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The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories

The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories

List Price: $11.95
Your Price: $8.96
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Not Enough Bloody and Romantic Stars for This One!
Review: Some books change your life. This one changed mine. Erotic, bloody, dark, mysterious, this collection of retold fairy tales is not for children. Carter knew her myth, and she certainly knew how to turn a finely tuned phrase. She IS the most original writer I know, someone who saw what others could not see and was able to put the visions down on paper in a style truly her own. I love this book. I read it all the time. And each time I read it, I wonder what the world has missed with Carter's death. A remarkable piece of literature not to be ignored. Where's that honorary Booker?

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Oh.....
Review: Surreal, lush and dark. What more could anyone want

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: An enlightening look at the Tyrannical realism of Modernism
Review: The tyranny of the modernists machine is highlighted by a plethora of monumental confusions, which are uniquely conveyed in the abiguety of the post-modernistic novel. It is fair to say that the constant and somewhat relentless reference to 'bloody chamber' is symbolic of Marco LeCoosh's new cookery book: "How To Cook Strawberry Sauce in A Chamber Pot". Yet to soley conform to this new-age obsession with cookery programs would mean readers resembling 'lambs to the slaughter'. The most important character of the novel, Chammy The Chamber Master, is portrayed as a patriarchal lover of fish and tatre sauce. This can be said to be his downfall in a vegan society.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Gory but entertaining
Review: This book is very well written and I really enjoyed some of the stories. I found some of them a bit too gory for my taste. But the Bloody Chamber is great and The courtship of Mr. Lyon is beautiful.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A gorgeous book
Review: This is a beautiful book of short stories by a brilliant writer. She rewrites old fairy tales using a modern, feminist spin. She plays with the idea that gender relations are eat or be eaten struggles for power and that if you are passive, you will die. Carter explores this idea in terms of the passive fairy tale heroine. Expect plenty of predators, both male and female.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: totally stimulating and fasinating
Review: This is a must for the readers who are wanting to be intriged by the transformation of childhood fairytales converted to stories of sexual realisation, and how women were living in a male dominated society. Very addictive and I have greatly enjoyed reading whilst studying for my English degree!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Vampires All?
Review: To begin, with the exception of the eponymous story at the beginning , these stories are the stylstic masterpieces of a miniaturist virtuoso. These renarrated fairy tales are nuanced stories that give the reader pause to reconsider his or her sexuality and the inherent violence and danger attendant upon it.-And then, perhaps, to reflect that the fairy stories in their original form were less explicit forms of the same thing for children....As the writer Djuna Barnes puts it in Nightwood, "God, children know something they can't tell; they like Red Riding Hood and the wolf in bed!"

The first story, is, to my taste, the only failure here. It's a bit too heavy-handed and obvious, and the imagery and phraseology borrow too much from Poe, particularly from his "The Fall of The House of Usher." They leave you straining for an impact which is just not there. That said, the rest of the stories are erotic/metaphysical gems in which the reader can peer into his or her own sexuality in its many (mostly crimsoned) facets.

There is a subtle but deep undertone here that, in some way, our sexuality makes us all otherworldy ghouls and outcasts from the civilized world. As the narrator puts it in "The Lady of the House of Love," "The end of exile is the end of being."-In other words, our sexuality metamorphoses (one of Carter's favourite words and themes)us into vampires, werewolves and sadistic murderers, if only in our imagination, and frequently in life.

An exqusite book to pique anyone's interest into his or her sexuality and its implications, both in the realms of action and imagination

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Vampires All?
Review: To begin, with the exception of the eponymous story at the beginning , these stories are the stylstic masterpieces of a miniaturist virtuoso. These renarrated fairy tales are nuanced stories that give the reader pause to reconsider his or her sexuality and the inherent violence and danger attendant upon it.-And then, perhaps, to reflect that the fairy stories in their original form were less explicit forms of the same thing for children....As the writer Djuna Barnes puts it in Nightwood, "God, children know something they can't tell; they like Red Riding Hood and the wolf in bed!"

