Review -- "The Bloody Chamber," by Angela Carter

Angela Carter's The Bloody Chamber, published by Penguin (ISBN 014017821x), tells a selection of fairy tales; however, like Emily Dickenson's suggestion for truth, she tells them slant. These are tales in wolves' clothing, wearing originals skinned and not quite as expected. Ms. Carter delivers an Victorian panorama of beastly suitors, ruby necklaces that mock mortality; yet, her women survive seductions, becoming neither frail ghosts nor wanton puppets. Her language retains a stately pace but doesn't forsake modern metaphor.

This is not a book to take in at one sitting. The tales themselves repeat situations and themes, although not in exactly the same way, and the pacing itself grasps at the reader's ankles like mud from a moor. This works against the longest tale in the collection, the titular "The Bloody Chamber." Although the images were finely tuned (funeral lilies decking a bridal bower, the grim pornographic boredom of the husband, and his signature scent of leather/flayed flesh), I found myself impatient and bereft of concern for the characters until the very end. The gem in this collection for me was the middle tale of the Erl King. This crumbling deity of a dying forest was powerful and dangerous and I found myself finally enchanted by the pace, drowned in the rotating pull of her imagery.

Be prepared for tales that read as if drawn from a diary, with skipping fragments, fantastic and baroque images, and a graphic dream physicality. There is none of the easy release of the typical romantic fairy tales. Although I found parts beautiful, my enjoyment was often confounded by the language. Readers who enjoy poetry and are looking for fairy tales for themselves and not their children may want to check out this collection.

-- Chrissa

The Modern Fairy Tales of Charles Perrault

Mini Bio of Charles Perrault (1628-1703)

Even though the Brothers Grimm (published 1812), Hans Christian Andersen (published 1835) and Disney are probably the most recognizable names in fairy tales, Charles Perrault was the first to modernize the popular folk tales of his time and use them for his own agenda and beliefs.

French born Perrault was the youngest of four children. He was a poet and a writer who believed that literature needed to be modernized. According to The Oxford Companion to Fairy Tales, “Perrault took the side of modernism and believed that France and Christianity could move forward only if they incorporated pagan beliefs and folklore and developed a culture of enlightenment.”

Using humor, adding morals and keeping the original superstitions attached to popular folk tales, Perrault wrote Histoires ou contes du temps passe’ (Stories or Tales of Time Past) in 1697. This collection included Sleeping Beauty, Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, and The Fairies. He is said to be responsible for the most recognizable factors of these stories like the red hood, the pumpkin and Cinderella’s glass slippers.