The Crimson Petal and the White

Rating:
Summary: Grand gothic
Review: "Watch your step. Keep your wits about you; you will need them." What a fine opening to a big, juicy novel that delivers hours of enjoyment. Michel Faber's writing is marvelous and his choice of the anonymous, omnipotent narrator is different and intriguing. However, let me warn you that despite its literary language, "The Crimson Petal and the White" still occupies that uneasy middle ground between "My Secret Life" and a paperback with Fabio on the cover.

Sugar is the kind of girl who is willing to satisfy the "special tastes that can't be satisfied by the ordinary girl," as one of her colleagues puts it. William Rackham seeks her out, based on a listing in a naughty little book called "More Sprees About London." Sugar is indeed no ordinary girl; she is intelligent, literate, and very skilled in her profession. In Rackham she sees someone whom she can convince to set her up in a flat for his exclusive use. He does, and thus begins Sugar's conundrum. She has her own beautiful apartment and lovely things she never dreamed of, but now Rackham must work so much to maintain her that she rarely sees him. She is stuck waiting, afraid to leave the house for fear that he will show up and she won't be there. Her solution: take a position in Rackham's own house as governess to his lonely daughter.

This is where "The Crimson Petal" drops from five stars to four. It is hard to swallow that a 19th century gentleman would allow a prostitute anywhere near his home, let alone to move in and take over the education of his child. Sugar is smart and a quick study but it is very unlikely that no one from that class-bound time and place would catch a whiff of the streets off her. Fanny Hill does not fit Jane Eyre's job. This unconvincing twist spoils the balance between grand guignol and realism Faber has so carefully set up, and tone of the remaining pages is off.

But the writing and the narration trick carry you along despite skepticism about this choice of plot twist. Faber luxuriates in language and loves the sort of detail that makes a time and place tangible. And I loved the way that we as readers had certain facts about various characters-things that neither they nor anyone around them could ever know--whispered in our ears by the mysterious narrator and thus found our view of those characters transformed. Very neat.

"The Crimson Petal and the White" is well worth your time. It is only because Michel Faber set the bar so high that the novel is not a complete success.

Rating:
Summary: 19th Century Without A Restrictive Corset
Review: Michel Faber is a wildly inventive and unbridled writer. His first novel, "Under The Skin", was a truly unique first novel that I enjoyed and rated highly, and his collection of short stories, "Some Rain Must Fall", was also a decidedly unique trip. I agree without reservation that this can be characterized as the 21st century's first 19th century novel. The players in this work may roam the same streets of Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins, but their experiences never crack the barrier of a PG-13 level of experience. There are no bounds for this tale; it is as vivid, as detailed, and as raw as the streets and society it describes were. I think virtually every reader will find some or even many descriptions uncomfortable, but they are not gratuitous, they are just graphic and unnervingly detailed.

The narrator that brings you along in their colorful, hazardous, and unseemly wake, is absolutely wonderful. The places you are brought, the sights you see, and all else that assails your senses at least as often as it pleases them makes for one amazing read, at times almost overwhelming. However this is what Michel Faber does, he is detailed without a care, and if that means getting in the reader's face with unpleasant truths he marches forward without hesitation. He does not intensify the positive and minimize the negative. Reality can be gruesome, and he shows this time period in England without any of the polishing of a Merchant and Ivory production. This book takes place not only in the eye of the mind, but all the other senses as well.

This is a massive work, but what makes it different is that it does not cover a score of generations. This writer does not present a landscape, and if he did it would be the size of a painting by Alfred Bierstadt, measured in feet not inches. For example, you know everything about the character Sugar, there are no holes, nothing that is missing that causes the reader to question why she is who she is and how she got there. The detail is amazing but never overwhelms. William Rackham creates a life that seems to be the most ill conceived arrangement imaginable. But Faber makes it work because he brings you so far in to William's head that the absurd world he creates is the only one a man with his mind could assemble.

Faber's work is not like any other author. The world he documents, modifies, and creates, has an intensity that others who have tackled the genre have not explored. This is not a criticism of those that have gone before him, if Dickens had gone this far he never would have been published.

