The Bloody Chamber & Other Sto

I love fairy tales, so when I learned that this was indeed a collection of Carter's retelling of a lot of beloved stories, I was stoked. Carter is absolutely brilliant in her storytelling of each story. She puts a spin on each that is refreshing and delightfully feminist! Forget damsels in distress, they're so last century! Her use of wordplay is also breathtaking as the stories almost take...more

I love fairy tales, so when I learned that this was indeed a collection of Carter's retelling of a lot of beloved stories, I was stoked. Carter is absolutely brilliant in her storytelling of each story. She puts a spin on each that is refreshing and delightfully feminist! Forget damsels in distress, they're so last century! Her use of wordplay is also breathtaking as the stories almost take on a tangible life of their own. Truly a delight to read over and over again!   hide

Wickedly smart in how she draws lots of stuff from folk and fairy tale descriptions together! Maybe I'm spoiled by Susanna Clarke,but I didn't love the prose as much as I hoped.

Genius

An amazing collection of re-written fairy tales, with some of the most beautiful description i have ever read, although at time disterbing i feel it refelect the female phykie of the age,

If you like fairy tales and a little dark excitement to your stories, this book is for you. And don't be discouraged by the recent association of adult short stories with the world of "academia" and "intelligentsia." These stories are for anyone (and not, as it has been suggested, simply soft-core porn for graduate students ;). Angela Carter's language is a beautiful, almost tactile experience...more

If you like fairy tales and a little dark excitement to your stories, this book is for you. And don't be discouraged by the recent association of adult short stories with the world of "academia" and "intelligentsia." These stories are for anyone (and not, as it has been suggested, simply soft-core porn for graduate students ;). Angela Carter's language is a beautiful, almost tactile experience and her words take you through the frightening, often blatantly sexual or sado-masochistic symbolism of some of your favorite childhood stories. If you enjoy the pink fairy stories with flawless happy endings, you may be disturbed or at least annoyed by Carter's changes, but if, like me, you've been secretly longing for an adult version of the much-loved tales--as magical as ever, but with more depth and human truth at their heart--then you will love this collection of short stories.   hide

Forgot how much I like a faerie tale - and how creepy they really are - until I picked this up. A truly enjoyable read and at times truly creepy.

Reading this collection of all short stories by Angela Cater, your are likely to be electrified in the frequency once in every three sentences. It could be an addiction, because wanting to feel your nerve you come back to this book again and again. To call her writing 'moral pornography' is correct in the sense they have the ability to excite reader's sense, purely per the magic of words...more

Reading this collection of all short stories by Angela Cater, your are likely to be electrified in the frequency once in every three sentences. It could be an addiction, because wanting to feel your nerve you come back to this book again and again. To call her writing 'moral pornography' is correct in the sense they have the ability to excite reader's sense, purely per the magic of words though. A city of mirrors, in every places we see the illusion of a Nineteen Century Romantic tradition, at the same time, some primitive roots located when literature starts, two totally opposite qualities magically bind together. ...   hide

Nobody screws around with fairy tales better than Angela Carter. She lifts a corner of a story you know too well only to unscab a festering wound of ideological impulses and unfulfilled desires. But she also saves the women and redeems a few monsters in these tales. The wolf is tricked by the little girl, the grandmother turns out to be a werewolf, the Erl King is murdered by the maiden, the...more

Nobody screws around with fairy tales better than Angela Carter. She lifts a corner of a story you know too well only to unscab a festering wound of ideological impulses and unfulfilled desires. But she also saves the women and redeems a few monsters in these tales. The wolf is tricked by the little girl, the grandmother turns out to be a werewolf, the Erl King is murdered by the maiden, the Beast turns out to be a gentleman, and the lady in Bluebeard is rescued by her mother. In dazzling, poetic prose, the reader finds herself immersed in worlds that on second glance become all too familiar as our own, only to fall back down into a dark forest, a brooding castle, or a bloody chamber.   hide

I'm reading this for a class, but thuroughly enjoy her writing style. Her detail can be overwhelming at times, but her visual literature puts a new spin on many century old stories. I especially like "The Tiger's Bride" ("Beauty and the Beast"). This book has many sexual overtones along with many very openly sexual metaphors. Not a book for younger students.