Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.53 AVERAGE
3.53 AVERAGE
Picked up this book without a clue what it was about and had never read Angela Carter before.
Trippy, erotic, violent, metamorphic, barbaric, nostalgic, and perplexing.
Trippy, erotic, violent, metamorphic, barbaric, nostalgic, and perplexing.
I finished this book yesterday but it's taken me this long to think about how to construct a review for it.
Now I don't know if any of you will have read Angela Carter. She's one of those writers that you're going to love or hate. She draws you into her own fantasy world which is still rooted in reality. It's the real world but it's a little off kilter and you have to just let it draw you in and go along for the ride.
The Passion of New Eve is based on the life altering experiences of Evelyn. He's an Englishman living in New York at a time of extreme revolutionary change. Depending on what side of the fence you're on it's either a time of revolution or a time of anarchy, especially for the feminists. However, Evelyn seems pretty oblivious to what's going on around him and he continues to do what he has always done. Indulging in women for his sexual gratification, and little else. For him it's all about the allure of feminine beauty and for him, because there is little else the effects are never long lasting. A typical example is his being lured by a woman of the night by the name of Leilah, then surplanting himself in her home, letting her pay for everything from the wages she earns from her body, and indulging in said body whenever the whim takes him. When Leilah becomes pregnant with his baby all the sexuakl attraction of her is gone for him and he sends her off to some back street butcher which she has payed for herself and subsequently heads off into the desert to either lose or find himself, whichever comes first.
The desert is where the life changing experience happens. aving run out of petrol and being stranded in the middle of nowhere it looks like Evelyn may end his days alone. That is until he is kidnapped by a group of extreme feminists who have made their headquarters in the desert. In this lair is where The Mother performs extreme surgery on him. Getting rid of his male appendage, creating a womb, female appendage and everything you can think of that is female. He is the New Eve.
This is where it gets a wee bit off kilter because it does seem like a fantastical thing to happen but there it is. A sex change so complete that a former man is able to have a menstrual cycle and eventually bear children? Go along for the rde!
As the new Eve Evelyn has been made into his own idea of perfect feminine beauty. As a woman he experiences all the things he has bestowed on women when he himself was a man. On his/her journeyings as a woman she experiences what it is like to be raped by a man. |to be treated as an object of sexual gratification at the bidding of men. To be treated as little more than an animal there for the convenience of men. She also briefly experiences what it is to be loved from a being who is very much like her new self.
Now I'm very much aware that Angela Carter is an out and out femininst and some of you may not find this book appealling in any way but for those of you that are fans of Angela Carter this is one you can't pass by. It will give you a fair few things to think on.
Now I don't know if any of you will have read Angela Carter. She's one of those writers that you're going to love or hate. She draws you into her own fantasy world which is still rooted in reality. It's the real world but it's a little off kilter and you have to just let it draw you in and go along for the ride.
The Passion of New Eve is based on the life altering experiences of Evelyn. He's an Englishman living in New York at a time of extreme revolutionary change. Depending on what side of the fence you're on it's either a time of revolution or a time of anarchy, especially for the feminists. However, Evelyn seems pretty oblivious to what's going on around him and he continues to do what he has always done. Indulging in women for his sexual gratification, and little else. For him it's all about the allure of feminine beauty and for him, because there is little else the effects are never long lasting. A typical example is his being lured by a woman of the night by the name of Leilah, then surplanting himself in her home, letting her pay for everything from the wages she earns from her body, and indulging in said body whenever the whim takes him. When Leilah becomes pregnant with his baby all the sexuakl attraction of her is gone for him and he sends her off to some back street butcher which she has payed for herself and subsequently heads off into the desert to either lose or find himself, whichever comes first.
The desert is where the life changing experience happens. aving run out of petrol and being stranded in the middle of nowhere it looks like Evelyn may end his days alone. That is until he is kidnapped by a group of extreme feminists who have made their headquarters in the desert. In this lair is where The Mother performs extreme surgery on him. Getting rid of his male appendage, creating a womb, female appendage and everything you can think of that is female. He is the New Eve.
This is where it gets a wee bit off kilter because it does seem like a fantastical thing to happen but there it is. A sex change so complete that a former man is able to have a menstrual cycle and eventually bear children? Go along for the rde!
As the new Eve Evelyn has been made into his own idea of perfect feminine beauty. As a woman he experiences all the things he has bestowed on women when he himself was a man. On his/her journeyings as a woman she experiences what it is like to be raped by a man. |to be treated as an object of sexual gratification at the bidding of men. To be treated as little more than an animal there for the convenience of men. She also briefly experiences what it is to be loved from a being who is very much like her new self.