This author requires the reader to develop a new type of comfort with his unique cadence and use of language. Of his three books I found this easier to follow, and I do not think this is because I had read his previous work. In fact I would suggest that for those that are new to his work that you start here and work your way back. The experience will be well worth your time.

Rating:
Summary: The Crimson Petal and the White
Review: Imagine a Dickens novel freed of the restraints imposed by Victorian propriety. There's no other way to describe this enthralling melodrama from the British author of Under the Skin (2000). Set in 1870s London, Faber's second outing is a brilliantly plotted chronicle of the collision between high and low, as played out in the complex relationship binding would-be writer William Rackham, heir to a perfume-maker's fortune and an inveterate whoremaster, and a cunning prostitute known as Sugar, whose special ... talents inflame the smitten Rackham to the extent that he installs her in his home, ostensibly as his young daughter's governess; in fact, as the mistress who distracts his attention from the illnesses and "fits" endured by his frail (and possibly "mad") wife Agnes. Faber tells this story through the voice of a cajoling omniscient narrator implicitly likened to a ... luring her customer on, incidentally providing a thickly detailed panorama of 19th-century urban life. And the characters: not only the egoistic, self-justifying Rackham, the fascinating Agnes (a keen study in what used to be called "female hysteria"), and the calculating Sugar (herself a secret authoress, of "a tale that throws back the sheets from acts never shown and voices never heard")-but also William's priggish brother Henry, who wishes to reform prostitutes but suffers "nightmares of erotic disgrace"; Henry's cohort in benevolence, "Rescue Society" bluestocking Emmeline Fox; the Hogarthian procuress Mrs. Castaway and the ghastly Colonel Leek; "eminent swells" Bodley and Ashwell, William's companions in depravity and the exploitation of women-these and many others leap from Faber's crowded pages, as the ... Sugar's progress clashes with the sanctity of the Rackham hearth, Agnes's runaway manic-depression, William's inexplicable recovery of love for his wife and eventual dismissal of her replacement-and leads to Sugar's horrific climactic revenge. It's hard to imagine that any contemporary novelist could have appropriated with such skill and force the irresistible narrative drive of the Victorian three-decker, or that readers who hunger for story won't devour this like grateful wolves. Riveting, and absolutely unforgettable. First printing of 75,000; author tour

Rating:
Summary: Lolita meets Merchant/Ivory - Wow, what a story!
Review: I can't say enough positive things about the pleasure of reading "The Crimson Petal and the White". Faber has created a character that ranks with the best prostitutes in fiction, and the other characters populating his novel allow for the type of plot twists that make a novel engrossing, and in the end memorable.
The central plot of "Crimson Petal" involves the efforts of a young hooker (Sugar) to escape a horrendous teen life, and then find her way in a more successful metropolitan society. Her benefactor (or more appropiately , "Sugar" daddy) Rackham, has his own baggage (a mentally disturbed wife, an ill child and a very troubled brother), and his bringing Sugar into the mix both complicates and liberates his life. This isn't a happy ending story, however, because no character deserves (or even desires) trust. This is revealed by the various novels being written by each of the characters as the story develops - making this a series of novels, unfolding in a novel. In that sense, it reminded me of "The French Lieutenant's Woman", but "Crimson" is much more of a page turner.
After 800 pages, I wanted more. Faber's use of language, while sometimes extremely graphic, is incredibly attractive. While the people populating his story certainly aren't lovable, they are fascinating. And this is a story unlike anything you have ever read before.
There will be a lot of mentioning of Faber's name at the various book awards this year. His storytelling skills are that good.

Rating:
Summary: An enormous novel in every sense
Review: Dear American Amazonians,

Okay so you need to read what I write with a pinch of salt as I have a vested interest in Michel Faber's second novel becoming the commercial success I am certain it will be. Namely I'm his publisher in Britain!

But what I feel about this book as a work of fiction is a true sense of awe and I think that my feelings will be vindicated by the critical response it receives in the coming months and by the pleasure it will give many readers for many years to come. For in The Crimson Petal and the White, Michel has created something truly remarkable.

The starred PW review above gives you a sense of what the book is about, who the main characters are etc. What it doesn't convey fully is the enormity of Michel's vision, the depth of his compassion for his "characters"(they seem more alive than certain people I know would appear to be!), his humour or the many levels on which this novel operates.