The first story, is, to my taste, the only failure here. It's a bit too heavy-handed and obvious, and the imagery and phraseology borrow too much from Poe, particularly from his "The Fall of The House of Usher." They leave you straining for an impact which is just not there. That said, the rest of the stories are erotic/metaphysical gems in which the reader can peer into his or her own sexuality in its many (mostly crimsoned) facets.

There is a subtle but deep undertone here that, in some way, our sexuality makes us all otherworldy ghouls and outcasts from the civilized world. As the narrator puts it in "The Lady of the House of Love," "The end of exile is the end of being."-In other words, our sexuality metamorphoses (one of Carter's favourite words and themes)us into vampires, werewolves and sadistic murderers, if only in our imagination, and frequently in life.

An exqusite book to pique anyone's interest into his or her sexuality and its implications, both in the realms of action and imagination

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: grown-up fairytales
Review: up until recently, i had heard ms. carter's name mentioned in conversation but i'm all the happier for having finally read a collection of her short stories. we've all heard about the adult fairytales which exist & many of us have even read a few here or other. whether you picked up one of anne rice's trilogies written under a pseudonym or found another author's collection of modern fables, you'd have to admit that almost all of us were intrigued by the grown-up fairytales at one point in time or another. well, i'd like to say for starters that i've read the anne rice books & a few others who have taken classic myths, legends, or fairytales & given their twist to the story but none of them have captivated me nearly as much as the bloody chamber has done. it's difficult to say which story perhaps is the best although i love the company of wolves. this having been my favorite film for nearly a decade, i was excited to see that ms. carter wrote the original short story as well as the screenplay. some of the others great stories which i love are ofcourse the book title, the courtship of mr. lyon which is simply gorgeous, & the tiger's bride. although i don't want to pidgeon hole her writing in any particular category but she remind me a bit of joyce carol oates or margaret atwood although i enjoy ms.carter's work a bit more i believe. her attention to detail is almost divine & the ironic humor here only makes the read that much more pleasurable. although not quite graphic, there are layers of sensuality are fleshed out on every page which are tastefully done so as not to offend too many readers. although not excesseviley gory, her books are often steeped in violence which may not be suitable for all readers. excellent read highly recommended. it's a shame we no longer angel carter in the world of literature & i'm sure her writing is greatly missed by many.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: grown-up fairytales
Review: up until recently, i had heard ms.carter's name mentioned in conversation but i'm all the happier for having finally read a collection of her short stories. we've all heard about the adult fairytales which exist and many of us have even read a few here or other. whether you picked up one of anne rice's trilogies written under a pseudonym or found another author's collection of modern fables, you'd have to admit that almost all of us were intrigued by the grown-up fairytales at one point in time or another. well, i'd like to say for starters that i've read the anne rice books and a few others who have taken classic myths, legends, or fairytales and given their twist to the story but none of them have captivated me nearly as much as the bloody chamber has done. it's difficult to say which story perhaps is the best although i love the company of wolves. this having been my favorite film for nearly a decade, i was excited to see that ms. carter wrote the original short story as well as the screenplay. some of the others great stories which i love are ofocurse the book title, the courtship of mr.lyon which is simply gorgeous, and the tiger's bride. although i don't want to pidgeon hole her writing in any particular category but she remind me a bit of joyce carol oates or margaret atwood although i enjoy ms.carter's work a bit more i believe. her attention to detail is almost divine and the ironic humor here only makes the read that much more pleasurable. although not quite graphic, there are layers of sensuality are fleshed out on every page which are tastefully done so as not to offend too many readers. although not excesseviley gory, her books are often steeped in violence which may not be suitable for all readers. excellent read highly recommended. it's a shame we no longer angel carter in the world of literature and i'm sure her writing is greatly missed by many.


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