Now I'm very much aware that Angela Carter is an out and out femininst and some of you may not find this book appealling in any way but for those of you that are fans of Angela Carter this is one you can't pass by. It will give you a fair few things to think on.
dark
reflective
tense
fast-paced
My second Carter book after [b:Nights at the Circus|653651|Nights at the Circus|Angela Carter|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1408540181s/653651.jpg|859276]. As was my experience with that book, I thought there were some really excellent parts (the first chapter was fantastic) but for the most part I found myself totally bewildered. It reads like a strange mix of [a:Virginia Woolf|6765|Virginia Woolf|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1419596619p2/6765.jpg]'s [b:Orlando|18839|Orlando|Virginia Woolf|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1443118010s/18839.jpg|6057225] and [b:Concrete Island|70251|Concrete Island|J.G. Ballard|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1386924909s/70251.jpg|1232126] by [a:J.G. Ballard|7010931|J.G. Ballard|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1497551843p2/7010931.jpg]: an exploration of feminism and gender in a very 70s dystopian science fiction setting.
It was certainly interesting, if not always engaging on a page-by-page basis. I think I might try this again at some point, after I’ve read some secondary material and maybe familiarised myself with the mythology that Carter draws on.
It was certainly interesting, if not always engaging on a page-by-page basis. I think I might try this again at some point, after I’ve read some secondary material and maybe familiarised myself with the mythology that Carter draws on.
I read this for a seminar in which we explored women's remaking of myths and how that affects our identities. This is a very, very bizarre and uncomfortable book, but characteristic of Carter. Violence and rape are part and parcel of this apocalyptic America. And one group of women undertakes to create a new Eve to renew the world by forcing a sex change on the protagonist. Gender and sex don't really match up here; performance of gender is separate from biology.
Somehow, there's humor in here, again typical Carter.
Somehow, there's humor in here, again typical Carter.
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Such a strange book. Half the time I was pretty clueless as to what was going on, but it was amazing.
An exceptionally difficult book to review. It does contain Carter's typical incisive prose; but her delightful use of metaphor is here honed to the fine point of a baseball bat. Do you get it, yet? She asks, as she smashes your few remaining teeth out. How about now? Christ, I think that's my eye gone.
What we are treated to in The Passion of New Eve is an apocalyptic hellscape of America run wild at the height of the seventies. Race tensions lead to all-out war, as feminists and pretty much anyone else with a grudge to bear rise up to stake their claim. Sound like an interesting story? You bet it does- here it's our backdrop. The actual story focuses on Evelyn, a young British man who comes to America just as it all starts to go to shit. He has some vivid sexual encounters before running off into the desert to find himself. Instead, he ends up finding himself as herself as he is abducted, brainwashed (to somewhat less than perfect success) and operated on in order to turn him into The New Eve of the title. As a woman, he re-enters the world and is summarily abused, raped, kidnapped, all manner of horrors. Along the way there are as many vile characters as you can shake a... on second thoughts don't shake that, it's a bit too phallic. There's also a recurring obsession with an old movie star Tristessa de St Angelo, who does end up appearing later on.
It's difficult to read too much into the story- not really the purpose of the book to present a clear one as far as I understand it either. What it is doing is presenting damning views on perceptions of women in western culture. This is heavily dosed in second-wave feminism and cynicism about America. It's a weird and grotesque allegorical tale. The intense sexuality on display is so exquisitely and grimly described that it's about as far from erotic as it is possible to be.
But somehow all of these powerful elements just don't entire manage to come together. It could be that there is just too much grotesquery, rendering the final product unpalatable. It's a strong novel- it might have been an important novel, but it has the feel of an overblown short story. Strong ideas, stretched.
What we are treated to in The Passion of New Eve is an apocalyptic hellscape of America run wild at the height of the seventies. Race tensions lead to all-out war, as feminists and pretty much anyone else with a grudge to bear rise up to stake their claim. Sound like an interesting story? You bet it does- here it's our backdrop. The actual story focuses on Evelyn, a young British man who comes to America just as it all starts to go to shit. He has some vivid sexual encounters before running off into the desert to find himself. Instead, he ends up finding himself as herself as he is abducted, brainwashed (to somewhat less than perfect success) and operated on in order to turn him into The New Eve of the title. As a woman, he re-enters the world and is summarily abused, raped, kidnapped, all manner of horrors. Along the way there are as many vile characters as you can shake a... on second thoughts don't shake that, it's a bit too phallic. There's also a recurring obsession with an old movie star Tristessa de St Angelo, who does end up appearing later on.
It's difficult to read too much into the story- not really the purpose of the book to present a clear one as far as I understand it either. What it is doing is presenting damning views on perceptions of women in western culture. This is heavily dosed in second-wave feminism and cynicism about America. It's a weird and grotesque allegorical tale. The intense sexuality on display is so exquisitely and grimly described that it's about as far from erotic as it is possible to be.
But somehow all of these powerful elements just don't entire manage to come together. It could be that there is just too much grotesquery, rendering the final product unpalatable. It's a strong novel- it might have been an important novel, but it has the feel of an overblown short story. Strong ideas, stretched.