If you've read Under the Skin or his wonderful story collection, Some Rain Must Fall, then you will know how beautifully Michel writes. The precision and care with which he uses language is rare and to write a book of this length which manages to sustain your interest at all times and constantly surprise you is down in no small part to his skill as a wordsmith. His prose is a joy to read.

I'll say no more for now other than Michel's London is a teeming, gorgeous, horrible, riveting place and I would urge you to go there. Or as Michel opens on page one, "Watch your step. Keep your wits about you; you will need them. This city I am bringing you to is vast and intricate, and you have not been here before."

You'll be glad you did. If you're not send me an email and I will try and make it up to you.

Jamie Byng

P.S. Another book we've had the pleasure of co-publishing with Harcourt Brace this year is Yann Martel's Life of Pi. It's another terrific novel that reminds you what great fiction is capable of doing.

Rating:
Summary: *Spoiler* It was really good, except...
Review: I was drawn to the book because of the time-period represented, and I was pleasantly suprised to find it a very good read. However, I got a little ticky about the ending. I just read almost a thousand pages, AND YOU'RE NOT GOING TO TELL ME HOW IT ENDS?!?!?! For those who intensly dislike the "and you can decide what happens to them" stuff, be prepared.

Rating:
Summary: Painstakingly ponderous, disappointing
Review: Reasons I didn't like this book: 1)Painfully long and often boring -- should have been cut in half by an editor; 2)The woman bashing got tedious after awhile (even if the author was trying to make a point); 3)The conclusion is a big disppointment -- the book jacket leads you to believe far more is going to happen in the story.

Still, the book is cleverly written and some of the prose is quite beautiful. Perhaps because I read it while in Europe I got sucked in by the book at times and felt like I was living in 1870s London.

Rating:
Summary: A Date with Frustration
Review: The Crimson Petal and the White is as instantly absorbing as a college infatuation. For days I was engrossed by the characters, the landscape, the muck and grime of 19th centrury London in all it's smelly details. This "crush" lasted for roughly, the first third of this book, then suddenly one of the characters is killed off in what, effectively dead ends that particular thread.. a warning bell if ever there was one.. like finding out your special someone is a bad party drunk. The illusion grows a little faint. However, I read on.. convincing myself that one cruel ending was all any novel could possibly stand, surly the other characters, the ones I truly cared about would continue our relationship and leave me satisfied.
It wasn't until the last few pages of this book that I realized, I have been tricked, this romance is going to end on a bad note, well, if you can call it an ending. Nothing, I mean NOTHING is resolved to any sense of satisfaction, like having the last reel of a film break at the climax. One editorial review claimed that Michal Faber spent 20 years crafting this book, apparently, with 20 years invested in nurturing these characters through their trials and tribulations he must have gotten sick of them. Faber spends a measley 50 pages or so ending this epic with a surreal mess that has all of the characters, wandering off into oblivion.
While there is no denying the authors genuine talent, or knowledge of his subject, the ridiculous ending turns what could have been one of the greatest things you've ever read into a lot of wasted energy.
I literally threw this book down in disgust after discovering that no book 2 seemed forthcoming. In short, like the frustrated Victorians within Fabers' pages, this book teases us with hours of heavy petting, but denies us the release of a fully realized climax.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting but ultimately fails
Review: I found this book to be engrossing, and at times extremely entertaining, but in the end, it fails due to its shoddy ending. It is a shame, as until that point, the book is extremely well written, with a riveting story set amidst a highly detailed and fascinating backdrop of Victorian England that makes one feel as if one is almost reading a historic novel. Then comes the ending, which leaves the reader completely dissatisfied, wondering why one has wasted so much time on such a long novel.

Had Faber given as much effort to the final part of the book as he did to the rest, "The Crimson Petal and the White" would merit four or five stars. As it is, it gets the rating I have given it.


Rating:
Summary: It just pulls you in like no other novel...
Review: This novels just brings you straight into the heart of the atmosphere immediately. You want to read more! The characters are exquisitely articulated through several pondering sentences, but not so complex that you can't understand, or have to read a sentence twice. Beautifully crafted, and a wonderful story.