czakbar.livejournal.com]

The collected stories is a great book. It's interesting to see her development as a short story writer in them, where her interests change and how she constructs stories changes with the interests. I see lots of differences between her Japan stories, her American stories, the revised fairy tales, and then the stories that take place in nowhere but Carter-land.

I have not been reading lots of good books lately, so it's been fun to read about what you've been reading. Can't wait to have my reading freedom back (at least a little) after this degree is finished. :)

[snurri.livejournal.com]

It's funny, because I've felt a little restricted in my reading too, because of all the research I've been doing. But that's not likely to stop any time soon, so I've just got to resign myself to it.