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A review by gorecki
Harriet Said... by Beryl Bainbridge
3.0
Reading Harriet Said... reminded me of a quote by Margaret Atwood in her book "Cat's Eye":
Little girls are cute and small only to adults. To one another they are not cute. They are life sized.
The private life of children is very interesting. It can seem very uneventful, full of games and fun, but it can also very quickly and easily be turned into something insidious and dangerous. Scheming. Manipulation. Traps. This dark and cruel side of childhood has been something I've found fascinating in literature and movies for a very long time. I know it's not just me, after all there are so many horror movies out there with creepy little children. But it's not just the creepy little child that interests me in a story of this kind - it's they way they tick and how they become that way.
I wish I could have read Harriet Said... back in the day when it was first published in the 70s, because I think it would have been a much bigger shock back then than it is now. We're already aware and used to the "cruel little girl causes irreversible damage" plotline all too well to be shocked or surprised by it. But the way this Bainbridge works with childhood sexuality, obsession, and scheming in this book would have sent chills down my spine had I read it earlier. In her typical Bainbridge way, she says more with the things she doesn't tell us about than the ones she does. Stylistically, this book reminded me a bit of Carson McCullers - the big emotions, the feelings the characters couldn't contain, their constant yearning for something.
And while I can't say this was among my favourite Bainbridge novels, I have to admit that I have never been more interested in her than I am now. The way she digs in the murky and dark corners of humanity and works with the gritty and uncomfortable topics she finds there in such a purely human way is something I can't get enough of.
Little girls are cute and small only to adults. To one another they are not cute. They are life sized.
The private life of children is very interesting. It can seem very uneventful, full of games and fun, but it can also very quickly and easily be turned into something insidious and dangerous. Scheming. Manipulation. Traps. This dark and cruel side of childhood has been something I've found fascinating in literature and movies for a very long time. I know it's not just me, after all there are so many horror movies out there with creepy little children. But it's not just the creepy little child that interests me in a story of this kind - it's they way they tick and how they become that way.
I wish I could have read Harriet Said... back in the day when it was first published in the 70s, because I think it would have been a much bigger shock back then than it is now. We're already aware and used to the "cruel little girl causes irreversible damage" plotline all too well to be shocked or surprised by it. But the way this Bainbridge works with childhood sexuality, obsession, and scheming in this book would have sent chills down my spine had I read it earlier. In her typical Bainbridge way, she says more with the things she doesn't tell us about than the ones she does. Stylistically, this book reminded me a bit of Carson McCullers - the big emotions, the feelings the characters couldn't contain, their constant yearning for something.
And while I can't say this was among my favourite Bainbridge novels, I have to admit that I have never been more interested in her than I am now. The way she digs in the murky and dark corners of humanity and works with the gritty and uncomfortable topics she finds there in such a purely human way is something I can't get enough of.